Speeder Shed; Location Unknown

Stuffed away in a corner of a photo album, with nothing in common with the surrounding photos, I found these two of some speeder shed. I have no idea where it was located. And there's no date stamp on the back, but my guess is that it was taken during the summer of 1975.

You can see there're buildings in the background of both pictures. They might provide clues as to location.

Back in '75 I can only assume that I thought I would never forget where I took these, and it didn't cross my mind that 45 years in the future I might not remember - I could barely look beyond when my next math test would occur :-) My usual train haunts were Hastings, Havelock, and Marmora, so I assume it was located somewhere in that rather large area.

Hawkeye

If you've been following the posts about the railway stations in Hastings, Havelock, and Marmora you'll know that I keep saying that I shot the black-and-whites with a Kodak Brownie that used 120 roll film.

Wrong.

I went and looked for the camera in the momentos stash, and found to my embarrassment that the camera used was a Hawkeye that shot 127 size rolls of film.

But, there's an old Brownie somewhere in the momento boxes, although given my track record it'll likely be some other brand :-)

Hastings Station: 28.8.74

I keep going on about how I mis-identified the Marmora station as the Hastings station. So, I guess the next question is: do you have any pictures of the Hastings station? Yes I do!

But, unfortunately, only pictures of sections of the station, and not any complete overviews or facades. As far as the front elevation goes, that partial photo is all I have.

Unlike other photos I have, these are stamped on the back with a date, which in this case is 28.8.74. Back then I would process a roll of film as soon as I could after it was shot. So, these photos were likely taken sometime in August 1974.

As for the back wall, I at least have two photos that could be stitched together to make a complete back wall view. 

This end is some sort of freight section. I don't know what that little building is on the left.

And this is the other end of the back wall. That's my father's Chevrolet Biscayne parked in the middle.

At least I've got uncropped views of the end elevations. If the car was removed from the scene, one might think the photo was from an era much earlier than the '70s.

That's my sister providing scale. And it looks like my parents are getting back into the car, no doubt with my father suggesting that if we don't hurry up and get in he'll leave without us :-)

Unlike the stations at Havelock and Marmora, I don't think this one still exists, but I'll look into it. Stay tuned!

Hastings "Feed & Seed" squiggle style

In the same folder with the alleged Marmora station, I found this single-sheeter of the Hastings "Feed and Seed" I posted photos of back in 2011. This youthful drawing from the '70s is much cruder than the Marmora station. The proportions are all wrong, but maybe I selectively compressed it :-) Regardless, on the drawing's flip-side I scribbled a lot of calculations - maybe I was trying to figure out how to make a small, buildable model out of this prototype.

Hastings Ontario tool shed, 1975

This tool shed - complete with a stub of track for a speeder - was located somewhere nearby the Hastings station whose photo I posted last week. I likely took these pictures on the same day within minutes of each other even though the less than perfect condition of this photo might not make it seem that way. The image correction software I have on hand couldn't fix the colours in this badly faded photo without distorting it too much, so I left it more-or-less as is so the basic shape and some details can be seen. That black thingie on the left is the camera's strap. There was no image preview on the Instamatic, so it's preserved for posterity :-)

Hastings’ “Feed & Seed” circa the 1970’s

I’ve got a thing for feed and seed type buildings. Don’t know why. I just like the way these buildings look. While working on the Barrel & Marble Works I thought I’d look up some photos I took of a feed and seed building back in the 70’s. It was located in Hastings, Ontario, nearby the Trent river, just off of highway 45. I had the photos in one of those old ‘magnetic’ photo albums that seals the pictures between a sticky cardboard sheet and a piece of thin, clear plastic. Unfortunately the photos can’t be removed from their flat tombs without damaging them, so they were scanned as is.

I’ve visited Hastings a few times every summer for the last few years, but there was a long period between taking these photos and my first return visit. By then this building was long gone and a new tourist oriented building was there. I don’t lament the loss because the new building has helped revitalize the area. Hastings is a nice town and I’d recommend dropping by.