Trains get a face life

Here are the trains as they've appeared over the years:

http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/cape-girardeau-parks-are-well-trained...

http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/parks/hooligans-deface-train/

Looks like the paper could afford a camera now with all this online subscription money.

I suppose you're waiting on The Post Dispatch to run a story on it so you can swipe a picture from the wire.

Red Devil,

I can't speak FOR The Missourian, but here are a couple of points.

1. Stories here are reader-submitted, not done by staff. If you look, it says "User-submitted story by Friend Of Optimist."

2. I understand that The Missourian recently turned a part-time photographer position into full time, bringing the photo staff up to three.

That's a big staff for a paper this size in these economic times. That's a lot bigger investment than "adding a camera."

That's a higher ratio of photographers to readers than I had on my staff at The Palm Beach Post before it started shaking off employees like fleas from a dog.

Back when I worked at The Missourian in the mid to late-60s, the paper didn't even HAVE a photographer.

One-Shot Frony was on some kind of retainer deal; he wasn't a staff photographer.

http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/one-shot-frony/

He was called One-Shot because he had to buy his own film and didn't want to burn up any more than necessary.

Other pictures were taken by folks like me and other freelancers. I was paid $5 a shot until I got so many photos published that they cut my rate to $3 for self-generated art and $5 for assigned art.

http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/where-were-we-48-years-ago-today/

ksteinhoff thank you for posting the links above.

We have a club historian that told us a lot about the trains, but it's nice learning more. My Optimist Club is one of three clubs responsible for these trains being in the parks.

Thanks again for the post!