McMillian
Brothers and McGee Photo Car at Stockton, Ga circa 1885. Note the
glass skylight
towards the rear that was used for indoor portraiture. The skylight extends down into the old
baggage room filling it with
light. I also believe the skylight was also used to make prints using the sun
as a light source. Most
professional photographers of this era used 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 film
and contact printed the negatives using the sun as a light source. This car also
included living quarters for the photographers, the Timmerman Brothers whom were
subcontracted by McMillian Bros & McGee to manage their photo car. This car is probably an old worn out RPO
and Baggage Car purchased second hand by the photo company. Note the
link and pin
couplers and lack of air brakes.
Also note the two blacked out windows near the side door, probably used
for
film developing.
Milliard
Fillmore Timmerman and the McMillian Bros & McGee Photo
Car celebrate the Fourth of July. Milliard Fillmore Timmerman was born
on Feb. 15, 1857 and died on July
17, 1927. Milliard and an unknown brother traveled throughout the
southern states
photographing in many of the smaller towns that had no
photographers. They were probably invited by local merchants to
photographed children and families in their stores.
This is
the close-up of the car from the photo above. Appears to be the
opposite side as the first photo. The skylight is visible as well as the smoke stacks
from the car's stoves. This shows that the skylight did indeed covered both sides of the roof.
A generous storage area is under the car.
A.F.
McGee seems to have bought out the McMillian Brothers and rebuilt
the car without the sky light. This is the opposite side of the first
photo shown , showing the stove pipes,
but the under car storage area is now smaller. Milliard Timmerman was the sole
photographer at this point and managed
the East Tennessee Photo Car for McGee. The white color would have made the car
cooler during the hot Southern
Summers. Doubtful he made
anymore indoor photography, opting instead for
environmental pictures.
Printing could still be taken outside for contact sun prints.
Six and
a half inches of snow at Cochran, Georgia on February 23, 1901.
Cochran is on the Georgia Southern & Florida south of Macon.
Business was more then likely slow that day for Timmerman. I
believe the rebuilding was done to put the
cars back into class one standards for use on the Southern and Coast
Line. Looking at the coupler area on the original photo under glass
reveals
nothing, the snow covers the evidence to well. The couplers could still
be link and pin with no brakes in which case
it would be delegated to the rear of slow freights.
An
example of Timmerman's photography. His daughter Florence is
the girl on the upper right corner. She was his favorite and traveled
with him in the photo car.
An other example of Timmerman's work, the old mill east of Stockton on the Alapaha River. A popular spot for Baptisms.
Here is a steam tractor pulling log carts somewhere in South Georgia. Timmerman took many industrial shots in his travels.
Timmerman
was very fond of the Georgia Southern & Florida, and took
many portraits of the locomotives and their crews, here he shoots the
114. I have several photos like
this, which were more then likely made for
free for the train crew which were responsible for carrying his car. On the other hand I have several shots of
GS&F's crack passenger
trains which were probably made under contract by the railroad's
management. Note that this
train has stopped directly over a railroad crossing,
hopefully it was protected.
On the back of the Mill Photo. His rubber stamp was definitely worn from much use.
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