⇒ Michael Appleby
Mike Appleby is an avid railroad enthusiast who grew up in Florida’s panhandle and has called south Mississippi home for the last few years. Along with being a railfan, Mike has enjoyed photographing trains and many aspects of railroading over the years and also enjoys working in the industry. He’s worked in the industry on a railgrinder, under cutter and recently for Reborn Rock and is currently employed as a trackman. Along with railroading, he enjoys firearms and spending time with family. You can find him at csxtman.rrpicturearchives.net
⇒ Bryan Bechtold
An Illinois native, Bryan Bechtold spent many formative years in Belgium where he gained an appreciation for sleek European railways with electric traction. Returning to Illinois, his first American railroad culture encounter was with the phlegmatic Rock Island, near death in 1976. It was rust at first sight. This pairing of disparate interests has led him to capture the visual stories of both the marginal and the modern. Bryan has presented programs for both Winterail and Summerail. He is a frequent host/ski bum aboard Amtrak’s Winter Park Express and resides in Denver, Colorado, with his family.
⇒ Doug Bess
Doug Bess grew up in the Kanawha Valley town of Nitro, West Virginia during the 1950s and 60s. Fascinated with railroading since he can remember, Doug began taking pictures at age 18 and has done so intermittently through the years. He retired from Norfolk Southern Railway in 2003 and retired from his consulting business, Kanawha Technical Services, Inc., in 2016. Doug and his wife Marcelle live in the Atlanta area and when not taking train photos and videos, including those from the drone, they enjoy spending time with their grandchildren. Doug has many train videos under his name on YouTube plus he is active on Facebook.
⇒ Steve Boyko
Steve Boyko is a train geek and a computer geek. He moved from train-less Fredericton, New Brunswick to train-rich Winnipeg, Manitoba and is slowly being assimilated as a Westerner. He writes at Confessions of a Train Geek and Manitoba Grain Elevators and is active on Facebook and Instagram.
⇒ Glen Brewer
Glen Brewer grew up watching steam trains in the western suburbs of Chicago. When they started to disappear, it became a passion to see and capture what was left. It was then that he discovered the wealth of what remained of Colorado's narrow gauge empire.
Glen is the founder and editor of RailroadGloryDays.com and RailroadGloryDays on Facebook—both share photographs and memories of railroad's Glory Days.
⇒ Michael Brotzman
Michael Brotzman is a PRR and signaling enthusiast from Southern New Jersey. He is a proud member of the West Jersey chapter NRHS and has been running the annual SEPTA Mid-Winter fan trip since 2001.
⇒ SR Bush
SR Bush has been interested in railroads almost from birth. His earliest memory is aboard the SP/CRIP's Golden State as a three year old. From that foundation SR has explored nearly every aspect of our hobby: pestering station agents as a kid, model railroading, hopping freight trains, restoring & operating a Fairmont motorcar, exploring and documenting long abandoned RoW's, and firing an occasional steam locomotive. Railroading has also been his livelihood: A year touring with the American Freedom Train as the Assistant Curator, followed by 32 years with Amtrak On Board Services. And all along the way, SR carried a camera. Today SR and his wife Trisha divide their time between their two homes: Winter/Spring on Donner Pass in Dutch Flat, California, Summer/Fall aboard the Good Boat MARIKA PAIGE sailing out of Santa Barbara, California, where the couple grew up.
⇒ Keith Clouse
Keith, a photographer with interests in transportation and heavy industry, is retired and living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife Norma and a houseful of rescued felines. He volunteers at a local historical site helping to preserve the rich heritage of the industrial age in Pittsburgh.
⇒ Peter Conlon
As a kid in New England in the 1950’s, Pete Conlon was drawn to the railroad and hung around wherever there were tracks. He rode the New Haven and the Pennsy between Pennsylvania and Massachusetts after his family moved to Philadelphia for a few years and then back to Rhode Island and then western Mass for high school and the B&A, NH, B&M, and CV. His dream job opened up at the AAR in Washington DC in 1978 and later in Pueblo CO at the TTC. Retired for quite a few years, he works as a contractor to the KCS in the environmental and hazmat areas. He has a lot of slides and negatives and some stories to tell.
⇒ Michael L. Cougill
Michael grew up watching a daily parade of trains on the Pennsylvania Railroad line in Centerville, Indiana in the 1960-70s and that planted the seeds for a lifetime fascination with railroading. He is the owner of OST Publications, a small press serving model makers with a focus on craftsmanship. Visit his Facebook page here.
