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Of Time and the Railroad

Southern Pacific Cab-Ahead 4274 passes Rocklin, California on November 30, 1957, headed for Donner Summit.

It’s the last day of November in the foothills of the California Sierra-Nevada and remarkably warm for the time of year. The station-board by the main line reads “Rocklin.” There is no longer a station building here but you can usually spot the location of a former Southern Pacific station by the presence of a mature palm tree, and in 1957 Rocklin has a fine specimen.

At one time, this was a staging point for the long climb to Donner Summit, but its roundhouse and its busy turntable are long gone. In 1957 Rocklin is a quiet, peaceful and unspoilt place. (Today, in 2022, there is an elevated highway interchange at this location.) On either side of the tracks a few wildflowers mix with the tall grasses, including some California poppies which have been dormant over the hottest months of the Summer. Jointed rails creak in the midday heat.

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Editors Notebook

One of the joys of photography, and for that matter, of all art, is that it gives us a glimpse of the world through another person’s eyes. Railfans and photography seem to go hand-in-hand, but there is a broader community of photographers out there who may not be train geeks but are attracted to the visual riches of railroads. Nick Carver is a professional architectural photographer with a YouTube channel that I follow and enjoy, and he recently published a video about a day spent in the desert photographing trains. He is a photo geek, not a railfan, and his unusual take on a subject that is so familiar to railfans is both entertaining and instructive.

Nick shoots in a wide variety of formats with cameras that range from Polaroids view cameras. We all enjoy the railfans take on photography. Here is a photographer’s take on railroads.

Edd Fuller, Editor

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Editor’s Notebook

Print Exchange

While we all enjoy the ease and benefits of sharing our work online, there is still an important place in the world of photography for the print that you can hold in your hand and display in your home. So, as an experiment, I would like to exchange prints with you. I know that not everyone prints their work, but I am hoping that some of you will be willing to share your printed work with me in exchange for one of my prints.

Here is how it will work.

I am offering one of two prints of my own work.

Waiting – East Broad Top
Empty Station – Pleasant Valley, Virginia

If you would like to participate, choose one of these two prints and I will mail my print to you along with my return address so that you can send me your print. There is no cost to you other than the cost of producing and mailing your print.

The two prints I am offering are both inkjet printed on 8-1/2 X 11 Canon Premium Matte paper. One is in color and the other is black and white. There are no restrictions on size, paper or subject for your print. The only requirement is that it be a physical print, not a digital file.

I am not sure what the response to this might be, so I am limiting the exchange to the first twelve people who request it. Email me at editor@thetracksidephotographer.com, indicate your choice of print, and include your mailing address. I will send the print out to you along with instructions for mailing your print to me.

The exchange will end on October 1st. I hope you will consider taking part in this. I would love to see some of your work in printed form.

Edd Fuller, Editor
editor@thetracksidephotographer.com

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Richard Steinheimer

Iconic photographer’s work joins North America’s largest archive of significant railroad photography and artwork

A Southern Pacific track worker walks the tracks near San Francisco’s Bayshore Yard in January 1950. Photograph by Richard Steinheimer

The Center for Railroad Photography & Art recently announced that it has acquired the majority of the photography collection of Richard Steinheimer, one of the world’s greatest rail photographers, who blazed a trail of creativity across California and the American West for six decades and inspired generations of photographers. The collection includes nearly all of Steinheimer’s color photography, a vast collection of his majestic black and white prints, plus black and white negatives and scans, exhibition prints, and more.

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Talking Pictures  Quick Take

In this short video, we look at a photograph by Walker Evans, who visited Edwards, Mississippi in 1936. From an elevated vantage point above the railroad tracks, he photographs the tracks running through town and creates an evocative portrait of a small southern town. Along with other photographers working under the auspices of the Farm Security Administration during the depression, Evans produced some of the most memorable images from this troubled time, work that assured his place among the master of American photography.

Edd Fuller, Editor

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Editor’s Notebook

Haystacks

Claude Monet – Haystack

You may be wondering what haystacks have to do with railroads and photography. I am going to get to that, but first let me explain how I think that looking at a wide variety of art and artists can bring new ideas and spark creativity in our own work. As photographers, we often become mildly obsessed with the latest gear and techniques that promise to “level up” our photography.

There is nothing wrong with gear and technique. They are essential to our craft, but they are only part of the picture. As we educate ourselves about the craft of photography, we must not neglect to train our eyes. We can do that not only by studying the work of other photographers, but also by looking at and learning from all the visual arts. Stepping outside the world of railroad photography, our visual sensibility is enhanced when we see the world through the eyes of artists working in different media. I love to look at and study the work of the great railroad photographers, but I also explore and learn from the work of “non-railroad” photographers and other visual artists. Learning to see is a lifelong journey.

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