William C. Brandt Monon photos on Lake States site

[Eric Reinert]

The William C. Brandt collection has been uploaded and curated recently on the Lake States Archive. Here is the link to the Monon specific photos.

https://www.lakestatesarchive.org/William-C-Brandt-Collection/Monon

Great stuff. Really well done, large format work. I may have to break down and purchase some of these as 8X10's. 
There's several that are marked "location unknown" that we can probably help them with, as well as several I thought were labeled incorrectly for location. I could be wrong, but a couple marked "South Hammond" are either wrong, or from some place or perspective I do not recognize at all.   

[Eric Reinert]

Well, I found the answer to where 572 was photographed after noticing the "Sunshine Farms" GARAGE sign on the building in the background. I found a newspaper article about a fire there that said it was at 4th and Salem St. in Lafayette.

[George Lortz]

Thanks for posting these shots from the Lakes States Archives site.  Sure wish we could use these photos without the watermarks, but it would cost the Monon Society $600 or more to own a set.  They are great for reference anyhow.

George L.

[Mark Johnson]

These are some of the best Monon steam photographs I have ever seen. Some of them are a little light on contrast, but darker might obscure some details. Also, with a little bit of thought about backgrounds, some of our members may be able to fill in the blanks for those 'Location Unknown' shots. For example, the pic of caboose C292 is labeled 'Location Unknown' but the background with the concrete coaling tower is a dead giveaway that it's Lafayette Shops. 

Maybe we should run a fundraiser within the Society to license them...I'd be 'in' for a donation if we did.

Mark J
Columbia MO

[Eric Reinert]

Mark,  I would also donate toward purchasing a full set. There is a lot of detail to parse from each one. The shot: 2024.015.CIL.042 Marked as South Hammond certainly can't have been taken there. The trackage layout, the bridge over the tracks in the background, the building at the left edge, the shanty at the right... There's just no way this is South Hammond, regardless of what might have been marked on the photo or slide. Perhaps South Deering on the C&WI?

[George Lortz]

Count me in also on the purchase of these photos.  If we owned a set for reference or THL articles, we'd have to be careful not to violate any copyright laws.

George L.

[Mark Johnson]

The photos would definitely be worth having for the archives. Assuming I don't forget, I'll include some extra $$ with my 2025 dues renewal, designated for purchasing those rights.

Consider this a 'member challenge.'

Mark J
Columbia MO

[George Lortz]

Eric,

There seem to be Monon-related photos scattered throughout the Lake States website as you have discovered.  Any idea how many photos there are in addition to the Brandt collection?

George L.

[Eric Reinert]

George,

If you count all Monon related content, it's over 400 photos. It's tough to get a real count because the search criteria can be "Monon, "CI&L", "MON" "CIL", and some cross over these labels, some don't. Just searching "MON", I found 392 photos alone. On that note: I've found another gem I really like. It shows South Hammond yard taken looking North from on top of the grade on the expressway (I-80/94). It shows the old yard office, sand tower, roundhouse, and the general layout of the yard very clearly. I've seen other photos taken from the highway, but this one is taken from directly over the Roundhouse Lead. It says it was taken in 1959, but I thought the old yard office was torn down not long after the new Yard office was finished in 1954.

https://www.lakestatesarchive.org/J-David-Ingles-Collection/Track-Structures/i-WCZvTMr

[George Lortz]

Eric,

You are right about the number of photos in the collection that can be accessed by using Monon-related search criteria, but I have also seen a number of photos of interest that don't have any Monon-related search criteria but are also of great value to Monon history.  Some of the photos I have in mind cover former-Monon equipment, depots, RoWs, sites, etc.

Thanks for keeping up on all of this.

George L.