⇒ John Cowgill
John spent his early years in a small town outside of Washington D.C. called Colmar Manor, Maryland, a town surrounded by three railroad lines. He enjoys watching the trains roll by while waiting at the railroad crossings, and enjoys riding trains as well. Railroads is one of his main passions. You can see his photos on Facebook at John Cowgill: DC Railroad Examiner, and you can read his articles at https://johncowgillstoriesoftherailroad.com. John also enjoys traveling, road trips, seeing historic sites to include railroad sites and taking many photos.
⇒ Travis Dewitz
Travis Dewitz is known for his unique railroad photography. Many of his photos are taken with an artistic approach and vision to create stunning images that stand apart from the rest. He is especially well known for his railroad and train storm photography and other adverse weather elements. Amazing lighting and strong composition are key components to his railroad photography. See more of his work at https://www.travisdewitz.com/
⇒ Thomas Dyrek
At the time of this writing (2021), Thomas Dyrek is a senior in high school. He's been writing for various magazines and journals about Illinois and Indiana railroad history since 2015, and recently completed his first book, Central Illinois Train Depots. When not in school or typing up his next article, he can be found trackside with his trusty Nikon D3200 photographing area trains and railroads. He also enjoys playing video games with friends, model railroading, slide and negative collecting, and playing with his cats. It is his hope to have a career in the railroad publishing industry.
⇒ Robert Field
Robert Field is a landscape photographer (robert@robertfieldphotography.co.uk) who also has a background in academic life and London newspapers. He encountered steam railroads like the Norfolk and Western and Canadian National when his father was a mining agent in the 1950s, and moving house (and continents) gave him a lifelong photographic interest in portraying a settled sense of place. He lives with his wife, their two energetic collies (and two cats with attitude) in rural North Yorkshire and his landscape pictures are in a number of libraries, museums and private collections.
⇒ Paul Flaherty
Paul Flaherty grew up in Riverdale, Illinois, a location of many railroads, and remembers steam power from his early years. Paul’s interest in trains came at a very early age from his father who worked in Chicago for the ICRR in the Traffic Dept. His fondest memory was to travel with his dad on the N&W’s J-Class powered Pocahontas at age 12 in 1957, a railroad at that time that was virtually 100% steam. As a teen, Paul enjoyed steam powered fan trips along with a buddy who had similar interests. Paul’s train interests were revived upon his retirement. Today Paul enjoys railroad photography, fan trips, memorabilia & books, and is involved in many RR internet sites.
⇒ Ron Flanary
Ron Flanary is a veteran writer, photographer and occasional artist with nearly 200 story bylines in periodicals such as Trains, Classic Trains, Railfan & Railroad, CTC Board, Passenger Train Journal, and magazines for several historical groups. He also authored or co-authored eight books. In the evenings he worked as a contract janitor for the Southern and Interstate his last two years in college and spent a year with the Southern as a management trainee. Ron retired in 2008 after a career as an economic developer. He lives in Big Stone Gap, Virginia with his wife, Wilma, and two dogs.
⇒ James Fouchard
James Fouchard has worked as a professional set designer and scenic artist for over 45 years, creating designs for over 300 productions in regional, national touring, opera and educational theater. His interest in railroads started very early in his childhood, and a handful of brief summer visits with the station agent, manning the old Illinois Central depot in his grandmother’s small town, cemented his interest in railroad stations. Little did he know that, while admiring veteran Disney artist Ward Kimball’s backyard railroad with his full-size 19th century steam locomotive, rolling stock and flag-stop depot, Fouchard would one day own his own little Victorian gem of a railroad station.
⇒ Michael Froio
Michael is a professional photographer who teaches at the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He has received several grants and fellowships including a two-year Career Development Fellowship and Alumni Travel Grant with the Center for Emerging Visual Artists as well as a 2009 Individual Artist Fellowship from the New Jersey Council on the Arts. Michael has published articles with the National Railway Historical Society and presented lectures for the Center for Railroad Photography and Art, The Library Company of Philadelphia and various Chapters of the National Railway Historical Society.
⇒ Edd Fuller
Edd Fuller has been taking pictures of trains on and off since 1972. After spending over thirty years in the printing and publishing business, he began a second career as a software developer. Now retired, Edd lives in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and edits The Trackside Photographer.
⇒ Eric Gagnon
Eric Gagnon was born in Montreal, Quebec and has lived in Kingston, Ontario most of his life. Much time was spent trackside when not in school, college or practising as a medical laboratory technologist. Married with two children, Eric is also an HO-scale modeller, musician, avid reader and blogger, having launched his Canadian railfan blog Trackside Treasure in 2008. Eric's first book Trackside with VIA:The First 35 Years, published in 2011, was followed by two more in 2012: Trackside with VIA:Cross-Canada Compendium and Consist Companion.
