Intermission, Pt 2

At one time all of these chapters were available on line, although you had to pay to see them.  I ended that about two years ago due to lack of interest.  I never was a good self-marketer !  I have no idea how many hours I spent setting each of those sixty-one separate segments up and then selecting and scanning the individual photos and maps. That was THEN.

Now I am editing those same original chapters. Each time I go back I find more that has to be redone. The version I have is NOT the final version. That is held by Publications-Consultants, who did not provide me with that copy (I would have to purchase my OWN work from them !).  Because this is not the final edited copy there are plenty of grammatical errors, including problems with sentence structure, repeats of words and just plain bad writing.  As I catch these, I correct them. That means that this version will be different from the one that appears in book form--it should be  BETTER !   My apologies that some of what you read might be a little rough. I am getting to it as I can, but it will all take some time. Meanwhile I am simply posting what I have and hoping I don't need to make too many corrections !

Then there is the photograph editing. First I have to select which photos to use. I consult the novel to see what I use there. In most cases I use those images and select others as well that fit in but did not appear in the original two editions. I locate these images on my library and then scan them if they are from the old photo collection, or recopy them if they are from the more recent electronic files I maintain. I have hundreds upon hundreds of these images, so I have considerable work simply in locating the image files I intend to use.

EVERY single photo has to be re-scanned (or recopied if on electronic file), and often photo-edited for clarity (adjustment of contrast and sharpness and sometimes the use of the Gaussian-blur function).  Then each new file  is presented in a larger format than  I made available before. The old ones were no more than 1200 pixels wide and sometimes those photos were only 800 pixels wide or less in their largest form. By contrast, these newly scanned images are typically 2250 pixels across. Some are 3000 pixels-wide or more, if the photo warrants it due to the detail that may be present in some of them.  Then I cut a smaller version, usually 800 pixels wide. This is the one you first see on the post. I then take that image and reduce it further, usually to 640 pixels wide,  in order to meet the limitations of this blog set-up.

I like the 800 pixel width because it offers better clarity. This is the preferred size I will use elsewhere. And these, in turn, will link directly to the larger images which range from 1600 to 3000 pixels wide, depending on the nature and origin of the photo.  I store these images on line in one of two sites I maintain. I store most of my newer scans on my personal website, http://copperraildepot.com. The rest are located in my Photobucket account. This means that after scanning each image, I must upload the two sizes (and sometimes a third thumbnail size) to one of the two websites before I link the images to the relevant individual posts in this blog.

The original hard copy photos then have to be refiled in their respective albums, of which I have many. The typical photo is an 8 X 10. I acquired those when they were far more affordable back in the early 1990s. I also obtained a set of smaller ones, mostly 4 X 6s, from the Cordova Museum back in 2004. These are still large enough to enable me to obtain good electronic copies. On this blog you will not be able to tell the difference.

These are exceptional quality photos, not just in their technical detail, but in their unique perspective. You will not find anything else like this on the topic of Kennecott, its CRNW Railway and the Native people of the time anywhere else.

Thus, each chapter I present represents a considerable amount of new work before you see it. Often I will spend all day on just one chapter, although I have done two chapters in one day before, but that is very time-consuming.  Then I go back and link them together, chapter to chapter. And, finally, I create a master list which I present on this blog from time to time, moving it up to the top as I add chapters. The latest version also includes a thumbnail photo for each chapter that is also directly linked to the specific chapter represented by the photo.

Thank you for becoming a part of my historic project by reading this blog.

My regards,

Ron

Go to: chapter listing

Below: The author signing his historic novel and presenting it to Rick Schroeder in 2007: