
The Center for Railroad Photography & Art creates partnerships with photographers and museums to bring multiple forms of beautiful and significant railroad art to venues across the country. Stemming from a core focus to preserve and present significant images in railroading, our traveling exhibitions include both solo and group shows that span the history of railroading in the United States and beyond.
Since the first United States railroad thundered into action in 1829, American industry spread across the continent as tracks were driven down from coast to coast. The birth of railroads helped catapult the United States – and the world – into a new industrial age that defined modern society, as we know it. Following quick on its heels, the art of photography flourished in the late nineteenth century to capture not only memories but the beautiful forms of everyday life as well. Over the past century artists have aspired to document the enormous impact railroads have played in American history, society, and culture. Through appealing topics that encompass the almost 200-year-old history, the Center’s array of traveling exhibitions taps into not only significant educational themes profitable to all ages, but also introduces visitors to the stunning and evocative world of railroad photography.
If you would like to find out more about bringing one of our shows to your venue, please contact the Center at 608-251-5785 or send an email to info [at] railphoto-art [dot] org.
Online Exhibitions
Beebe & Clegg: Their Enduring Photographic Legacy
The Call of Trains: Railroad Photographs by Jim Shaughnessy
About Our Exhibitions Click on the links below to learn more about our current and past exhibitions Exhibition opening of Milwaukee’s Beer Line at Octopi Brewing in Waunakee, Wisconsin. By Henry A. Koshollek.
Wallace W. Abbey: A Life in Railroad Photography
After Promontory
Along the Line: 1930s Railroad Photographs by John Walker Barriger III
Beebe & Clegg: Their Enduring Photographic Legacy
Milwaukee’s Beer Line
Railroaders: Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography
Steam – An Enduring Legacy: The Railroad Photographs of Joel Jensen
The Railroad and the Art of Place: Photographs by David Kahler
Trains that Passed in the Night: The Railroad Photographs of O. Winston Link
Requiem for Steam: The Railroad Photographs of David Plowden
Representations of Railroad Work, Past and Present
Railroads and the American Industrial Landscape: Ted Rose Paintings and Photographs
The Call of Trains: Railroad Photographs by Jim Shaughnessy
Trains Around the World: Railroad Photographs by Fred M. Springer