Image use & research
The Center for Railroad Photography & Art provides public access to our collections via our services, digital collections, and archives. Many of our materials are digitized and available for research and usage in various electronic formats. You can browse selected images from our collections on our Odyssey site. Please use the contact information below to send us your research inquiries and image requests. Please allow for up to two weeks of turnaround time to receive a response to your request.
How to make requests
To request digital copies of our images, first familiarize yourself with the Center’s unique image ID numbers (e.g., Lamb-01-001-01). Our staff members use these numbers to retrieve requested images. Please reference these ID numbers when making an image request. Non-profit, research, and other fair use requests are not subject to fees or licensing agreements. Commercial users will be asked to sign a licensing agreement and pay the appropriate fee. Please see fee schedule below.
We can supply images in JPEG, TIF, or RAW file format. Digital copies of images can be sent via email, cloud-based file-sharing sites such as Dropbox, or by mailing a USB drive. Please note that transfers via USB drives are subject to reimbursement fees for the physical media and shipping (typically in the range of $10 to $20.)
We provide images free-of-charge for small press and self-published works, personal use, as well as educational and non-profit efforts. For all other uses, please see our usage fee schedule in the gray table.
Credit line
In most cases the Center owns the copyright for the photographs in our collections. The Center asks for the proper credit (see below) to recognize the photographer and the collection:
Photograph by [photographer name], collection of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art, www.railphoto-art.org
Examples
Usage fee schedule
Non-profit / educational / self-published: free
Periodicals / serials (print)
| Circulation | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2,000 – 9,999 | $15 per image |
| 10,000 – 19,999 | $20 per image |
| 20,000 – 49,999 | $40 per image |
| 50,000 – 99,999 | $75 per image |
| 100,000 – 249,999 | $100 per image |
| 250,000 and above | $250 per image |
Book editions (print)
| Press run | Fee |
|---|---|
| Less than 5,000 | Free |
| 5,000 – 9,999 | $20 per image |
| 10,000 – 24,999 | $50 per image |
| 25,000 – 49,999 | $85 per image |
| 50,000 and above | $100 per image |
| Cover or jacket | $150 per image |
Digital publications
| Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| eBook | $35 per image |
| Website | $25 per image |
| Digital magazine | $10 per image |
| Mobile app | $10 per image |
Advertising / promotional use
| Distribution | Fee |
|---|---|
| Regional | $150 per image |
| National | $250 per image |
| Worldwide | $450 per image |
Broadcast film or television
| Distribution | Fee |
|---|---|
| National | $100 per image |
| Worldwide | $250 per image |
Wall decor, murals, lobbies
| Permanence | Fee |
|---|---|
| Temporary | $100 per image |
| Static | $250 per image |
Have questions?
For assistance with image usage, reference, or other questions, please get in touch with:
Gil Taylor
Reference & Processing Archivist
(608) 251-5785 ext. 5
gil [at] railphoto-art.org
Research & reference services
CRP&A research fees
| First hour of research | Complimentary |
| Second hour of research | Non-members: $25; Members: Complimentary |
| Additional hours (up to six) | Non-members: $35 per hour; Members: $25 per hour |
Address and hours
Center for Railroad Photography & Art
1930 Monroe Street, Suite 301
Madison, Wisconsin 53711
(608) 251-5785 ext. 5
info [at] railphoto-art.org
We typically keep normal business hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:oo p.m., Monday through Friday. Please check ahead of time to ensure that someone from our collections staff will be available to meet with you.
In-person: Our collections are open to the public for research by appointment. To make an appointment, please use the contact information at right.
Distance: Research assistance is available by phone, email, and mail for patrons who are unable to visit the Center in person. This service is priced per hour of research time. The first hour of research is complimentary for all patrons. Examples include image retrieval and transfer by call number and basic collection inquiries. Center members receive a second hour of complimentary research. Additional research time will fall under the fee structure below. Staff will notify you if additional research time will be needed and advise you on the estimated cost. Payment will be due upon completion of the research. Payment for research services does not guarantee that the information/image will be found. As staff time is limited, please allow for up to two-week turnaround time for responses to research and image requests.
Research assistant: If you require extensive research assistance beyond what the Center can provide, but cannot/do not wish to visit the Center, we suggest hiring a freelance researcher via University of Wisconsin’s History or Archival Studies departments.
Resources
Additional resources from the Center for Railroad Photography & Art:
- Archival resources, including links to information about best practices in photographic preservation
- Out of the Archives, the column about archival practices in Railroad Heritage, is available to download for free as PDF files
- Resources for the history of Black railroaders, including images from our collections and links to other repositories
- Women and the American Railroad, a collection by Shirley Burman that is now part of the CRP&A’s archive
Libraries with online railroad image collections include:
John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library
University of Missouri-St. Louis, Thomas Jefferson Library Building, 1 University Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri 63121-4499, 314-516-7253
California State Railroad Museum Library
111 “I” Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
The CSRM Library provides public access to the museum’s documentary collections. The Library is located next to the Museum of Railroad History on the second floor of the Big Four Building. The reading room is open to the public without charge Tuesday through Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m.
Cleveland State University Library
Rhodes Tower Room 320, 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, 216-687-2449
The Nickel Plate Railroad collection consists of files, drawings, and images of the railroad, especially as it passes through Cleveland. A general NKP Collection contains some small panoramic negatives of NKP views and Gerald Adams donated two albums of photos and many boxes of NKP drawings. In addition, the North American Railway Foundation underwrote the purchase of two other collections of Nickel Plate photographic negatives, one being from the company’s publicity department and the other from the personal collection of the late Mr. John A. Rehor, author of The Nickel Plate Story. While most of the material is unprocessed, NARF is funding preliminary work on the Nickel Plate and the Newburgh & South Shore collections.
Denver Public Library
10 W. Fourteenth Ave. Pkwy., Denver, Colorado 80204, 303-640-6200
The online collection contains 50,000 images of Native Americans, pioneers, early railroads, mining, Denver, and Colorado towns. Photographers of interest to railroad historians are listed here.
Photographer, Subjects Photographed, Call number or name
- George Beam, Railroads, Pueblo Indians, GB1
- William H. Jackson, The American West, W H Jackson
- Louis McClure, Architecture and Industry, MCC 1
- Otto Perry, Railroads 1915 to 1955, OP1
- Robert Richardson, Narrow Gauge Railroads, RR1
Lake Forest College
Lake Forest, Illinois 60045-2399, 847-735-5064
The Donnelley and Lee Library lists photos, mostly from the 19th century, in the Munson Paddock Collection. The library is named for Eliott Donnelley (1904-1975), a notable railroad enthusiast, modeler, preservationist, and book collector.
Milwaukee Public Library
814 W. Wisconsin Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53233, 414-286-3011
The Milwaukee Public Library became the official archival repository of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific Railroad, also known as the Milwaukee Road, in 1981. The collection of materials at MPL is extensive and mostly unprocessed.
Web site devoted to railroad political cartoons, 1850-1940. The site contains hundreds of cartoons, with sources and some brief descriptions. High quality copies are available to interested parties. The cartoons come from the private collection of Mark Aldrich, the Marilyn Carlson Nelson professor of economics emeritus at Smith College. Aldrich is the author of several railroad-related books, including Death Rode the Rails: American Railroad Accidents and Safety, 1828-1965.