⇒ Jeff Garrison
Jeff Garrison is a Presbyterian minister in Laurel Fork, Virginia and serves Bluemont and Mayberry Presbyterian Churches. Both are historic rock churches located along the Blue Ridge Parkway. He has enjoyed enjoyed riding trains ever since his kindergarten class took a short ride on an old Seaboard Air Line train and was privileged to tour the mail car. He has taken the train across much of the United States and in a number of Asian countries. In 2011, he traveled overland, mainly by train, from Singapore to Europe. He enjoys slow travel, whether by foot, boat, car or train. The sight of tracks excites his wanderlust. Jeff can be found on Facebook and maintains a public blog, thepulpitandthepen.com.
⇒ Tom Gatermann
Tom Gatermann lives in Nashville, Tennessee and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. His love of railroading was passed down to him from his father and paternal grandfather. Tom began taking photographs when he was 7 years old and has never stopped. He worked as a forensic photographer for many years before taking on his current role as a stay-at-home dad with his newborn daughter. His interests include information security, photography of all sorts (not just railroad related), and spending as much time with his daughter as possible. Tom currently posts his work on his Google+ page.
⇒ William Gill
William Gill lives a few blocks from the CSX yard in Troy, New York.
Since high school, Gill has had a passion for night photography,
starting with landscapes and abandoned buildings before moving indoors
to photograph concerts and dance parties. The sounds of a local
working the yard in Troy pulled him outside to photograph trains
moving through the built environment at night—a combination of night
photography and the lighting techniques he used in college to
photograph model trains for the historically-minded model railroad
club at RPI. Web: http://trainsatnight.com/ - Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/william_c_gill/
⇒ Gordon Glattenberg
Gordon Glattenberg is a native of Southern California and has been photographing trains since 1955. He enjoys travel and has been to 50 states and 45 countries. He has a mechanical engineering degree from Caltech and is a retired aerospace engineer.
⇒ Richard Glueck
Richard Glueck grew up near the tracks of the Long Island Rail Road, where he witnessed the final runs of steam in the early 1950's. A middle school science teacher by profession, he helped to organize the New England Steam Corporation in 2013, serving as its president until this past August. Dick's an active 1/8th live steamer and is currently completing a railroad on his property near Bangor, Maine.
⇒ Steve Goch
Steve has always had wanderlust, and traveled all over the world for pleasure. He especially loved riding trains in any country he visited. Life is funny, though, because he met Kathy, who shares his love of travel, and they were married in Greece on the Island of Santorini in 2007. He enjoys sharing her experiences in their travels, to see them in a new perspective and sense of history. All the stories of his and their travels are on their website: http://www.stevekathytravels.com/
⇒ Gary Grady
Dr. Grady is a professor of psychology, author, and photographer. Raised in a military family stationed around the world, he developed a great love for travel early in life. He did post-doctoral studies at Oxford and his speaking engagements have taken him to places like the United Kingdom, Europe and South Africa. His and his wife’s favorite adventures have been in the UK where they have traveled regularly for over 25 years. He has been writing articles for over 50 years on a wide range of subjects, many illustrated with his photography.
⇒ Justin Hamel
Justin Hamel is a documentary and editorial photographer based in El Paso, Texas. In 2012, Justin graduated from the New England School of Photography with a focus on Architectural and Documentary Photography. Since then he has photographed ad campaigns and personal stories alike throughout North and Central America. Photographs of his are held in the permanent collection at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies and West Virginia University.
⇒ Oren B. Helbok
Oren grew up in the Bronx and with his father, John (WhereSteamLives.net/john-e-helbok), he experienced some of the early excursion era glory, chasing High Iron Company trips from age 3. Since age 6, Oren has made photographs, predominately trains, predominately steam, from approximately coast to coast and in Canada and Great Britain. In recent years he has come to appreciate that "railroading" includes much more than just hardware, namely the landscapes and the people surrounding the trains. Oren writes stories to accompany his photos because, he believes, "sometimes a picture needs a thousand words." See and read more at WhereSteamLives.net.
