Item 1: Click for Image

This is a view of the Southern Railway passenger station at Birmingham, Alabama. The street at the bottom of the photo is 2nd Avenue North and is very heavily traveled by motorists and pedestrians. Considerable switching is carried out over this crossing and a lookout is necessary from both sides of the locomotive. The switches here are electronically controlled and many of the lights that govern the movement of the engine are on the left side. The fireman must therefore relay the signal to the engineer. The engine in the left center is working along the side of the platform where passengers get on and off trains. The engineer could not see if someone were to fall or step on the track from the left.