O Winston Link Goes to the Big Roundhouse

["Nic Doncaster" <nldoncas@cobweb.com.au>]

This came to me through a US group.

Thought it might be of interest

Nic


By ZEKE BARLOW
The Roanoke Times

   A day after the historic Virginian Railroad passenger
station burned down, a much bigger blow was dealt to rail
enthusiasts:
Photographer O. Winston Link died of a heart attack. He was
86.

    Link chronicled railroad life in the 1950s and became not
only an international name in photography, but also captured the last
days of the American steam locomotive.

    He had been sick for some time when he drove himself to
the hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y., on Tuesday afternoon and
suffered a heart attack en route, said his publicist, Tom Garver. Link
died before he got to the hospital, Garver said.

    There has been recent talk of creating an O. Winston Link
museum in the old Norfolk and Western passenger station in downtown
Roanoke. Link was lobbying to have the No. 1218 steam locomotive on
display and had said he wouldn't cooperate with the museum project
unless the train he described as "the most beautiful engine in the
world" was part of it.

    For many, Link not only captured the last days of the
steam engine, but also froze an innocent time of the world in his
camera lens.

    Besides the engines billowing steam, Link's photos showed
such scenes as folks sitting around a wood stove sharing a story
or a young boy waving to the engineers as a train chugged by.

    "He was trying to document an era," said longtime friend
Joan Thomas, who markets videos for the British Broadcasting Corp.
made about Link. "He knew that not only the steam engines were
going but also a way a life."

    An internationally known photographer, Link was featured
in the January issue of Vanity Fair, which featured photographers of
the 20th century. His photos would take days to construct
sometimes, complete with numerous flashes and wires galore. N&W would
work with Link on his photos, manipulating the trains to his liking.

    "It was an impossibly beautiful relationship," Link said
recently.

    Many people over the years have said how much Link's
works contributed to the history of the American railroad.

    "It's a huge loss," Thomas said.

    Staff writer Mike Allen contributed to this report.