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June 1941. "Railroad yards. Milwaukee, Wisconsin." Medium format acetate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Vachon is standing on the 27th Street viaduct, looking west. The 35th Street viaduct is in the distance. The tracks under the bridge would become the Hump Yard in about 1949, with 24 classification tracks taking a steady stream of rolling rail cars 24/7. The tracks to the left constituted the Airline Yard. The large building in the upper left corner is the old Johnson Cookie Company, repurposed at least six times or so since Johnson’s demise. Have had a lot of mud on my boots from those yards, as well as from those behind Vachon (West Yard, Adams Yard and Reed Street Yard). Rain, wind, sleet, snow, hot, cold -- I felt like a mailman at times. Almost 40 years of it. Wouldn't trade any of it for ... well, maybe some of it I would.
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