⇒ Samuel E. Howard
Samuel Howard is an award-winning fine art railroad photographer based in Centennial, Colorado. As one looks at Samuel's work, they experience the sounds, smells and beauty of our treasured West. Samuel photographs all over the state of Colorado where steam engines on the narrow gauge are still king. Other than Denver’s Union Station his favorite place to go is still the Durango Silverton. Samuel is the sole artist in the Caboose Gallery which is housed in an authentic 1880s Chicago/Burlington/Quincy wooden caboose in Littleton, Colorado. The atmosphere is a perfect locale for his color and black and white railroad images. You can see Samuel's work at his website www.trainroomphotography.com where there is information about The Caboose Gallery and links to his Facebook and Instagram pages.
⇒ Bob Hughes
Bob caught the railfan and photo bug at Colby College, and hasn’t been without a camera since. MEC’s Waterville Yard was a hangout in the 1960’s, followed by nine years on the New Haven and LIRR, including two years active duty as a US Navy Photographer’s Mate on the USS Intrepid. Bob left railroading in 1977, and retired from a career in magazine printing and production in 2008. Summer days find him enjoying retirement with his wife Lynn and boating on Narragansett Bay in Warren, RI, while winter leaves time for scanning slide collections for friends and family, and needle-pointing.
⇒ Danny Johnson
Danny is a native of Wesson, Mississippi on the former Illinois Central's Chicago to New Orleans mainline where he developed an interest in trains and railroading. Relocating to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the early 1980s, he spends time in almost every genre of photography except sports. He holds a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State University and is a retired Professional Engineer in Mechanical Engineering and Fire Protection Engineering. Many of his images may be viewed on PBase, at http://www.pbase.com/djp571309.
⇒ William R. Jolitz
Bill Jolitz has never not been fascinated with railroading. It started with simple train-watching. In 1962, he landed outside of Cincinnati, on the B&O mainline. The station agent in Madiera, Nelson Stewart, took him under his wings and taught him the art of railroading, as did all other railroaders in the area. Pure JOY! He started his professional life as a photographer, but an MBA took him into business. After a total of 20 years in Saudi Arabia, he retired. He has always photographed trains, railroad infrastructure and people. His work has appeared in both American and British magazines.
⇒ Dylan Jones
Dylan is a Meridian, Mississippi native where two Class One railroads cross, the KCS and Norfolk Southern. He developed an interest in trains as a child when his grandfather and father helped him build his first model railroad in the basement. As an adult, Dylan never pursued a career in the railroad industry, but did get into transportation and has worked for McElroy Truck Lines out of Cuba, Alabama for the last five years. Many of Dylan's images can be viewed on his Flickr page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/agsrailfan/
⇒ Phil Jordan
Philip R. Jordan is a native Vermonter whose careers have included 30 years as a salesman for a commercial/wholesale photo lab, travelling throughout New England. He afterward worked for Vermont Magazine, retiring as its editor-in-chief and publisher in 2019. He has written books on transportation subjects (Rutland in Color, Morning Sun Press, 2003), has been a columnist for This Old Truck magazine, and Old Cars Weekly. His first crime novel, As Crooked as They Come, was published in 2021 and the second, Booze, Bullets and Brothers in the Kingdom, is slated for publication in 2023.
⇒ David Kahler
In 1937, David Kahler was propped up in his baby carriage on the front porch of his family’s row house Baltimore, Maryland for the purpose of entertaining the enfant terrible while his mother took a nap. She never realized at the time how this once a day act would have a lifetime impact on her son’s life. Her son loved to watch the endless passing of clanging streetcars below. He was mesmerized with the sight of steel wheels pounding on shiny steel rails. From the very beginning his passion for streetcars or trains never abated. Today, 79 years later, he has continued to channel this lifetime interest into railroad photography that is predicated upon the art of place. His professional career as an architect instilled within his soul a strong need to respect context in terms of architecture or railroads, whether they be urban or rural settings. Mr. Kahler spent his professional life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin while his artistic foundation was minted early on in southeastern Pennsylvania along the lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Reading Railroad. He now resides in Fearrington Village adjacent to Chapel Hill, NC.
⇒ Matthew Kierstead
Matt Kierstead hails from southern New England where he grew up with changing railroading under Penn Central and Conrail. He enjoys a lifelong interest in art, architecture, geology, heavy industry and transportation and associated landscapes. Following that passion led him to an MA in Public History from West Virginia University where he was exposed to regional coal mines and steel mills. He spent a summer documenting the East Broad Top Railroad for the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER.) Matt worked in historical preservation and cultural resource management for 20 years before moving to the Hudson River valley in 2011 and starting his own industrial history documentation and interpretation business, Milestone Heritage Consulting. He continues to enjoy rail-related projects like HAER documentation of the Erie Railroad’s Portage Viaduct.
