Glade Photo

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Re Gary Price's photo of an 1899 head-on-collision right at the Glade Spring depot.

A none-too-good copy of that photograph hung in the Glade Spring agent/operator's office (west end of building) at the time I first entered the joint in August 1964.  It was an 8x10" glossy in a cheap frame, and it was obviously a copy.  Maybe even a copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy.  The contrast in the image had gone out of control somewhere along the line of its reproductive history, the highlights were blocked up and all detail was lost in the shadow areas.  Rather much of a loss, as far as image quality.

William H. Hill was the agent at the time.  I inquired of him as to the history of the image and learned that he had no information, not even a date.  Bill Hill's dad was, at the time, a conductor on one of the interdivisional passenger runs (Lynchburg-to-Bristol.)  Very shortly after my arrival in Glade Spring, Bill moved up to a job with the Association of American Railroads and vamoosed from Glade Spring forever.

If I may be permitted one further rambling... I might observe that this was about the end of the time when the railroad station agent was a person-of-respect in the local community.  I wasn't around the depot much, other that when reporting for duty, and I certainly wasn't privy to the politics, but I did observe that all of the people around the town square in Glade Spring knew the name of the railroad's station agent, and when they did come in they addressed him as "Mr. Hill"... as did the younger trainmen. He was probably all of 40 or 42 years of age at the time.  It was 1964, and it wasn't long before respect, and respectfulness, disappeared from the fabric of American life.

-- abram burnett
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