farlymac
PF McFarland
Ten years or so ago, the Virginian Depot in Roanoke, VA was being leased by Norfolk Southern (NS) to a seed and feed company. Allegedly, a vagrant started a fire for warmth that got out of control, and the depot burned down. Most of the outer walls were still intact, but the roof was mostly gone over the passenger area, and there were holes in the freight house roof. It was originally covered in red clay tiles.
It took a long time, but all the legal wrangling is over, and construction has begun in earnest. Plans are to have a portion of the building as a museum for the Virginian Railroad, and lease the rest of the structure out to a concessionaire for a restaurant, or office space. That way, there will be income to support the museum, and pay off the reconstruction costs. This is sure better than driving by and seeing that tree growing up through the middle of the lobby.
I took these photos with a Canon FT QL and FL 1.8/50 lens (no hood or filter), on Kodak BW400CN. The pharmacy mangled the film again, so I lost almost half the exposures (all the street level views). And I had to desaturate the Kodak scans, then crop the frames in PSE10.
The camera worked very well, and the metering system seems to be very accurate, even after all these years (the FT was introduced in 1966). The Quick Load (QL) feature works flawlessly, and even though it is a big, weighty camera, it just felt natural in the hands. It has stop-down metering, but on a bright afternoon such as this, that was no problem.
PF
Virginain Depot Reconstruction 1 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Tongue and groove construction on the new roof, just like the old one. In fact, everything is being done as close as possible to the original structure, with the exception of electrical and plumbing. This is part of the first negative I could save.
Virginain Depot Reconstruction 3 by br1078phot, on Flickr
The last time I took a photo from this vantage point was ten years ago. The depot was a burnt out shell without a roof, and I was using a Rapid Omega.
Virginain Depot Reconstruction 5 by br1078phot, on Flickr
And away we go. Probably heading for some power plant in North Carolina
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7699588@N07/sets/72157629808545316/
It took a long time, but all the legal wrangling is over, and construction has begun in earnest. Plans are to have a portion of the building as a museum for the Virginian Railroad, and lease the rest of the structure out to a concessionaire for a restaurant, or office space. That way, there will be income to support the museum, and pay off the reconstruction costs. This is sure better than driving by and seeing that tree growing up through the middle of the lobby.
I took these photos with a Canon FT QL and FL 1.8/50 lens (no hood or filter), on Kodak BW400CN. The pharmacy mangled the film again, so I lost almost half the exposures (all the street level views). And I had to desaturate the Kodak scans, then crop the frames in PSE10.
The camera worked very well, and the metering system seems to be very accurate, even after all these years (the FT was introduced in 1966). The Quick Load (QL) feature works flawlessly, and even though it is a big, weighty camera, it just felt natural in the hands. It has stop-down metering, but on a bright afternoon such as this, that was no problem.
PF
Virginain Depot Reconstruction 1 by br1078phot, on Flickr
Tongue and groove construction on the new roof, just like the old one. In fact, everything is being done as close as possible to the original structure, with the exception of electrical and plumbing. This is part of the first negative I could save.
Virginain Depot Reconstruction 3 by br1078phot, on Flickr
The last time I took a photo from this vantage point was ten years ago. The depot was a burnt out shell without a roof, and I was using a Rapid Omega.
Virginain Depot Reconstruction 5 by br1078phot, on Flickr
And away we go. Probably heading for some power plant in North Carolina
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7699588@N07/sets/72157629808545316/
