david plowden

lacrosse, wisconsin, 1973.

kelly bradley, scotch grove, may, 1987.

great northern railway, "extra 3387 east", near delano, minnesota, 1956.

coxsackie, new york, 1973.

chicago, illinois, 1979.

bruno maaser of tampa, kansas at betty's cafe, 1991.

welch, west virginia, 1974.

statue of liberty, 1967.

young man & his car, 1974.

norfolk & western railway yard, welch, west virginia, 1974.

steve, davy, west virginia, 1974.

street near steel mill, lorain, ohio, 1969.

bill, 1971.

great northern railway, freight train, west of havre, montana, 1968.

erie lackawanna railroad, westbound "phoebe snow" at scranton, pennsylvania, 1964.

cow barn, van olegham farm, 1986.

tract house, illinois, 1981.

youngstown, ohio street by steel mills, 1970.

all photographs by david plowden.

man, these pictures really took me back - i grew up in a rural area in pennsylvania.  when i was a kid everyone worked at the steel mills. the pictures of welch west virginia & coxsackie are so similar to where i grew up. as much as i loved & hated it back then, i now just love it - or the memory of it.  such simpler times. i still love the sound of the train whistle....in our village there were 57 houses & one road. you had to come over the mountain & across the railroad tracks to get home.  apparently my mom jumped a train when she was in her teens & ran away to the big city.  it probably still looks about the same.