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

  • Creativity & Covid

    Toward the end of Spring 2020, we at the Center wondered how our members were faring during the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Stay-at-home orders, remote work, and limited travel all had brought change at different paces to different places on the globe, but everyone had felt the impact of this crisis in some way.…

  • Call for Submissions: Railroad Photography and Art During the Covid-19 Pandemic

    We have a question for you: how have you, as a railroad photographer or railroad artist, continued to practice your art during a time of pandemic and unrest? Our hope is to come together as a community, and share with each other how we are responding to the situations that we all face. Tell us⁠—and…

  • Summer 2020: Maps, Utah, Alban’s paintings, BNSF in Texas

    Explore the art of railway and transit maps in the Summer 2020 issue’s cover story by Justin Franz in Railroad Heritage. Three additional feature articles await you. Mark W. Hemphill looks at the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s main line in Utah through the lenses of two talented photographers: George L. Beam and Otto C.…

  • Spring 2020: Botkin’s worldwide steam, British art, advertising and photography

    Travel around the world with photographer William E. Botkin in his quest for evocative black-and-white photographs of steam locomotives with the cover story of the Spring 2020 issue of Railroad Heritage. Inside, you can also learn what it takes to make a living as a railway artist with a glimpse into the life and work…

  • Winter 2020: British Columbia, railroad art, and the Harlowton depot

    The Winter 2020 issue of Railroad Heritage is an expanded, 72-page issue that focuses on the West. The cover story by Todd Halamka is the latest in our “Railroads and the Art of Place” series and examines the Fraser Canyon in British Columbia. Justin Franz reports on “Hear the Whistle Blow: Art of the Railway,”…

  • Fall 2019: Bennett’s art, Swiss narrow gauge, Zimmermann’s worldwide photography

    The fall 2019 issue features a cover story spotlighting artist Gil Bennett, a presenter at Conversations 2019. Karl Zimmermann shares his worldwide photography, which is coming to the Center’s Railroad Heritage Visual Archive. Editor Scott Lothes presents some of his recent photography from Switzerland and his take on “The Art of Place,” a new column…