Arthur Griffin B&H 1940 excursion photos

[Bill Reidy]

I just ran across two links on Digital Commonwealth to photos taken by Arthur Griffin during a B&H excursion in 1940:

https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Arthur+Griffin+Photographs&f%5Binstitution_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Griffin+Museum+of+Photography&f%5Brelated_item_series_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Narrow+gauge+2

https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search?f%5Bcollection_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Arthur+Griffin+Photographs&f%5Binstitution_name_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Griffin+Museum+of+Photography&f%5Brelated_item_series_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Narrow+gauge+1&only_path=true

[Tom Casper]

He spent to much film on folks.  Need more equipment!

Tom C.

[Ed Lecuyer]

Interior shot of WW&F Coach 3?
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:k930dx82n

[Harold Downey]

Yes, that is definitely coach 3.  All the details are correct.  Still has hat racks and shades; the ceiling has been painted white, the center lighting is gone.

Here is an exterior shot that sure looks like #3 as well - nice that it shows the original steps/platform.  https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/k930dz168

Great quality photographs, with high resolution scans.

[Allan Fisher]

As the curator of a very large railroad archive, I can tell you that these photos are a gold mine for an archives and for future researchers.
Many railfans don't seem to understand that 3/4 and side shots of railroad equipment might be wonderful for railroad modelers and for those junkies that want to have a picture of every piece of a railroad's equipment, but for historical purposes, shots like these with many passengers and early railfans all over different parts of the equipment are what will be important one hundred years from now.

[Wayne Laepple]

These are really great images. I really enjoy photos from the early era of fan trips and railfanning, with most of the men wearing suits and ties. Many of them probably have folding cameras in their jacket pockets. I have collected several flyers and tickets from these early excursions, though the majority of mine are from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Recently I snagged a ticket for an East Broad Top trip on Oct. 6, 1946 that covered every remaining foot of the railroad.

[Dana Deering]

Those are great photos!  Is that Lawrence Brown straddling the headlight in one photo? Then there’s the photo of the four wheel pump car that reminds me of the question I’ve wondered about for years:  what happened to the B&SR handcars and pump cars?  They also had a motorized track car. What happened to that?  Were any of them saved?

[Ed Lecuyer]

What is the purpose of the large hoop/rings over each window in this photo:

[Bill Baskerville]

They seem big for this, but could they be for a conductor pull cord?

[Ed Lecuyer]

That was my initial thought, but man, they do seem awfully large for a pull cord.

[Bill Baskerville]

At the top of the photo, just in front of the chandler there is a smaller hoop which was probably for the conductor's cord.  Perhaps there was a long bar that held the hat/purse racks?  Although the small individual hat hangers like the one on the right and the one containing a hat on the left seem to point to there being no hat/purse racks on this car.

[John McNamara]

I wonder if they are indicators of some type, as two seem to be white instead of black.

[Richard Johnson]

Since they are in the middle of each window could they have something to do with opening the window

[Graham Buxton]

There seem to be hat/coat hooks right there. Perhaps the rings are meant for holding gloves?   Put both gloves together and push the 'wrist end' of the gloves through the ring til the gloves are about centered.

[Bill Baskerville]

Graham, I don't know if you are correct, but it is a very clever response.

In the photo of 3's interior, what are the four round cylinders (2 on each side of the coach) just above the windows?