When's the last time you saw one of these? Switchstand in Columbiana, OH on Youngstown and Southeastern.
One of my favorite locations for prototype photos is the old elevator at Clifford, MI. Trees were in the way, but I liked this shot anyway. Shown here are Huron and Eastern 3036 (formerly CM and HESR 9712) and 2144 in fresh orange and cream.
Just a little history here. The Clifford elevator was built at Five Lakes, Michigan at an unknown date. By the time the Michigan Central abandoned their line to Five Lakes, the 3 foot gauge Port Huron and Northwestern (shortly absorbed and standard gauged by the Flint and Pere Marquette) had built through Clifford. In 1889, the elevator was sold, dismantled and hauled by oxen over seventeen miles of rough roads to be rebuilt at Clifford. By the 2000's, the elevator had closed and become quite deteriorated. It was purchased by the Clifford downtown development authority (Given the size of Clifford, it's amazing that there is one) and restored. The feed mill section had to be demolished and was rebuilt as a rental hall, while the workfloor of the main elevator looks largely as it did during its working life with the grain cleaner, scales and grain legs completely intact. The office has also been restored. It' getting to be time for some maintenance again, like a paint job and there's that one pesky length of siding that refuses to stay on the headhouse. On the upside, other than the absence of a long shed destroyed in a derailment, it looks pretty much like it did during its service life. In any case, it absolutely reeks of history and is a great place to photograph trains.