⇒ Dan Kittay
Dan Kittay is a writer, photographer and web developer living in upstate New York. His love of trains came early in life from his father, and he has been photographing them ever since. An earlier career as an editor saw him traveling throughout the country for annual conventions, and he often tacked a day or two onto trips to shoot photographs and videos of trains in different settings, capturing many of today’s fallen flags. Dan has recently been working on mobile app development, and creating a project that combines his interests in trains and photography.
⇒ Stuart Klipper
Stuart Klipper has now been making his photographs for nearly fifty years; it was initially a boyhood hobby. Photography, for him, has become primarily a way to get a handle on the world; what is in it, and how it is for us. He often likes to say that he just basically goes out, looks around, and sees what's there. He has done this in places widely across the planet. He can lay claim to being one of approximately four hundred people that have ever stood at both Poles. The photos in this selection were all made with a Linhof Technorama.
⇒ Richard Koenig
Born in 1960, Richard Koenig received his BFA from Pratt Institute. In 1998 he received his MFA from Indiana University and began teaching art and photography courses at Kalamazoo College, Michigan. His work, Photographic Prevarications, was shown in six one-person exhibits in as many years (2007 to 2012). In the summer of 2010 he began working on a long-term documentary project called Contemporary Views Along the First Transcontinental Railroad.
⇒ Dennis Livesey
Livesey’s mother introduced him to trains and his father did the same with photography. After New York University, he became a motion picture camera assistant for 35 years working on such shows as “Hart To Hart,” “The Wire” and “Law & Order”. After moving to camera retail, he got more into railroading, not only as a photographer but as a volunteer railroader. His proudest achievement is the critically acclaimed book “Smoke Over Steamtown.” Find his work with a Google search and at Liveseyimages.com. He lives in New York City with his love, wife Mel.
⇒ John Longhurst
John Longhurst is a railfan and model railroader in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Articles and photos of his layout have been published in Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, Canadian Railway Modeller and Model Railroad Hobbyist. He blogs about railways and model railroading at http://cprailmmsub.blogspot.ca/. Whenever he can, and it is convenient, he takes VIA Rail for business travel.
⇒ Matthew Malkiewicz
Matthew Malkiewicz resides in New Jersey, where he is the senior designer for an instrumentation/electrical/process control engineering firm. Matthew’s fascination with trains started at the age of four months by watching a toy train run around the Christmas tree; he has been hooked ever since. His passionate hobby is to travel and capture the country’s modern-day tourist steam operations. Vacations are now planned around and spent photographing special railroad related events, private train photo charters, museums, and historical places. His entire portfolio can be viewed at: www.losttracksoftime.com
⇒ Rick Malo
Rick Malo is a lifelong railfan and native Texan who grew up in 1960s Houston within earshot of Southern Pacific F-units and Black Widows rumbling down the Sunset Route through the southwest side of town. His love of trains was ushered along by his mother, Eileen, who worked at the main information desk in Chicago's Union Station during the WWII years, and made sure that in his younger years Rick was always supplied with wonderful railroad books from the Houston Public Library system, namely Lucius Beebe's "The Central Pacific and the Southern Pacific Railroads," of which a copy signed by Beebe is among his most prized possessions. Rick now lives in Midland, Texas along Union Pacific's former T&P mainline. A late-comer to the rail photography scene, Rick's work can be seen at https://onhighiron.com and on Facebook at On High Iron.
⇒ Dan Maners
Dan started out on Penn Central in April 1973 as a trainman then conductor. He was promoted to engineer in 1987 under Conrail and finished his career in 2013 under CSX. He was bitten by the tower bug in the mid 80's. Dan maintains the website North American Interlockings.
⇒ John Marvig
John Marvig has had an interest in bridges and railroads since he was a little kid. Born and raised in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, he began photographing historic railroad bridges when he was in 6th grade. Since then, he has continued taking pictures throughout the Midwest. He will be attending Iowa State University for Civil Engineering starting in the fall of 2016, and currently runs his own site: Johnmarvigbridges.org
⇒ Christopher May
Chris was born in Aurora, IL and learned to love rail-fanning at the Burlington Northern's Eola yard. He has enjoyed photography since he received his first point and shoot camera when he was nine years old. Today he enjoys shooting with both film and digital cameras. He currently works as an estimator for a steel construction company and lives in Pueblo, CO.
