Railroad Heritage

The Center publishes the journal Railroad Heritage® as well as books. Publication of Railroad Heritage began in 2000 and has grown steadily, expanding to a quarterly production schedule in 2012 and the current 68-page format in 2021. Members receive the journal by mail every March, June, September, and December.

Proposals and submissions

The Center welcomes article ideas for Railroad Heritage, particularly for the series “Railroads and the Art of Place.” Also of interest are articles that draw on images from the Center’s collections as well as articles about railroad art other than photography (such as paintings, drawings, sculpture, and other forms of visual media). The current lead time for submissions to Railroad Heritage is about one year. Please send a brief summary (a paragraph or so is a good starting point) by email to info [at] railphoto-art.org.

Please note that the following issues of Railroad Heritage are out of print and unavailable for purchase: nos. 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 40, 45, 46, 47, 54, 57, and 80. In most cases, we can provide electronic copies as PDF files. Please send an email to info [at] railphoto-art.org for more information.

Railroad Heritage news

  • Railroads and the Moving Image

     For as long as people have been making motion pictures, they’ve been recording railroads. Just a few years after the invention of the first motion picture camera, French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière produced one of the first commercial films in the world, The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station—it featured a train…

  • Fall 2021: Awards, Videography, Harwood, Chicago

    Our Fall 2021 issue brings you an autumn-themed gallery of recent highlights from our collections processing efforts, including Jim McClellan’s cover photograph from the Denver & Rio Grande Western. Inside, feature articles spotlight our 2021 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Award Winners, showcase Herb Harwood’s photography, embark on a tour of “The Railroad and the…

  • Summer 2021: Los Angeles River, Pentrex, Malo

    Three fabulous feature articles form the backbone of our Summer 2021 issue. Take a deep look at railroading along the Los Angeles River with Elrond Lawrence in the cover story, the latest in our “Art of Place” series. If you grew up watching Pentrex railroad videos (or just enjoy a well-told tale of the rise…

  • Spring 2021: Masters, Sullivan, Jordan

    Savor of the work of two supremely talented graphite artists whose work falls a century apart. Frank Bird Masters illustrated railroad fiction stories in the early twentieth century with dramatic drawings that appeared regularly in national magazines. Gregory P. Ames brings Masters’ work back into print with an in-depth look into his life and art,…

  • Winter 2021: Postcards, Hallock, Stanley

    Steam into a new year with the spectacular winter photography of Ralph Hallock, featuring the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Tennessee Pass with commentary by Mark W. Hemphill, in this issue’s cover story. Get inspired to keep in touch with “The Rise and Fall of the Railroad Postcard,” an in-depth history of railroad postcards by…

  • Fall 2020: Awards, Cartoons, Creativity & Covid

    While 2020 has brought unimaginable challenges, our members have remained deeply engaged in railroad photography and art. They share samples of their recent work in this issue’s cover story, “Creativity & Covid,” edited by Alexander Benjamin Craghead. From contemporary photography and painting to personal archiving projects and even creative nonfiction, their work is inspirational, offering…