Photo courtesy of Jack Klingbeil Collection This wonderful photo captures a moment of time in a place that no longer exists. A southbound passenger train No. 7 is seen in front of the Curry Hotel with two men on the ground watering the locomotive.   There is a lot of detail and history in this image that tells a story. 1510 was one of the three FP7A units bought new in 1953. They had boilers for steam heat and had a larger water carrying capacity than regular F units and were used on the passenger trains. Sometimes they needed their water tanks filled along the way, much like what we see here. The hotel looks well worn after standing for decades in the harsh Alaskan elements, though its elegance still shows through. One can make out the baggage cart waiting for the next train, and the semaphores are clear. To the right of the photo, the telegraph line is still standing providing an important communications link along the line.   The leafless trees and ground gives hint that it is late in the short autumn season The wooden platform is wet from the previous night's rain with the muddy imprints of a rubber tired vehicle left on its face. Meanwhile two men, the fireman whose hand is on the water line, and the engineer are holding a conversation long forgotten to time, only God knows what was said between these sourdoughs of the rail.   Today only a few traces of the town of Curry exist, the hotel, engine houses, and the town itself are long gone. A gravel pit occupies the east side of the track, and the place where the hotel stood is overgrown. A display of old railroad equipment stands forever landlocked just a few feet south from here. The semaphores are long gone, and in some places a few old telegraph poles stand guard long after their copper lines and insulators were stripped. Even though there isn't a date, one last clue is the train number which is 7. No. 7 and No. 8 trains were the overnight passenger trains that were in service from 1955 to 1967. Lastly the Curry Hotel burned down in April 1957 and was never rebuilt and was the final blow to the town of Curry. Let's imagine it's October 1955, and the crew is talking about the Brooklyn Dodgers winning the World Series, and the new CBS western series Gunsmoke while watering their locomotive, soon to continue on to Anchorage.   - Commentary by Mike Gerenday