Discover the First Hundred Years of Rail Art

The Fall 2015 issue of the Center’s quarterly journal, Railroad Heritage, features an in-depth look at the first hundred years of rail art by accomplished collector Peter J.C. Mosse. Peter began collecting railroad paintings in 1980 and has since amassed some 150 original works, twenty-three of which are presented in stunning color in his twenty-two page article. The story is a must-read for anyone interested in railroads and the visual arts.

The issue also includes photoessays by renowned photographers Victor Hand and Charles McCreary. Hand offers a glimpse railroading in and around New York City in the 1960s and 1970s, while McCreary recounts growing up around trains in the Upper Midwest in the 1940s and 1950s. This issue also introduces a new column, “Out of the Archives,” edited by Jordan Radke, the Center’s archives manager. The first installment looks at organization and metadata for photography collections.

This 48-page issue is available in our Book Store for $7.95 plus shipping and handling. Members of the Center receive four issues of Railroad Heritage annually as a benefit of membership. If you haven’t done so already, why not join the Center today?

Georg Busse (1810-1868), Near Castellammare with Vesuvius in the Distance, 1843, pencil and watercolor heightened with white, 8-5/8 by 13-3/8 in. Collection of Peter J.C. Mosse. Note how the artist matched the locomotive’s exhaust to that of Vesuvius, perhaps a comparison of the power of each.

Significant Images of Railroading

Significant Images of Railroading, edited by Center president Scott Lothes, is a 78-page, softcover book that, for the first time, presents an overview of the Center’s photography collections. Of the nearly 200,000 images in those collections, ninety-three are presented here in vibrant color and rich, quadtone black-and-white. Those images come from ten principal collections, including the work of Wallace W. Abbey, whose circa 1950 photograph from Chicago Union Station is featured on the cover. A preservation award from Trains magazine helped fund processing of the Abbey Collection. Other major holdings include the works of Fred M. Springer, John F. Bjorklund, and Ted Rose. Biographical sketches written by Jack Holzhueter introduce each section. Archives manager Jordan Radke completed processing work on many of the collections; archival partner Lake Forest College also contributed greatly to the processing work. In addition to the Trains award, funding for this special publication came from Fred and Dale Springer, the Candelaria Fund, and Bon and Holly French.

$19.95, softcover, 78 pages, color and b/w

International shipping is available; please inquire by email at info [at] railphoto-art.org

Railroaders: Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography

200-page, hardbound, 11- by 11.5-inch book published by the Center in 2015. Printed in the United States, it features 108 photographs, including seventy-three of Jack Delano’s 1942–1943 views of Chicagoland railroads and their workers, reproduced in full color with rich quadtones for the black-and-whites. Contempoary photographs by Jack’s son, Pablo Delano, and the Center’s John Gruber and Scott Lothes complement the catalog. There are essays by Pablo Delano, Gruber, and University of Texas professor Jeremi Suri, a leading public historian. Biographical essays prepared by Center editorial consultant Jack Holzhueter as well as Gruber and Lothes tell the life stories of the forty-nine railroaders.

Winner of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society’s George W. and Constance M. Hilton Book Award.

$60, $50 for members of the Center, $5 domestic shipping, 200 pages, hardbound, color and b/w

International shipping is available; please inquire by email at info [at] railphoto-art.org

2015 Photography Awards: Be Creative

The 2015 Awards Program is Closed

Close to one hundred photographers submitted 389 images for consideration in the 2015 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program. The entries come from thirty states and seven foreign countries, and represent a diverse mix of styles and approaches. Winners will be announced by December 1.

Details of the 2015 Awards Program

“Be creative” is the theme for the Center’s 2015 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program. Send us your best, your most creative railroad photographs—views you would be proud to share on the Internet or with friends. Stop, look, and listen, observe what is happening around you—then put your creativity to work. Create your photographs. We are not placing restrictions on your creativity and your opportunities are not limited by specific themes, but photographs must have been taken after December 31, 2010. Digital manipulation is perfectly acceptable so long as it is stated. Remember that interpretations of railroads can be subtle. Don’t ignore the personal side of railroading. Look to the future. What may have seemed creative in the past may be passé today.

For Scans
If you are sending scans, please scan 35mm slides or negatives with a resolution of at least 2,000 pixels per inch (ppi); medium format negatives or transparencies at 1,200 ppi or higher; large format negatives or transparencies at 600 ppi or higher; 8×10 prints at 300 ppi or higher.

Copyrights
Entrants retain full copyrights to their photographs. By submitting an entry, you grant the Center one-time use for your work in our journal, Railroad Heritage, on our website, and/or on any of our social media platforms. You also grant Railfan & Railroad magazine one-time use for your work in print and on their website.

Eric Williams, Millburn, New Jersey, took first prize in the 2014 photography awards with this dramatic view of Junction 18 on Chicago’s ‘L.’ The theme was “lasting impressions.”

Theme: Be creative
Deadline: October 1, 2015
Winners announced: December 1, 2015
Submit to: award [at] railphoto-art [dot] org
Format: Up to five (5) full-size JPEG files at “high” or “maximum” quality setting
Include: Your full name, street address, phone number, email address, and brief captions that include location and date
Publication: Railroad Heritage and Railfan & Railroad
Exhibition: California State Railroad Museum
First Prize: $1,000
Second Prize: $500
Third Prize: $250

Conversations 2015: Our best yet?

Conversations 2015 is a wrap, and the foremost question on everyone’s mind at the Center is, simply, “What can we ever do to top this?” German guest Axel Zwingenberger played world-class boogie-woogie piano music and showed world-class night steam photography. Art collector Peter Mosse swept attendees into a whirlwind and globe-trotting tour of the fascinating world of railroad paintings. The curator of Britain’s National Railway Museum, Ed Bartholomew, presented a riveting overview of 175 years of British railway photography in less than forty-five minutes. Renowned photographers from across the country showed stunning images and provided insightful commentary on their methods and intentions, including J. Parker Lamb, one of the deans of American railroad photography. There were few dull moments for the close-to-capacity crowd of 175 attendees, who enjoyed sumptuous meals, lively social hours, and ample opportunities to converse with dozens of leaders in the fields of railroad photography and art. Topping Conversations 2015 is a tall order, but you can trust that the Center is up to the task. In the meantime, enjoy a “Top Ten” list about the conference from Trains editor Jim Wrinn and eighty views through the skillful eye of photographer Henry A. Koshollek.

World-renowned German pianist and photographer Axel Zwingenberger, one of the five best boogie-woogie piano players in the world, got Conversations 2015 off to a rocking start with his music on Friday night. The “Boogiemeister prophet of steam” also presented his stunning and, at times, death-defying night photography of German steam locomotives. Photograph by Henry A. Koshollek