In the early 1940s William M. Rittase was hired by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) to produce photographs for use in marketing, advertising, and public relations.
Rittase was an accomplished photographer best known for his work with Fortune magazine in the 1930s. His work is now considered among some of the best and most artistic depictions of American industry. Yet he is little known outside of certain art circles and very little is known about his personal history. He passed away in 1968 in near obscurity with a published obituary of only a few lines.
His legacy is his photographs. He described his photographic philosophy this way:
“The photograph must be of something of close interest to the reader, perhaps possessing human emotions, naturalness, strength of portrayal, and an unusual viewpoint.”
Those photographs are now the subject of a new book, William Rittase, Photographer and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, published by the Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Society with the help of a Virginia Humanities grant.
Here, we present a selection of photos from the book taken in Richmond, Newport News, Clifton Forge, Lee Hall, and Covington Virginia. To see more of his work and learn more about Rittase, purchase a copy of the book from the C&O Historical Society.
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C&O Track workers repairing rail near Lee Hall, Va. Station in 1943. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-41) -
Conductor checking passenger tickets and Main Street Station, Richmond, Va. on July 26, 1943. Mtain Street Station served both the trains operating on the C&O east-west and the Seaboard Air Line Ry. operating North-South. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-43) -
A yard crew discusses work assignments at Newport News in 1944. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-119) -
Telegraph operator Etta Hurt hands train orders to veteran engineer Beauregard Doggett at the Covington, Va. station in 1942. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-57-40) -
The “section” force is seen here out on the C&O main line just west of Clifton Forge in 1942. American railways were almost all divided into “sections” for maintenance (called Maintenance-of-Way or MofW). A number of men and a foreman were assigned to each section for daily maintenance. The length on a heavily-traveled main line might be an assignment of 8-10 men for 3-4 miles of line, but on a lightly traveled branch line maybe only 3-4 men for 9-10 miles of line. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-57-43) -
Soldiers returning from Europe in July 1945 have just debarked from a transport at C&O piers in Newport News, Va. and are boarding ancient wooden cars that Chesapeake & Ohio had activated during the war emergency when there was a great shortage of cars. They are inside one of the railway’s merchandise piers. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-57-143) -
William Rittase was a master at posing evocative photos. Here he has especially lighted the cab of an H-8 Allegheny-type locomotive as the engineer peers ahead and the fireman checks the firebox in this photo from 1945. Of course, in reality, he was taking the photo as the engine stood still in the Clifton Forge, Va. terminal, yet he gave it life, spirit, movement, and energy. (William rittase, C&O Ry. Photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR -87) -
Overhead view of the C&O roundhouse engine terminal at Clifton Forge, Va. in July 1944. The two big locomotives (Nos. 1622 and 1627) were H-8 class Allegheny types. They had a wheel arrangement of 2-6-6-6 and were the most powerful steam locomotives (in point of developed drawbar horsepower) of any ever built, anywhere. They weighed over 1,250,000 pounds and were used principally on the C&O main line west of Clifton Forge, Va. over Alleghany Mountain to Hinton, W. Va. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-82) -
The engine-ready tracks were crowded with locomotives being readied for the wartime work in this photo taken at Clifton Forge, Va. in 1944. C&O was dispatching a train every 15 minutes from Clifton Forge during this era. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-77) -
C&O train crew resting between runs at the Clifton Forge, Va. YMCA in 1944. C&O and the Railroad YMCA Division provided clean, comfortable quarters for crews resting away from the home terminal and served excellent food at all its terminals. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-135) -
A wartime scene as passengers wait to board C&O Train No. 47, The Sportsman, at the passenger station/pier at Newport News in 1944. The Sportsman operated from Newport News to Cincinnati, Louisville, and Detroit. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR 209) -
C&O brakeman signals from a caboose as a freight train leaves Fulton Yard in Richmond, Va. in 1943. C&O was kept very busy delivering a monumental amount of freight during the war. (William Rittase, C&O Ry. photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-9)
