By Richard F. Palmer
Arthur P. Yates
Most New York Central historians are familiar with the early action views of the Empire State Express and the 20th Century Limited of the 1890s and early 1900s. But don’t forget the man who took these photos that startled the world - Arthur P. Yates.
Mr. Yates came from a distinguished family. He was born in Schenectady on June 26, 1841, one of eight children of Nicholas and Harriet (Hansen) Yates. His father was in the furniture business. His great-grandfather was an aid-de-camp to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War . His uncle, Joseph C. Yates of Schenectady, was once governor of New York State.
He began his working career as a draftsman at Schenectady Locomotive Works when he was 19 years old. He soon became chief of the locomotive design department. Two years later, in June, 1861, he was employed in the motive power department of the New York Central. He was made foreman of the wood and tender department, a position he held until that department was moved to Depew, near Buffalo. He then was transferred to Syracuse. Active in public life, he was nominated for mayor of Syracuse in 1878 but was defeated by James J. Belden (coincidentally a railroad contractor).
For a time he worked in the New York office. To be more centrally located he soon moved his office and established a photo laboratory in the old West Shore station on North Franklin street in Syracuse. Then he took over the second floor of the old Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg station at the northwest corner of West Washington and North Franklin streets.
In 1890 he took up photography and became a member of the Syracuse Camera Club, serving as president for two years. Eventually his work drew the attention of George H. Daniels, General Passenger Agent of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, who was quick to recognize both Yates’ artistic bent as well as the publicity value of the burgeoning pictorial age.
Yates set up shop upstairs in the former Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg depot at the northwest corner of West Washington and South Franklin streets in Syracuse.
Up to that time wood cuts served to illustrate the captivating wilderness scenery and vacation resorts of the Thousand Islands and Adirondack Mountain regions of New York State. Soon the work of Yates started appearing in the New York Central’s elaborately illustrated publication “Health and Pleasure.” Similar publications soon appeared on other railroads. Many of Yates’ views were made into framable prints and today are collectors’ items. He was widely recognized by art connoisseurs for his composition work.
This was at a time the railroad was developing its fast intercity passenger trains and Yates was just the man to photograph them for publicity purposes. Virtually all of the photographic images on New York Central and Lake Shore & Michigan Southern timetables and travel literature were the work of Yates. He developed an extensive portfolio. He rapidly advanced on the railroad and was constantly on the road on assignments from Daniels.
He startled the world by taking a picture of the fledgling Empire State Express while it was traveling at 60 miles per hour. About that time the bicycle was gaining in popularity, both for recreation and for racing. These larger sporting bicycles made for racing could accommodate six, eight or even 16 riders. They were capable of great speed but also could be dangerous. Following a natural bent for excitement six employees of E.C. Stearns & Co. approached local New York Central officials about pitting their machine against fast moving trains. Stearns was a highly successful firm that employed 3,500 people and at its height produced 500 bicycles a day. It also had factories in Toronto and Germany.
Oddly enough the proposal interested normally conservative railroad officials. On the morning of July 28, 1896, a section gang went to clear and level the spaced between tracks 2 and 3. This stretch was not as long as the wheelers would have liked to have it, but it would have to do. The machine itself was recently developed and produced by Stearns, called the “Yellow Fellow.” was manufactured by E.C. Stearns & Company of Syracuse. The event was to be staged in Solvay to near the Solvay Process works. Here the railroad is as “straight as an arrow” and a four-foot wide strip between the tracks was very suited to race trains.
The timetables had been consulted and the conditions seemed perfect to race the Empire State Express. A man was stationed with a white flag to signal when eastbound train was in sight. The sextuplet team meanwhile had been practicing on the path and was confident of “holding their own,” if not beating the train for some distance. The flag finally waved and they pushed off to get headway. Every man was bent over his handle bars and the six pairs of legs went up and down with mechanical precision.
Yates took this action shot near Syracuse in 1896.
Down the line Yates set up his camera. In an 1896 interview he said his usual equipment consisted of 4’ by 5,”Poco; 5” by 7” and 8” by 10” format cameras. In this case he set up his “Poco” camera which was the most useful in taking snapshots when there was s no time to set up a tripod and compose.
The train with 999 in the lead quickly approached. The crowd applauded as they kept up with the train. Racing a good half mile, they beat it to the designated half mile point by four lengths. Passengers aboard had been alerted to the novel event and heads were looking out every window. But the then public relations prone New York Central would have no more of this. It was viewed as a once-only publicity stunt. An official public notice was posted prohibiting the use of the right of way to for racing trains.
The event was sensational enough for the U.S. Postal Service to apply Yates’ early depiction of the Empire State Express onto the 2-cent postage stamp.
Later in 1902 when the Twentieth Century Limited was inaugurated Yates was there to photograph it. His photos circulated throughout the world and were widely used in magazines and technical publications, on timetables, calendars, postcards, stationery, framed prints, cigar bands and embossed pocket watches.
Explaining his techniques in an interview in 1896 he said: “ In lenses I have about seven, made by Bausch & Lomb of Rochester.
These lenses range from an 8x10 Ziest down to a 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 Universal, and include several of wide angles. In order to to secure the best results, one must be provided with lenses of different focus. Some of my appliances I invented myself. I found this necessary in order to secure success.”
He said to produce the best results required a significant investment in high quality camera equipment. “It is only a waste of time and effort to attempt to succeed with inferior apparatus and poor materials.”
To take action photos of fast-moving trains he said he used specially prepared plate negatives “so highly sensitized that in order to produce a good negative they must be developed under very subdued light. I always carry three or four dozen plates along with me, most of my trips being short, only extending over a period of three or four days.”
On returning to Syracuse he developed his negatives, loaded up again and was soon off on another job. In the early days the railroad provided a car equipped with dark room and accessories. This gave Yates the opportunity too remaining at a desired location long enough to take advantage of available like and other conditions which in the days long before digital photography were essential for taking top grade photographs.
Among the disadvantages of landscape photography in particular has always been weather conditions. “I have frequently made several trips to the same place only to be disappointed and delayed by unfavorable weather,” he said. He was asked to what he owned his success. He replied: “Scrupulous attention to the smallest details, and an innate love for the art.”
One of his most cherished possessions was a gold medal he received for an enlargement of his first picture of a fast-moving train. His large bromide prints became a trademark of the era and were highly prized. (Note: I have one framed). Yates also photographed many celebrities from foreign countries who traveled over the New York Central when touring America. He spent more than 50 years on the New York Central. Upon his retirement in 1910 he purchased s 75-acre farm in Cleveland, New York, on the north shore of Oneida Lake. He named his farm “Grand View.”
Mr. Yates died May 16, 1924 at the home of his adopted daughter, Mrs. Marie E. Stanton in Syracuse. He was the oldest member of Central City Lodge No. 306, F. and A.M. Following the funeral he was buried in Schenectady. One of Yates’ close acquaintances, noted local historian William M. Beauchamp, once wrote:
“He devotes his time and energy almost exclusively to photography and has achieved a world-wide reputation in his art, gaining a degree of proficiency which can result only from natural talent, close application and untiring energy.”
Sources
New York Railroad Men, February, 1896, Vol. IX No. 5, PP 105-110
Locomotive Engineers Monthly Journal, Vol. XXX - No. 12, December 1896
Beauchamp, William M., Past and Present of Syracuse and Onondaga County (S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., New York, 1908), Vol. II PP 290-292
Syracuse Standard, July 26, 1896
Syracuse Herald and Syracuse Journal articles, July 25, 1896
Syracuse Journal, May 16, 1924
