Webinars

Our monthly online webinars showcase a range of voices from across our community, featuring engaging presentations by artists, photographers, archivists, and historians. Each event offers a unique opportunity to explore creative practices, uncover historical insights, and gain new perspectives on railroad imagery and archival practice.

Zoom member-exclusive program: Steinheimer’s Sierra Crossing

Join us for an inside look at the Richard Steinheimer & Shirley Burman Steinheimer Collection! In a rush of locomotives climbing through smoky snow sheds, plowing “Sierra cement,” and carrying passengers over “the Hill,” Associate Archivist Heather Sonntag has viewed volumes of Richard Steinheimer’s visual storytelling across Donner Pass. She’s digitized frame after frame of…
Zoom program: An evening with the winners of the 2024 Creative Photography Awards

The 2024 Creative Photography Awards brought 383 submissions from 143 photographers representing 32 states and 9 countries in response to the theme, “Conveyance.” In this evening with the winners, hosted by photographer-writer and Center staffer Elrond Lawrence, you’ll hear their stories and insights behind the winning pictures, as well as their approaches to rail photography.…
Zoom program: Behind the scenes with O. Winston Link’s famous photographs

Take an in-depth and behind-the-scenes look into technical aspects of several photographs of O. Winston Link, the famed 1950s railroad photographer who captured some of the last steam trains in America, set against the picturesque backdrop of rural Appalachia. Ashley Webb, curator of collections and exhibitions for the O. Winston Link Museum, presents and examines…
Zoom member-exclusive program: Inside the Henry Posner III Collection

Join us for an evening of globe-trotting railroad photography and great stories in this member-exclusive Zoom program, “Photographer of Last Resort: Inside the Henry Posner III Collection.” Gil Taylor, reference and processing archivist, presents images from Henry Posner III, whose collection Gil has been processing since 2022. Henry is chairman of RDC, a global railway…
Zoom program: Classic Trains in the Land of Lincoln: Dick Neumiller’s Central Illinois Photography

Join us for an online program featuring the color photography of Dick Neumiller in central Illinois. Bon French, chairman of the Center’s board of directors, will present some of the finest railroad images from Neumiller’s collection—beginning with Peoria railroading during the 1950s and 1960s, followed by Chicago, Burlington & Quincy trains during the same era.…
Zoom program: “A Spike in Time” with Andrea Capiola

Andrea Capiola, a Washington state photographer who created A Spike in Time – a project that documents, educates, and promotes the preservation of railway history – shares her photography in this program from March 2024. For more than a decade, Andrea has traveled the roads of the Pacific Northwest capturing images of everyday railroad operations:…
Zoom member-exclusive: Inside the Fred Springer Collection

Join us for a previously unseen tour of Fred M. Springer’s early black-and-white railroad photography across the United States in the Center’s first member-exclusive program of 2024, hosted by executive director Scott Lothes. “Inside the Fred Springer Collection” explores one of the first big photography collections that the Center took on, arriving in 2012. We’ve…
Zoom program: Coloring the New York City Subway Map

Peter Lloyd explores the coloring of subway lines within New York City’s subway system, reaching as far back as 1904. His exploration will uncover the historical color choices made by key mapmakers and shed light on some of the innovative color schemes that never officially graced the map. With a longstanding dedication to researching the…
Zoom member-exclusive: Inside the Jim Shaughnessy Collection

The Center capped 2023 with a long-awaited dive into the Jim Shaughnessy collection. Acquired in late 2019, the Center, led by processing archivist Natalie Krecek, has been diligently digitizing the 90,000-image collection. We’ll sit down with Natalie and CRP&A board members Jeff Brouws and Kevin Keefe to discuss themes from Jim’s collection and the larger…
Zoom program: “Parallel Tracks: Steinheimer, Silicon Valley, and Steel Rails”

Join Ken Rehor and Elrond Lawrence for a special program that examines the untold story of Richard Steinheimer and his professional photography. While his groundbreaking approach to railroad photography influenced generations of railfans and artists, what is less well-known is Steinheimer’s prolific professional career. “Stein’s” railfan and professional photographic experiences heavily influenced one another throughout his life. As a…