Beebe and Clegg: Their Enduring Photographic Legacy, with Mel Patrick and John Ryan
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex
Mel Patrick and John Ryan, authors of Beebe and Clegg: Their Enduring Photographic Legacy, have teamed up to present on one of the most legendary pairings in American railroad photography. Patrick and Ryan will present a more in depth view of their research, including the work contributed by the late John Gruber, to discuss Beebe and Clegg’s pioneering approach to railroad photography.
Mel Patrick is a Chicago native who moved to Denver in 1972. He received the 2011 Railway & Locomotive Historical Society photography award for lifetime achievement in railroad history. Patrick made synchronized night flash pictures from 1968 to 1973.
John Ryan is a skilled photographer whose work has been recognized by Railfan & Railroad Magazine in 2004 for its cover contest and in 2008 for its center spread contest. A railroad historian, he is also co-author of SLC at 100, a history of the San Luis Central Railroad in Colorado.

The Art of Dining on Rails: Presented by Jay W. Christopher & Anne Lapinski
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex


The Iron Road to the Deep North: Japanese Railways of Hokkaido, Then and Now
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex


Wallace W. Abbey: A Life in Railroad Photography
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex
On a rainy summer day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1952, two boys watch as the Chicago & North Western’s westbound Twin Cities 400 makes its stop at the city’s lakefront depot, near the shore of Lake Michigan. Abbey-03-049-002.
The Railroad and the Art of Place, David Kahler
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex
In the late 1980s, David Kahler was deeply inspired by seeing an exhibition of O. Winston Link photographs. He soon began making annual trips to the West Virginia and eastern Kentucky coalfields, destinations that strongly resonated with his own aesthetic of “place.” Armed with a used Leica M6 and gritty Tri-X film, he and his wife made six week-long trips in the dead of winter to photograph trains along the Pocahontas Division of the Norfolk Southern Railway. A selection of photographs from that body of work form the core of this presentation.
David Kahler, FAIA, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Syracuse University and a Masters of Arts degree in Architecture from Princeton University. He had a private architectural practice based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for thirty-six years, raised four children, and was the President of the Milwaukee Art Museum from 1974 to ’76. Kahler presently serves as a board member for the Center for Railroad Photography & Art.

Conversations about Ted Rose
Thursday, October 29, 2020
7:30-8:30 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex Events
Join the Center for Railroad Photography & Art and the Colorado Railroad Museum as we immerse ourselves in a discussion focusing on the photography and art of Ted Rose.
This virtual program is presented in conjunction with the Museum’s current exhibit from the Center, Railroads and the American Industrial Landscape: Ted Rose Paintings and Photographs, which runs now through December 31st.
Presentations by Paul Hammond, Executive Director of the Colorado Railroad Museum, and Charles Albi, former Executive Director, will explore connections between the Colorado Railroad Museum and Ted Rose. Scott Lothes, Executive Director of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art, will provide the keynote presentation for the evening concentrating on Ted Rose and his artistic legacy in the railroading community.
Virtual Oktoberfest: Milwaukee’s Beer Line
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex
Join author John Kelly for a virtual Oktoberfest! Crack open your favorite seasonal Octoberfest and join us for a lecture on the history of the Milwaukee Road’s beer line.
Since statehood, beer has played an integral role in the growth of Wisconsin industry, while bringing Milwaukee national fame. What might be less obvious, but no less important, was the profound role that rail transportation played in this story. This lecture will look at the rise, fall, and rise again of Milwaukee’s beer industry through the eyes of the Milwaukee Road’s Beer Line.
Virtual Launch Party For Our New Book: The Railroad Photography of Donald W. Furler
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex
Join author Scott Lothes for a virtual launch of the Center’s newest publication, The Railroad Photography of Donald W. Furler. The 216-page hardcover book presents 200 stunning images, printed as rich duotones and showcasing the emergence of railroad action photography during the final years of steam in the Northeast. The Furler Collection is a cornerstone of the Center’s archive, and we are proud to present this long-overdue monograph.
Lothes will take you behind-the-scenes for both the making of the book and his own fascination with Furler’s photography. Lothes will describe how he went about selecting which photographs to include from the 5,000 in the collection, while sharing a few of his favorites that made the final cut as well as some others that did not. He will also discuss the Center’s archival work, the overall strengths of this collection, and the fascinating industrial landscape of the northeastern United States that formed the backdrop for Furler’s photography.
Following the Golden Spike: Time, Place, and Change Along the First Transcontinental Railroad
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex
Join artist Drake Hokanson, contributing author and photographer to the Center’s publication After Promontory, in a re-photography trip along the original Union Pacific route.
Throughout the 150 years since the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, many parts of the 1,800-mile route between Omaha and Sacramento have changed enormously. Some sections are busy, three-track, state-of-the-art mainline; others are abandoned to the desert wind. In his presentation, Hokanson will address the broader history of railroads and photography and expand on how these two technologies came of age together in the nineteenth century and profoundly changed how we experienced the world. Through his black and white photographs, Drake Hokanson will explore the layered past, the natural and human geography, and the deeper meaning of this linear landscape.
Drake Hokanson is an author, photographer, and independent scholar who looks to the broad American land, its places, well-worn paths, people, and stories as the subjects for his photographs, books, exhibits, and essays. He is the author/co-author of three books, has edited and contributed to several others, and has exhibited photographs coast to coast. His other experience includes teaching photography and nonfiction writing at the university level for some thirty years.
An Evening With The Winners of the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program: John Troxler & Steven Chen
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
7:00-8:00 PM (US Central Time), on the Cisco Webex
John E. Troxler and Steven Chen won first prizes in the 2020 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program in the black-and-white and color categories, respectively. Join us in a conversation about their photography.
In The Studio With Adam Normandin: Living With Trains And Life With Art
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex
Join artist Adam Normandin in an exploration of his work, influences, and studio.
Normandin is a contemporary realist painter living and working in Los Angeles. His paintings depict undoctored freight train cars as they appear in yards, often covered in graffiti or resting in desolate settings. Through his work, Normandin looks to examine the notion of space, purpose, and the passing of time, and the exploration of interconnectedness and transience of humanity.
CRP&A Archives and Preservation Q&A
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
7:00-8:00 P.M. (U.S. Central), on Cisco Webex
Hosted by Adrienne Evans, CRP&A Archivist
Curious about the basics of photography archiving and preservation? CRP&A Archivist Adrienne Evans answers submitted questions to expand your knowledge on becoming a better caretaker for your photographic materials.