⇒ Mary McPherson
Mary McPherson blames Captain Kangaroo for being bitten by the railfan bug at an early age. She started playing with tape recorders and cameras by the age of nine. By 11, she had turned her lens and microphone to the rails, with predictable results for the combination of inexperience and lousy gear. Mary has been a professional railroader for nearly twenty years and is also the writer, editor, producer, and main videographer/sound engineer for Diverging Clear Productions. She says “at least that degree in radio/television production has gotten a little use.” When not working on the railroad, photographing or producing programs about them, Mary also enjoys writing and recording as a closet musician.
⇒ Eric Miller
Eric is a lifelong resident of Southwest Virginia, and currently lives on a mountaintop near Wise, Virginia with his wife Rhonda, son (and budding railroad photographer) Tristan, and three mischievous cats. Eric has been a railfan since childhood, and has had his photography and writing published in Railfan & Railroad, Railroads Illustrated, Railroad Explorer, and The Railroad Press magazines. His poetry and photography have appeared on the Lightsource Photographers Railroad Page. See more of Eric's work at https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericmiller72
⇒ Frank Mills
"Trains," according to Frank’s mom, was one of the first words out of his mouth. As a youngster, he was given a Brownie Box Camera, and you can just imagine the results. Trains are still much on Frank's mind these days, although the camera has become more sophisticated. Frank is intrigued by what railroad and trackside culture can teach us about who we are as a people. As a photographer Frank seeks to use his photography to explore this question from a "present-day historical perspective." See more of Frank's work on his Website and Facebook Page.
⇒ Andrew Morang
Andrew Morang grew up in Greece, southeast Asia, and Massachusetts, and now is a retired geologist living in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He became interested in photography in the 1960s, when his father showed him how to use his Leica Camera. Andrew's main photographic interests are urban decay, the deterioration of homes, factories, schools, railroads, and other creations of society that have been abandoned and left to decay. Many of these constructs are eventually razed, and people soon forget what they looked like or what they represented in their prime. Andrew has continued to use film along along with digital capture, and recently, with the luxury of post-retirement freedom, is using film more and more. For urban decay topics, the traditional black and white silver image looks right. He writes the blog Urban Decay
⇒ John Mueller
A native of New York City, John Mueller spent large parts of his childhood at 97th Street and Park Avenue, watching trains enter and emerge from the tunnel to Grand Central Terminal. John relocated to the Pacific Northwest to work for the Burlington Northern, but his dream to enter train service was dashed by a recession and BN’s merger with the SLSF Railroad. Educational preparation for John’s ultimate career was largely funded by the railroad’s offer to “buy” his job as an extra board clerk. John became a Registered Nurse, recently retiring after 33 years.
⇒ Tom Nanos
Tom Nanos is a life-long resident of eastern Connecticut, mainly focusing on documenting the railroads that travel through southern New England. Interested in both railroads and photography in his teens (late 1970s-early 1980s), he never put the two together until about 2001. In the 16 or so years he has been photographing railroads, his work has appeared in a number of magazines including Trains, Railfan & Railroad, Railroads Illustrated, Railroad Explorer, as well as in books and calendars. In real life, he is a husband and father of two teenaged daughters, and is a content management platform manager and solution engineer at a major pharmaceutical firm. Tom's work may be seen at his Website and on Flickr.
⇒ Stu Nicholson
Stu Nicholson is a former TV news journalist and current media relations professional and writer. He is a frequent contributor to the Railroad Picture Archives as well as to Ohio Valley Railroad Gang page on Facebook. His love of all things railroad goes back to childhood memories of watching the New Haven Railroad in his hometown in Connecticut to seeing the last steam locomotives in operation in Nova Scotia. “Railroading is as much a part of our history as baseball and we need to keep recording it’s evolution.”
⇒ Kirt Odle
Kirt Odle lives in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and became fascinated with anything pertaining to trains as he grew up in a tiny town in Northern Pennsylvania with a New York Central spur line in his back yard. His earliest memories include boldly striped NYC black Alco RS-2’s pulling short consists to local industries nearby, and the thrill of hearing the whistle as his home was only three houses away from a grade crossing. In 1980, Kirt moved to the Nashville, TN area, and quickly fell in love with the rusting Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Alco J3 Class #576, and is now involved in renovating this historic steam locomotive. For more on the 576, her history, and her future, please visit www.nashvillesteam.org
⇒ Rob Richardson
Rob Richardson has been a photographer for nearly half a century, at first focusing on "crumbs of reality", interesting little things very few people notice. He liked trains too. One day, after his kids were pretty much grown, for no known reason, he did a Google search for "railroad photographs", and got blown away by what he found. His first reaction was, "I want to do that!" His second was, "Dammit, I CAN do that!"
