November-December, 1969 - Milwaukee Road Archive

Recording Train
And Railroad
History With
ACamera
Wade Stevenson, on the job in the
Othello, Wash., roundhouse, tests crankcase
oil and engine cooling water.
Railroading has played a key role in the
life of Wade J. Stevenson ever since his
boyhood years in Indiana. Warrenton,
where he was born and raised, is served
by three railroads, and when his mother
gave him a box camera, that was the
day.
The result is a unique collection of
pictures and slides recording 30 years of
train and railroad history. A large part
of it depicts activities around Othello,
Wash., where Stevenson is a machinist
helper in the Milwaukee Road shops.
He estimates his collection at anywhere
from 10,000 to 15,000 black and
white prints, with railroading the primary
subject. In addition, he has about
10,000 color slides on the same subject,
and hundreds of feet of movie film.
Many of Stevenson's pictures have appeared
in railroad publications, including
"Trains" and "Railroad Magazine."
He was also a contributor to the book
"Western Trains" published several
years ago by Richard Steinheimer and
Donald Sims, his contemporaries in railfan
photography. The book features
mainline railroading in the far west following
World War II.
Stevenson sends his film out for processing-he
has the equipment, but his
photo files crowd him for working
space. Now and then he receives requests
for pictures to illustrate books or
14
calendars. "I could sell more of my
work if I could get quality finishing,"
he says.
Stevenson grew up within sight of the
main line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad,
on which his father was a section
foreman. After graduating from high
school in 1954, he signed on for a job
with the Santa Fe at Winslow, Ariz.,
and later with the Union Pacific, before
joining the shop force at Othe1l0 in
1946.
Working at Othello has provided Stevenson
with opportunities to get some
excellent shots of the various types of
equipment used by the Milwaukee in
that area, and they are well documented
in his files. Most of his pictures showing
operations on other railroads have been
taken on vacation trips and railfan ex-
Winter in the Cascades
photographed
in 1949 as an oilfired
rota ry was
c I ear i n g track at
Hyak, Wash. Stevenson's
records show
"Cold Water" Miller
at the throttle.
Sauk River Lumber Company's No.2, an
rusts on a siding at Darrington, Wash.,
picture taken by Stevenson in 1953.
cursions. On them he also covers logging
lines and electric traction, plus any
colorful local events he can work into
the schedule.
Wherever he goes, Stevenson generally
totes a camera. "The Northwest is
full of fascinating material," he says.
"Each year I try to take in the Spokane
Lilac Parade and the Wenatchee Apple
Blossom Festival, as well as the hydroplane
races in Seattle. I also love photographing
children, flowers, fairs, circuses-anything
colorful, unusual or
dramatic."
But railroading-photography is still
his favorite hobby. With boyish enthusiasm,
he describes it as an exciting, rewarding
experience. His hope is some
day to publish a book, using the best of
his pictures.
oil-burning Shay buHt in 1920 by Lima,
after serving her time in the woods; a
The Milwaukee Road Magazine