Rio Grande Steam Finale: Narrow gauge railroad photography in Colorado and New Mexico

In the 1950s and 1960s, many of the nation’s greatest railroad photographers journeyed to southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico to document the final years of the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s spectacular narrow-gauge railway. They were driven by a fever for which there was no cure: the chance to photograph half-century-old trains operating on rails spaced three feet apart, the last remnants of an empire.

Drawing from thousands of images of the Rio Grande narrow gauge in the Center’s archive, editors Scott Lothes and Elrond Lawrence gathered the finest work on this rich subject by Tom Gildersleeve, John Gruber, Victor Hand, Don Hofsommer, Jim Shaughnessy, Fred Springer, Richard Steinheimer, and Karl Zimmermann. Inside Rio Grande Steam Finale you’ll find a stunning gallery of black & white and color images, lavishly presented and many published for the first time, covering the narrow gauge from Alamosa to Chama, Durango, Farmington, and Silverton.

Engaging essays by Hofsommer and Zimmermann, both of whom experienced the narrow gauge first-hand in the 1960s, provide context and personal insights. Extensive captions add context to the stories of the photographs, which trace the pattern of typical train operations of the era. The book concludes with a chapter of color images of today’s Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.

Hardcover, 10×10 inches, 228 pages, more than 200 photographs and two essays
Endpaper map and elevation profile by David Styffe
$60 plus $5 for domestic shipping
International shipping is available; please inquire by email at info [at] railphoto-art.org

Cover photo: Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotives 497 and 487 hammer up the four percent grade to Cumbres, Colorado, under a dramatic sky at Windy Point on October 3, 1967. Photograph by Victor Hand

Railroad Heritage, Fall 2022: Steinheimer, Awards, and more

The newly arrived Richard Steinheimer Collection headlines the Fall 2022 issue of Railroad Heritage…with plenty more great photography and stories, plus news, updates, and no ads!

Highlights include:

“Dreaming About What’s Ahead: Preserving the Richard Steinheimer Collection,” an in-depth look at the photography and legacy of our community’s greatest photographers, by Elrond Lawrence.
“Weather Effects,” the stunning winners of the 2022 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards; first prizes went to Ray Lewis for color and Christopher J. May for black-and-white.
“Portraits on the Plains: Winold Reiss’ paintings for the Great Northern Railway,” about an exhibition curated by members of the Blackfeet Nation at the Museums of Plains Indian in Browning, Montana, by Justin Franz.
In this edition of “The Railroad and the Art of Place,” Stan Trzoniec leads a photographic tour of the Delaware & Hudson’s Oneonta Shops.
Spend a week in Sacramento packing up the Steinheimer Collection with archivist Adrienne Evans in this highly entertaining and informative installment of our “Out of the Archives” column.
Get to know twin brothers and extraordinary railroad photographers Mike and Mark Nelson with the latest edition of “The Extra Ingredient: People” by Inga Velten.

There’s also an in-depth report about “Railroaders: Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography” at the Historic Pullman Foundation plus more on all of the Center’s traveling exhibitions and online events, a review of the new book “Moniker: Identity Lost and Found,” and tributes to three recently deceased members: Den Adler, Mark E. Entrop, and Peter A. Hansen.

If you don’t receive it already, join the Center and have four issues delivered to your mailbox each year.

$7.95, 68 pages, color and b/w; purchase individual copies:

Continuity & Change: The Lure of North American Railroads

Continuity & Change: The Lure of North American Railroads is a dazzling publication by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art that explores the photography of contemporary railroading in North America and the passage of time. 230 photographs and thirteen essays delve into a wide range of topics: railroads and nature, pathways of commerce, passenger railroading, heritage activities, workers, international connections, continent-crossing networks, and how the passage of time marks both railroads and photography.

That last notion is at the heart of this 384-page book. Railroads and photography came of age together in the nineteenth century and share a dynamic relationship in the twenty-first. That relationship flows from the traditions of both photojournalism and commercial photography, and it is defined today by the paradox of continuity and change.

Drawing from the Center’s talented community of image-makers and from their own lifelong interests in railroads and the visual arts, editors Alexander Craghead and Scott Lothes present a stunning body of work in a lavish production. As a bonus to commemorate the Center’s 25th anniversary, eight foldouts are included with spectacular railroad images that could not be limited to two pages of coverage.

Continuity & Change is a landmark book that makes the compelling case that the union of railroads and photography is as rich and potent as ever.

Hardcover, 11×11 inches, 384 pages, 230 photographs including eight foldouts
$65 plus $9 for domestic shipping (It weighs 6.5 pounds!)
International shipping is available; please inquire by email at info [at] railphoto-art.org

Railroad Heritage, Spring 2022: Huddleston, Shicotte, Wellington Avalanche, and Plowden

Join Gene Huddleston for a tour of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway in the late steam and early diesel era, in a cover story that previews Karen Parker’s presentation about Huddleston at Conversations 2022. The conference will also feature live music by up-and-coming country singer Erik Shicotte, a died-in-the-wool railfan from Wisconsin who Justin Franz profiles in this issue. In “The Railroad and the Art of Place,” Martin Burwash explores the remnants of the 1910 Wellington Avalanche on the Great Northern Railway in Washington’s Cascade Mountains.

This issue also features an interview with David Plowden, along with a special tribute to him and his profound influence on our community of photographers. Fourteen of them share an image and an essay discussing Plowden’s impact on their work. We introduce Elrond Lawrence, who just joined us in the new role of Acquisitions & Marketing Coordinator. He showcases a Santa Fe-inspired public art installation in Monrovia, California, by Christine Geltz. In her “Out of the Archives” column, Adrienne Evans has a Q&A with Erin Rose, a former intern who (re) joined us last fall in the new role of reference and digital projects archivist. Arjan den Boer presents a pair of striking posters for Dutch boat trains. There’s also a book review of John Free’s End of the Line, news of our recent exhibitions and events, and our annual list of donors‐the people who make all of our work possible.

$7.95, 68 pages, color and b/w

Book shipping update

The first copies of our latest title, The Railroad and the Art of Place: An Anthology, are (finally) shipping on December 3—more than 100 of them! Thanks to everyone for your orders and your patience. With our book distributor short on labor and unable to fulfill our orders right now, our staff members have stepped in to package and ship our books.

Visit our books page to place your order, and check our sale page for great deals on the remaining stock of books we have featured at previous conferences.

We will make every effort to send books ordered by December 13 to you in time for Christmas.