Yesterday, I learned the sad news that my friend and fellow photographer George C. Corey passed away a few weeks shy of his centenery.
George was a life-long railroad photographer with more than eight decades of work under his belt. Among his memorable images was a photo of a Boston & Maine freight led by a modern Mountain type exposed on December 7th, 1941.
He learned of the events of that day after his photograph, but they would change his life as well as that of many nations. In 1944, George was involved in the Allied landing at Normandy where he was shot by a sniper. He spent many months recovering from his adventure. He told me about this once when I’d mention one my recent trips to Europe.
“Europe. I was there once. No sooner than I arrived and some bastard shot me through the lung.”
George was an avid follower of the American steam locomotive with encyclopedic knowledge of different locomotive types. Over the years, he and I would engage in detailed discussions about locomotive valve gear, locomotive performance, and railroad photography.
I’d met George in the early 1980s and maintained correspondence over the years. Although he took an old-school approach in his photographs, he embraced technological change. He was among the first in my circle to digitize his photographs and make complex changes to his images using computer software.
The last time I met him in person, he was delighted to show me his latest digital camera. Our meeting was cut short when a Pan-Am freight rolled by and he said to me, ‘Sorry about this, but I’m going after that!’. He was in his mid-90s at the time.
He often contributed to my books, sending me magnificent images of steam and diesel locomotives from around the continent. In 2022, when I was working on my latest book on Union Pacific, I asked if he had any images to contribute, and he replied with an apology, ‘I do, but I haven’t photographed UP since 1951.’ He sent me a selection of stunning images, many of which I included in the final selection.
The photograph is an image that he sent me for Steam by the Numbers of a Delaware & Hudson 4-6-6-4 Challenger at work south of Schenectady, New York in November 1949.
George was my hero and he’ll be greatly missed.
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