David

David. (Trains Collection.)

A while ago, in a blog titled “Trains of the ‘60s,” I decried the fact I couldn’t find a picture of David P. Morgan, the one-time editor of Trains Magazine.
DPM is pretty much the reason I subscribed to Trains back in 1966. I’ve subscribed ever since.
DPM seemed to have the same view of railroading I had, that it was very dramatic.
70 mph behind a steam-locomotive is something I’ll never forget.
I once was trackside on the old New York Central west of Buffalo.
It was slightly upgrade.
By then I think it was Conrail.
So here came a westbound freight-train, assaulting the heavens as it climbed the grade.
I was blown away, and I think DPM would have been too.
DPM also showed me how incredibly efficient a railroad was. That it moves so much more freight than trucks, and used a tiny right-of-way compared to an interstate.
He also showed me those wanting continued rail-service were often begging welfare; that the cost of continued rail-service wasn’t borne by them, it was borne by the railroad.
I wrote a Letter-to-the-Editor of the Rochester (NY) newspaper because it wanted continued rail-delivery of newsprint via a subway connected to Penn-Central.
Obviously I’m not DPM, but I consider him my mentor.
His influence is immense.
To me, railroading is very dramatic, and I try to convey that drama just like David.
I write fairly well, but it’s mainly my rail-photography. And also the photos I steal from my brother. When he snags a photo better than mine I use his.
The February 2011 issue of my Trains Magazine has a pretty good photograph of David looking up from his typewriter.
Things sure have changed, and I’m glad they have.
Years ago, in the early ‘70s, I was covering motorsport for a small weekly newspaper in Rochester called City/East.
I was doing it on my wife’s Smith-Corona portable I still have.
It was a struggle.
I’d hafta add something, or correct errors, and I had to toss my first report and start over.
Then there was the typesetter problem. Someone would typeset my story on a Linotype, and I’d have to proof it to make sure they spelled “Ferrari” right.
Now things are much better. My “typewriter” is this here laptop, and I’m using a word-processor. Would that I had that back in the early ‘70s.
That word-processor has a spellcheck. It flags misspellings and mistypes.
And I can correct things right in this ‘pyooter. I don’t have to start over.
Rudimentary as his operation was, DPM generated some incredible stuff.
He’d witness some drama, and then convey what he’d witnessed.
But David didn’t like to be photographed; I don’t either.

• My wife died April 17th, 2012, but I still have her typewriter.
• “‘Pyooter” is computer.