Rob's photographs, including crumbs, trains, grandkids, and miscellaneous other things, can be found http://www.pbase.com/interrobang and https://www.flickr.com/photos/cedriccicada. The story behind "Cedric Cicada" is far too long to include here.
⇒ Johnathan Riley
Johnathan Riley has been taking photographs of trains since 2015. He has had a niche of photographing steam locomotives and portraiture of the men and women who work at these railroads. Johnathan has had the railroad in his blood for many generations and looks forward to carrying on the tradition near his home in the Baltimore, Maryland suburbs. Johnathan can be found both on Facebook and on his Flickr page, John Riley
⇒ Dan Robie
Dan Robie grew up in Charleston, WV from the 1960s through the 1980s. Now a resident of North Carolina, he can reflect on nearly fifty years of interest in the hobby ranging from photography to modeling to historical research. In 2010, Dan created his web site WVNC Rails which focuses on rail history in West Virginia and North Carolina as well as the surrounding region.
⇒ Peter Rogers
Peter Rogers (63) is a Cape Town-based railway enthusiast who started taking pictures (of "somewhat reasonable" quality) in the 1980s. He became involved in the organizing of photographic rail-tours in South Africa in the late 1980s until these ceased in 2005. He recently assisted Ceres Rail with the planning and operating of their 2019 and 2022 tours. He works for the South African Radio Astronomic Observatory as a support engineer. Some of his photos can be seen on https://www.flickr.com/photos/railrog/
⇒ Jason Sailer
Jason Paul Sailer was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta and grew up on a farm south of town. Memories of taking grain to the wooden grain elevator with his dad and watching the trains moving the cars left a lasting impression on him. After college, he moved to Lethbridge, Alberta to be employed as a senior architectural technologist. He is currently married and has a young daughter. In Jason’s spare time he is an avid photographer, researcher/blogger, and rookie HO-scale modeler. Jason also serves as a secretary with an local railway museum (the Galt Historic Railway Park) and as president of the Ogilvie Wooden Grain Elevator Society, preserving a 1925 Ogilvie Flour grain elevator.
⇒ Kevin Scanlon
Kevin Scanlon has been photographing industrial subjects for the past 40+ years. During much of that time he roamed through West Virginia and has photographed everywhere from Paw Paw to Hoo Hoo Hollow. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife Dory Adams and now spends much of his free time helping to preserve an historic steel mill. More of Kevin’s photography can be found at KevinScanlonPhotography.com.
⇒ Dr. Frank R. Scheer
Frank’s fifty-year career in supply chain management spans transportation carriers, public utilities, and the federal sector. He is currently a procurement specialist with the U. S. Postal Service’s Transportation Services. In the 1970s, Frank worked for the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac, Chesapeake & Ohio, and Norfolk & Western railroads in a variety of operating positions. Between 1978 and 1982, Frank was Manager - Rail Cost Analysis, Office of General Counsel in the U. S. Railway Association. Dr. Scheer is the curator of The Railway Mail Service Library, Inc., which is located in the Boyce, Virginia Depot. Email him at: f_scheer@yahoo.com
⇒ Alan Shaw
Family legend has it that Alan first showed signs of interest in trains when he was about 2 years old, evidently fascinated by a train heading up Tasmania's Derwent valley. That may or may not be true, but he's been a keen photographer, especially of railways, since he was about 12. Growing up and finishing university in Tasmania, he moved to the nation's capital of Canberra for a couple of years in 1987, before moving to Brisbane, Queensland, where he's lived ever since. Trains remain a passion, especially the unusual and out-of-the-way activities that go unnoticed by most. Like many people, he fits his hobby between the demands of work and family—but enjoys immensely those moments when he can.
⇒ Kevin Siemens
Kevin Siemens is a friendly Canadian from the prairie province of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His interest in trains dates back to early childhood when he would "listen" on the rails for oncoming trains. Grown up, he now stares down the rails anticipating a diesel to appear in the distance so he can watch it thunder past. Kevin endeavors to keep the passion and spirit of the railway alive by sharing unique images of the trackside as he sees it through the lens, hoping the inspire others. An amateur photographer for 7 years, his other passions include racing in local marathons and culinary arts. View Kevin's online portfolio on Flickr.
