Linwood W. Moody photographs

A Guide to the Collection

Biographical Note

Linwood W. Moody was born in South Union, Maine on July 17, 1905, the son of Ernest L. and Lena Kalloch Moody. He became a railroad station agent developing an interest in railroad history that he later recorded through photography. Noted as an active participant in his community, Moody was a member of the Seven Tree Grange and the National Grange organizations, which is still today the nation’s oldest national agricultural association assuring a strong and viable Rural America.

Moody’s formal education ended early, but through reading and study he was able to expand his horizons. He corresponded with people in other countries, and even acquired enough language skill to write credible letters in French, German, and Spanish. He also photographed the railroads documenting the development and history. However, his interest in history was broader than just railroads, and he was often consulted on the historical events of Maine’s past, particularly that of Knox County.

Moody was instrumental in creating the Edaville Railroad in Carver, Maine along with Ellis D. Atwood on Mr. Atwood’s 1800-acre cranberry farm famous for Ocean Spray cranberries. He was employed in Brooks, Maine as a "crossing tender" for the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad. His function was to keep vehicular traffic from blocking or stopping on the main tracks when an approaching train activated the warning system. The daily operations log for the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad during its diesel era was filed by Moody and reflected in the "Dispatcher’s Record of Train Movements."

Besides working on the railroad, Moody recorded Maine’s railroad history. He wrote The Maine Two-Footers, a book on the story of the two-foot railroads in Maine and other railroad articles. His book on Maine’s narrow-gauge railroads, "two-footers," which crossed much of the state until the 1930s, published in 1959 is considered a railroad classic. It is written in a style that brings to life the trains pulled by small steam locomotives over tracks just 24 inches from rail to rail. The story includes information on the following railroads: Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes, the Monson, the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington, the Edaville and Kennebec Central Railroads. He authored a booklet outlining the history of the Georges Valley Railroad, later reorganized as the Knox Railroad Company.

A number of Linwood Moody’s articles on narrow-gauge railroads appeared in the Down East magazine. The titles include "The Doodlebug Railroad" (Georges Valley), "The Rockport Railroad," "Mighty Midgets of the Old F & M" (Franklin and Megantic), and "Warren Depot." All are reprinted in All Aboard for Yesterday, an anthology of more than 40 railroad stories that had appeared in Down East.

Moody was considered a humorist amongst his friends, family and community and his humor is reflected in his work. He lived out his years as a retired railroad man, always with a special interest in narrow-gage railroads, and died at 77 on July 13, 1983 in Waterville.

The following books and articles written by Linwood Moody can be found at the DeGolyer Library:

Books:

Moody, Linwood, W. 1947. Edaville Railroad: the Cranberry Belt. South Carver, Mass: E. D. Atwood.

Moody, Linwood, W. 1959. The Maine two-footers; the story of the two-foot gauge railroads of Maine. Berkeley, Calif.: Howell-North.

Articles:

Moody, Linwood W. 1935. "Abandoned!" Railroad Stories 16, no. 4: 38.

Moody, Linwood W. 1935. "The Narrow-Gage Roads of Maine." Railroad Stories 18, no. 2: 41.

Moody, Linwood W. 1939. "The ‘Mules Relief’ Engine." Railroad Magazine 26, no. 3: 64.

Moody, Linwood W. and Fred Jukes. 1939. "Thirty Different Gauges." Railroad Magazine 26, no. 6: 74.

Moody, Linwood W. 1940. "The Big Hill." Railroad Magazine 28, no. 2: 73.

Moody, Linwood W. 1940. "A Town-Operated Steam Road." Railroad Magazine 28, no. 5: 6.

Moody, Linwood W. 1951. "Hereabouts & Elsewhere Railroads." Railroad Magazine 56, no. 1: 6.

Two other articles by Moody are

Moody, Linwood W. 1938. "645 Miles for 87 Cents." Railroad Stories 24, no. 6.

Moody, Linwood W. 1939. "Two-Foot Gage." Railroad Stories 26, no. 6.

Sources:

Cooper, Bruce C. "The Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad." Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum. Available from http://cprr.org/Museum/BMLRR/index.html. Internet; accessed 25 September 2007.

Cooper, Bruce C. "Moody Photo Postcards of Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad." Railroad Photographic History Museum. Available from http://cprr.org/Museum/BMLRR/Moody_Photo_Postcards/index.html. Internet: accessed 25 September 2007.

"Maine at its best." Down East Magazine. Available from http://magazine.downeast.com/index.php/page/pastissues. Internet: accessed 25 September 2007.

Moody, Linwood W. "Veteran Station Agent." Zoominfo. Available from http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=38272119. Internet: accessed 25 September 2007.

Moody, Linwood W. Kalloch Family Home Page. Available from http://kalloch.org/linwood_moody.html. Internet: accessed 25 September 2007.

Moody, Linwood Obituary. Kalloch Family Obituaries. Available from http://kalloch.org/obits_m.htm#linwood. Internet: accessed 25 September 2007.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Moody collection consists of 171 photographic prints representing 13 railroad lines. The 2,235 negatives represent 193 railroad lines. The arrangement is by railroad line name. The negatives are 2.5-inch × 4.25-inch (also known as the 116-roll film introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1899). The negatives are in good condition. Most of the images are of locomotives, some of depots and station yards, or scenery around the tracks with a few of wrecks and abandoned locomotives in yards.

Since Moody’s focused on the narrow gauge railroads throughout North America, (including one Hawaiian, and one from Central America), the largest groups of negatives are found in the following railroads lines: Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad, Edaville Railroad, Eureka Nevada Railway, Knox Railroad, Maine Central Railroad, Monson Railroad, Nevada Central Railroad, Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad, Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway, and miscellaneous images of Stations and Station Yards.

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Restrictions

Access to Collection:

Collection is open for research use.

Publication Rights:

Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Director of the DeGolyer Library.

Copyright Statement:

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain copyright authorization.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Linwood W. Moody photographs, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

Acquisition Information

Purchase, Everett L. DeGolyer, Jr., September 1, 1959.

Processing Information

The Moody Collection was initially processed by Susan Schmidt. During processing, photographic prints and negatives were housed in archival sleeves. The photograph collection is stored in 1 archival box for the 171 photographic prints and 1 large drawer for the 2,235 negatives.

Finding aid by Susan B. Schmidt, September 2007.

Edited by Anne E. Peterson, September 2007.

Encoded by

Lara Corazalla, 2007.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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