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in abandon and toxic town of Picher, Ok Picher in the 1920's had a population of over 20,000 and produced more lead from its mines than any other place in the world. It is those lead mines that made the town an ecological disaster. Much of what remained of the town was destroyed by a 2009 tornado
Picher, Oklahoma. The church burned down in 2017.
Picher is a ghost town and has an interesting and sad history. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picher,_Oklahoma
Celebrating its 100th birthday this weekend, Illinois Railway Museum's 2-10-0 "Russian Decapod" Frisco 1630 leads a passenger excursion at Johnson Siding reflecting in a puddle from the previous week's rain on its first run of the day.
These engines were built as 5 foot gauge for Russia but their government couldn't pay for them following the Russian Revolution. It and about 200 others were converted to standard gauge and sold to the USRA, this one numbered 1147. It was briefly leased to the PRR, and sold in 1920 to Frisco. The engine was sold to Eagle-Picher in 1951 for hauling lead ore to a smelter, and donated to IRM in 1967.
Almost continuously since 1972 the 1630 has been in service at IRM hauling guests and has made several appearances in movies and TV programs.
Locomotive: SLSF 1630
9-15-18
Union, IL
This was my second visit to the area in as many months. With today being a lot warmer than my previous visit. I walked around the church, as well as an abandoned home a block away. All in all, I spent at least a hour to two hours exploring the remains of the long abandoned towns that were once prosperous between Galena, Kansas to just North of Commerce, Oklahoma.
Picher, Oklahoma
On a rainy day I grabbed one of my favorite coffee cups and some old piches that came from Afghanistan and just started moving one light around with a fill card.
Taken in the now-abandoned town of Picher, Oklahoma.
Via Wikipedia: Discoveries of ground contamination and the possibility of a cave-in of mines under the city have prompted all of its population to evacuate. On May 10, 2008, Picher was struck by a tornado. There were eight confirmed deaths, possibly including one child, and many other injuries.
A sad old shed with a lot of stories to tell. This is in a town called Cardin, OK. The government is buying out the entire area due to lead and zinc poisoning, and many of the elder locals are convinvinced that there is really no poisoning but that the government is making everyone leave so that it can "steal" the mineral deposits from the ground after the town is abandoned.
I stopped in Picher, Oklahoma on my way to Norman a few days ago. Picher is a US superfund site and the entire town has been evacuated due to high levels of lead, arsenic and zinc in the water due to mining. It once had over 10k residents, but now has less than twenty. I was sad to see how much damage has been done by vandals in recent years since my last visit. Even the sign on the Christian church has been stolen. Sigh. Hard to see such beautiful buildings fall into such disrepair.
End of a couple of duplex units in a small duplex housing development. Located in Picher Oklahoma they entire town became nearly a ghost town after the government declared it a hazardous place to live due to the local mining causing the ground water to became toxic..and then a tornado hit and nearly everyone who was still there left. It is now a superfund site with only a few residents remaininng.
Night, near full moon, fair amount of low cloud cover, 180 second exposure, protomachines set to orange, lime & white.
I'm going nowhere," says Picher resident Jon Finn. "I'm staying here 'til I die." The State of Oklahoma is paying Picher residents to relocate from the town for health reasons. Finn, who earns a living constructing model mining derricks, lost both his father, William, and brother, Don, to tuberculosis caused by inhailing coal dust.
Eagle-Picher #1621 (earlier used on Southern; MKT; Ft. Smith, Subiaco & Rock Island; and “Frisco”) Baldwin/1918 S Decapod Built 5′ gauge for Russia; converted to 4′ 8-1/2″ 2-10-0 and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy #9908 “Silver Charger” EMC/1939 D 1,000 hp; baggage space at rear end A1A-2
Selective color front view of an abandoned old house being reclaimed by nature. Located in the town of Picher, Oklahoma, one of the few towns in the U.S. to ever be evacuated by the federal government due to environmental reasons. After decades of mining, the town suffered multiple cave-ins, the whole area was contaminated from the massive chap piles all around the town, then to top it all off, during the process of trying to relocate the handful of people left in the town, an F-4 tornado hit. Now a "ghost town" this is hands down the most eerie place I have ever visited and the creepy feeling one gets when exploring the town is indescribable in mere words. Shot in Picher, Oklahoma. © 2024 Rob Heber - All Rights Reserved.
The first “Shay It Forward” event in honor of the late Jim Wrinn, railroad preservationist and TRAINS magazine editor who passed away in 2022, was held at the Illinois Railway Museum on June 24, 2023. The Shay It Forward program, started by Jim’s wife Cate, supports museums and tourist operations, especially those that care for Shay locomotives (which Jim loved). IRM fired up 3-truck Shay No. 5 for the festivities, which included “Take the Throttle” engineer experiences; lunch and dinner train rides aboard the Nebraska Zephyr; and a night photo session – “Get Busy Photographin’” - with lighting by Rob Schreiner, Steve Smedley, and several others. It was a great event and a great way to say a final Goodbye to Jim.
The Belton, Grandview & Kansas City is a tourist railroad headquartered in Belton, Missouri, near Kansas City.
Shot in Picher, Oklahoma, a very eerie place to visit since it was evacuated by the federal government years ago. This was a mining town for many decades, and eventually contamination from the chap piles, mines caving in under the town, and a huge tornado made this a ghost town. © 2022 Rob Heber - All Rights Reserved