⇒ Cade Smith
Cade was born and raised in Overland Park, Kansas, only a few miles from the Burlington Northern’s former Frisco, Fort Scott Subdivision. At an early age he could be found trackside on Saturdays with Dad watching the parade of coal trains pass the old depot in downtown Lenexa. This time trackside at an early age cemented his life-long love for the railroads. It was not until 2016 that Cade picked up a camera and began photographing trains and the infrastructure that surrounds railroad operations. Now residing in Topeka with his wife Jenny and daughter Olivia, he can be found on his days off photographing the railroads of eastern Kansas and western Missouri. More of Cade's work can be found on Flickr at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/137428825@N06/
⇒ Cynthia Sperko
Cynthia L Sperko is a vintage railroad (and fine art landscape) photographer. Transportation photography began with her father, Ed Sperko, who photographed cars for the General Motors Corporation. Capturing the spirit of vintage railroading is what she loves to do. Visit her website, Cynthia L. Sperko Photography and her Photo Journal. Email her at csperko@comcast.net
⇒ John Springer
John's dad hired out as a towermen on the New York Central in 1953 and took John to work with him on Saturdays at Woodlawn tower JO in the Bronx. It was their special time together. Later on his dad worked at North White Plains at NW tower and he would go there on Saturdays. At age 11, John was given the family pass, and some engineers let him in the cab. When he saw what they did, he made up his mind to become an engineer. In 1970 he hired out on the Penn Central, worked 42 years and retired. After he retired John went to work as an engineer for the Railroad Museum of New England. John says, “I’ve had a great childhood, working life, and now retirement.” He also enjoys fly fishing and singing in karaoke bars.
⇒ Jason Stamper
Jason Stamper has been a lifelong lover of trains, and history. As a photographer Jason likes to tell stories about the people and places he meets in his travels. Many of his pictures are taken while on vacations with his also train loving wife and two young sons. Jason is also a traditional woodworker (and collector of antique tools), a model railroader, and writer. He maintains a small Etsy shop with pictures of railroads, nature, and other interesting subjects. See more of Jason's work at https://www.etsy.com/shop/JStamperCreations?ref=hdr_shop_menu
⇒ Phil Stremple
Phil Stremple is a lifelong Californian now living in Wilmington Delaware. A chemist by training he is a technical marketing professional who keeps an old Nikon camera loaded with black and white film in his car and gives a double-take stare any time he sees a train.
⇒ Kevin N. Tomasic
Kevin is a native Pittsburgher who lives with his miniature schnauzer, Zinc, in the Mt. Troy section of the city. He is an industrial furnace estimator which gets him into various facilities—most times with his camera. Writing has mostly been his forte and he has written for Rails Northeast, Railfan & Railroad and Trains magazine, plus has helped with the online publication The Photographer’s Railroad Page. Most of his photography is now done in and around industrial plants.
⇒ Brandon Townley
Brandon Townley grew up in central Ohio and has been behind a camera for as long as he can remember. Trains have always been an important subject in his photos. Love for travel has given him the opportunity to photograph a vast array of landscapes and railroad environments. He has two books published: Norfolk Southern in Action and CSX in Action. A sampling of his photos can be found here.
⇒ Roger Varland
Roger spent his early years in Lombard, Illinois, with the C&NW 3-track mainline running across the corner of the neighbor’s yard. Grandpa, who spent 40 years with the Pullman Company, provided the 5th birthday HO set and the stage was set for a life of trains. His first pictures were taken on Amtrak Day in 1971 and his one regret is that he didn’t ride and photograph more during the Rainbow Era. A student of the New Topographics, he is fascinated by the interaction of railroads, place, and culture. Semi-retired from teaching, he now resides in Spring Arbor, Michigan. roger.varland@arbor.edu
⇒ Eric Williams
Eric Williams is a professional creative director who brings his passion for design and narrative to create images that illuminate the relationship between people, landscape, and the railroad. His photography has been widely recognized and published. He is a graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Art and resides in New Jersey. Additional images and portfolios of his work can be viewed on his website and Instagram.
⇒ Fred Wolfe
Fred Wolfe is a semi-retired CPA and lives in Huntington, West Virginia. He spends most of his free time capturing images of waterfalls and landscapes in and around the New River Gorge. He is also an avid rail fan and has traveled extensively capturing railroad and rail related images. You can find his images on Facebook under Wolfelight Images or on his web page at http://www.fredwolfe.zenfolio.com/
⇒ Vic Zolinsky
Vic got involved with railroads when he was a boy of 4 years old in Keene, New Hampshire when he tried to throw a switch. This started his railroad life and until he hired out on the New Haven RR in 1956, Vic went all over New York City and surrounding areas in towers, watching and riding trains. He hired out on the New Haven RR and was a Towerman, Ticket agent and Yardmaster. He was promoted to Trainmaster and served in Grand Central Station and then with Conrail on the Atlantic Division until 1989. Vic says, "It was a great life. I miss it."