Re: O Winston Link Goes to the Big Roundhouse

[Greg Rudd <grudd@mail.usyd.edu.au>]

Nic Doncaster wrote:

> 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.

Very sad news indeed.  Without any doubt link was one of the great's.

-greg