There’s no way that John Rehor and Don Wood encountered Canadian Pacific 3000—the original Jubilee of the F2 class—by chance at Glencoe, Ontario on the evening of July 25, 1957 (sixty five years ago today):
I never knew Rehor personally, but I befriended his two Speed Graphics photographer mates. Both Don Wood and Herb Harwood never ceased to sing Rehor’s praises for organizing a steam safari. There was only one priority—get the picture of the quarry at any cost. Sleep, nourishment, driving comfort were all forsaken for the precious 4×5 film plate capturing steam in action.
Today’s meeting with number 3000 at Glencoe on Thursday, July 25, 1957 is a good example. She’s heading express train 634 over the flatlands from Windsor to London. That information Rehor could only have learned from a telephone chat with a dispatcher or locomotive foreman. Wood and Harwood described Rehor’s gift of gab (he was an insurance salesman) and meticulous choreographing of their movements. And always a lit cigarette between his lips or fingers (‘that guy was intense,’ one of his mates commented).
It’s 5:34 p.m. Eastern Standard Time as train 634 pauses for express handling at Glencoe. The London roundhouse shows this engine on the roster in a July 5, 1957 tally—but scratched out before month’s end. Are Rehor and Wood witnessing the last run of CPR Jubilee 3000 this evening? Possibly. There are certainly a lot of “lasts” recorded for these photographers (and Harwood) personally on each of their trips to Canada.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look back at an intense four days of Canadian steam photography which is presented in Speed Graphics and Steam 1957! (the first of five volumes in a series). This picture appears on page 152.
We are down to only two copies remaining (of the initial 16) of the Speed Graphics and Steam 1957! title at the special low commemorative price plus a flat $10.00 shipping charge. Thank you to the 14 readers who have already taken advantage of this offer—your books are speeding to your door as we speak!
I’ll leave the offer up on this webpage until those final two copies are claimed:
http://ianwilsonauthor.com/canadianbranchline/speedgraphics1957
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