Railroad slides. Original or not?? Question.

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LoganTrackdog

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Railroad slides. Original or not?? SAMPLES!!!.

Hello everyone. I just purchased a 10,000+ railroad slide collection. A lot of the slides are local shots from the Omaha/Co. Bluffs area, but there are 1000's of them from all over the country. Question is how can I tell the originals from the copies? I know some of them have the photograhpers name on them and a copyright. Those are no brainers. But then there boxes of slides with all the info about the subject, date, etc, but no photographer name. So what do I do? I want to sell these slides but I need more info on them.

So here are 4 samples, random draws. Please keep in mind these are just shot in Macro with a digital camera, so the quality is not there. The slides are much better.

1. C&S B4R no.608 2-8-0 Ft. Collins 12-21 58
2 Rio Grande 2-8-8-2 No. 3611 Castle Rock 9-7-52
3. Erie PA2 No.863 Pt. Jervis 11-11-70
4. Mo Pac E8A No. 7021 Denver 1-30-65 Buzzsaws and Eagles!!!
 
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I don't care of a photo/slide is original. I buy it if I need the subject matter. All the information is good to have, but won't determine if I buy or not.

Got any White Pass & Yukon? :)

Bruce
 


Slides

It is usually difficult to tell copies. Obviously, if the information is machine printed it's most likely a commercial slide. I have found that most people don't take the time to hand write info on a copy. So you may have a lot of originals.

That said if you want to private message me a photographers name, I know quite a few Omaha local "historians" that might be able to help identify the originallity.

Since I am already drooling, can you tell us if it's stuff from Steam era or 50's, 60's or 70's?
 
Steam, diesel, interurban, trackside buildings, bridges, signals, on and on. UP CNW BR CGW WABASH IC SOO CN C&M NYC PENN on and on and on. Holy cow!
 
Are you wanting to sell them, Nickel Plate, interurbans and any building pictures I will be very interested in. If you dont want to sell them can we see them?
 
hello guys,

Well the count stands no at about 23,000 +/-. We are buried with slides. Yes there are Nickel Plate slides, interurban slides from all over, a lot from Omaha/Co. Bluffs. There are photos of stations, trackside structures, signals, crossings, coaling towers, and on and on. As far as selling them, yes, every one of them will be for sale. Right now we are sorting, researching, and stacking boxes and boxes of slides. Most are in great condition, some are dusty, some are a little used, but all can be saved. There is some killer UP stuff, CB&Q,Rock Island, all local to my area (Omaha/Co Bluffs). What a wonderful collection!

This is not a for sale ad at this time, but if you would like to talk to me about the collection, PM me and I will send you my cell #.
 
The beat goes on. Frisco, Santa Fe, Milwaukee, Great Northern, DRG Northern Pacific,
MStLP,Erie, SP, Wabash, N&W, A bunch of New England stuff that I haven't even gotten to yet. I don't really have a way to post pis of any of them yet, but I'm working on it. I will post some samples tonight if I can.
 


OK, I will do that.

I know these are not all original slides, but a lot of them are. I have done some research on some of the photographers and I'm not really coming up with a lot of info.

Two names that keep popping up, and I mean alot are Jerry Bosanek and Al Chione. Yet very few slides by either guy seem to come up for sale on ebay.

We will keep sorting and am looking into a scanner to convert the slides to .jpegs to list them.

We'll see.
 
Ok here are 3 samples of the slides.

Slide #1 is an original shot our collector took. I'm coming up with that conclusion because the date he wrote on the stamp matches the date stamp embossed in the cardboard by the developer. Plus he hand wrote all the info about the shot, and there is no photog name on the slide. There are a lot of these slides covering most local railroads from the 50's and up. He used the same RR name stamps on model train boxes as well, so I know those were his own stamps.

Slide #2 is also what I believe to be his own work, just later. Same reasons as above.
 
Slide #3 These are the ones that have me confused. One of the things that I find Interesting about the slides by Mr. Bosanek is that the date stamp embossed on his slides matches the hand stamped dates. Plus the fact that I can't seem to find any slides by Mr. Bosanek for sale anywhere. Maybe our collector purchased Mr. Bosanek's collection at some time? So now I'm wondering if they are reprints or not. Any ideas?
 
LoganTrackdog said:
Ok here are 3 samples of the slides.

Slide #1 is an original shot our collector took. I'm coming up with that conclusion because the date he wrote on the stamp matches the date stamp embossed in the cardboard by the developer. Plus he hand wrote all the info about the shot, and there is no photog name on the slide. There are a lot of these slides covering most local railroads from the 50's and up. He used the same RR name stamps on model train boxes as well, so I know those were his own stamps.

Slide #2 is also what I believe to be his own work, just later. Same reasons as above.
Click to expand...

By the mounts the second set is an original the first maybe a copy. Mounts from the 50's where grey in color.
 
LoganTrackdog said:
So the date that is stamped into the cardstock mount does not tell the date it was mounted?
Click to expand...

Date mounted yes, but not whether it is an original or duplicate. As I stated the first set maybe a duplicate as it is my understanding that Kodak processed original slides from that era where grey mounts.

Typically duplicate slides where done using Ektachrome and this film tends to color shift over time. Was Ektachrome used in the 50's for duplicates, I have no first hand knowledge but if those with a 50's, 60's and potentially 70's date stamp are Ektachrome they will display some shifting of colors.

As for a definitive answer on whether the slides you have are originals or duplicates there is really no absolute way to tell other than the traits that are typically displayed with duplicate slides. That being soft images, imagines with an exaggerated narrow depth of field, being under exposed, having color shifts, off brand/generic mounts and sometimes the obvious Duplicate stamp on the back of the slide.

If you are going to sell them I would not advertise them as originals unless it was obviously an original. Buyers on Ebay will buy both original and duplicates (if they are good quality) but do not plan on funding your retirement with them unless they are imagines that someone is willing to bid thru the roof. There are still a few deep pocket buyers out there but the days of $500-$1000 slides are a lot fewer.
 


RailfanRails said:
Date mounted yes, but not whether it is an original or duplicate. As I stated the first set maybe a duplicate as it is my understanding that Kodak processed original slides from that era where grey mounts.

Typically duplicate slides where done using Ektachrome and this film tends to color shift over time. Was Ektachrome used in the 50's for duplicates, I have no first hand knowledge but if those with a 50's, 60's and potentially 70's date stamp are Ektachrome they will display some shifting of colors.

As for a definitive answer on whether the slides you have are originals or duplicates there is really no absolute way to tell other than the traits that are typically displayed with duplicate slides. That being soft images, imagines with an exaggerated narrow depth of field, being under exposed, having color shifts, off brand/generic mounts and sometimes the obvious Duplicate stamp on the back of the slide.

If you are going to sell them I would not advertise them as originals unless it was obviously an original. Buyers on Ebay will buy both original and duplicates (if they are good quality) but do not plan on funding your retirement with them unless they are imagines that someone is willing to bid thru the roof. There are still a few deep pocket buyers out there but the days of $500-$1000 slides are a lot fewer.
Click to expand...

So beings I know nothing about the slide making process, I'm guessing there is a negitive involved in making a slide. And if a slide is made from the negitive, it's an original. But if it's a copy from another slide, it's a duplicate. Is that correct?

OK, so if I do go the e-bay route and sell by the slide, there is no way I can say for sure if they are original or not. What if a guy could secure the negitives? Would that help?
 
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