Faces of Railroading: The Making of Madison and Dane County is currently on display in the Art Court at the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin from August 6, 2019 to January 26, 2020.

The exhibition looks at the historic role railroaders played in the development of Dane County, Wisconsin, home of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art. Through historic and contemporary photographs, the exhibition creates a visual conversation about the significance of railroad workers and how railroads impacted the structure of Madison’s neighborhoods, creating both physical and cultural spaces.

Special attention is given to railroader neighborhoods and their geographic proximity to the railroad yards. The exhibition takes a focused look on the individual workers, the unsung heroes of the rail lines, and highlights the importance of the industry in the growth of the city of Madison, Dane country, and the surrounding service area.

The exhibition was curated and heavily features the work of John Gruber, founder of Center for Railroad Photography & Art, who died on October 9, 2018. His influence on the field of railroad photography is impossible to overstate, from his own black-and-white work beginning in the 1960s to his 2018 book that reexamines the lives and photography of Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. Classic Trains magazine dubbed him a “provocateur of railroad photography” in a 2014 profile by Kevin Keefe.

The exhibition also features photographs by Henry Koshollek, Richard Gruber, Robert Eineke, and William D. Middleton, plus images from the Wisconsin Historical Society.

A new album from our Donald W. Furler Collection is available online. This selection features a small but mighty anthracite hauler, the Lehigh and New England Railroad, and includes this view of 2-10-0 steam locomotive no. 403 leading a seventy-car freight train east through Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Gap in 1946. View the gallery here:
https://railphoto-art.org/collections/furler/lne/

Donald W. Furler Collection Overview

• Gift of Alan G. Furler
• Approximately 7,000 images, mostly 5×7 black-and-white negatives
• Digitization complete
• Portraits and action views of steam locomotives from the 1930s to 1950s
• Extensive coverage of steam operations in the northeastern United States

A new album from our Victor Hand Collection is available online. This selection features the Milwaukee Road and includes this image of Milwaukee Road diesel locomotive no. 24 hauls eastbound freight train no. 200 across the Columbia River near Beverly, Washington, on September 12, 1979. View the gallery here:
https://railphoto-art.org/collections/victor-hand-collection/milwaukee-road/

Victor Hand Collection Overview

• Planned Gift of Victor Hand
• Approximately 46,000 images, mostly black-and-white and color negatives, many of the 4×5 and medium format size
• Digitization in progress; approximately 25% complete
• Portraits and action views of diesel and steam locomotives from the 1950s to 2000s
• Extensive coverage of diesel in the United States, extensive coverage of international steam operations in approximately 36 countries, including France, Mexico, Spain, Germany, South Africa, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and others

A new album from our Victor Hand Collection is available online. This selection features the New York Central and includes this image of New York Central Railroad diesel locomotive no. 1047 hauling southbound freight toward Newberry Junction in Painted Foot, New York, on November 15, 1966. View the gallery here: https://railphoto-art.org/collections/victor-hand-collection/

Victor Hand Collection Overview

• Planned Gift of Victor Hand
• Approximately 46,000 images, mostly black-and-white and color negatives, many of the 4×5 and medium format size
• Digitization in progress; approximately 25% complete
• Portraits and action views of diesel and steam locomotives from the 1950s to 2000s
• Extensive coverage of diesel in the United States, extensive coverage of international steam operations in approximately 36 countries, including France, Mexico, Spain, Germany, South Africa, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and others