PITTSFIELD — Back in 1990, a framed image of a brown-haired, stone-faced mustachioed conductor standing in front of a trolley landed in a trash bin at Vicon Industries.

Something about it caught the eye of Henry Cadorette Jr., then a welder who worked there. He dove for it and kept it.

On second look, Cadorette was surprised to find Pittsfield as the destination on the top front of the trolley. He also hadn’t noticed that the trolley man’s hat bears the name Adams in a florid and not easily read gold cursive.

This is a detail from the apparently colorized image of a conductor that Henry Cadorette Jr. would like to return to the owner or his family.

Now retired, 36 years later, Cadorette is in the midst of a relocation. In his moving, the image resurfaced, still safely tucked behind curved glass in a painted oblong frame.

Cadorette hopes to reunite the image, which appears to be a colorized photograph, with the conductor or his family.

The backing is loose, and behind the image is an undated yellow piece of newspaper likely from an Oregon publication.

There’s been a bit of water damage to the back of the photograph, but other than a bit of cracking, it’s in decent shape.

The word Pittsfield can be seen at the top of this image of a trolley.

The newspaper behind the image appears to date to May 1, 1939. It’s the bottom of the sports page with stocks on the flip side. Among the headlines are the following: “Fraley to Meet Cantonwine Next In Mat Contest,” “Deaf School Team Winner in 5-Way Track, Field Meet,” “Centralia Beats Longview.”

“I’d really like to get it back to the family,” he said.

This isn't the first time Cadorette has tried to reunite a lost item with its owner.

He’s a treasure hunter who’s found several rings at the bottom of local lakes including class rings, which he’s been able to return to their owners.

A year ago, using a metal detector, he found a 1963 14-karat gold wedding ring at the bottom of Onota Lake. It was inscribed with “Love Forever, Dick,” and the date 08/31/1963, but that one is still awaiting reclamation by its owner.

In 2015, Cadorette returned a 1946 Naval Academy ring to John Quallen, whose wife lost it when she dove into Laurel Lake in Lee.

By Jenn Smith

[email protected] @JennSmith_Ink on Twitter

Cadorette was first introduced to a metal detector when he was 14 years old. His father gave him his own for his 15th birthday. Since then, he’s gone through about 25 of them.

Among his best finds are a set of 1786 cufflinks inscribed with the name William Pitt, who helped incite the Boston Tea Party.

He’s also found a set of false teeth, and from a cellar hole he unearthed a 1759 Spanish Reale, or piece of 8.