South Dakota Central—Murdo, South Dakota, 2015
Dye transfer print
31 × 40 in.
Edition of 5
August 19, 2024
John Sanderson uses photography as a way to examine the spiritual topography of North America. He has a particular interest in the history of the railroad and the way that it connected the continent, embedding itself inextricably into the country’s physical history, and shaping its landscape and self identity.
When this diesel engine was in operation in the 1950s it was part of a fleet of luxurious intercity passenger trains called the Hiawathas, that were operated by the Milwaukee Road, a railroad giant which ran a network of tracks originating in Chicago. The railroad industry experienced continued growth after World War II but went into deep decline in the 1960s, as Americans embraced automotive travel. The final departure of the Morning Hiawatha line was on April 30, 1971, the day before the introduction of Amtrak, the publicly funded company which assumed control of the nation’s intercity passenger rail services.
This decommissioned train now sits in South Dakota, where it has been relettered to memorialize another railroad of the past, the South Dakota Central. Sanderson captures the image of this faded behemoth in the rich color of the day’s last light. Printing his large format film negative with the sumptuous depth of color offered by the historic dye transfer process only deepens the elegiac nostalgia of this quintessentially American landscape.
