J. Parker Lamb broke new ground in railroad photography. His exceptional collection came to the Center for Railroad Photography & Art in 2015, and his work is now the subject of a book, published by the Center.

The text comes from Kevin P. Keefe and Fred W. Frailey. Frailey wrote a foreword that presents Lamb’s life story while contextualizing his work within the pantheon of railroad photography. Keefe served as editor, writing captions as well as an afterword focused on the singularity of Lamb’s photography in the South. Jeff Brouws and Wendy Burton did the design work, while Scott Lothes assisted with photo editing and digital prepress production.

$60 plus $5 for domestic shipping, hardcover, 10×11 inches, 208 pages, 160 duotone photographs

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

After Promontory: One Hundred Fifty Years of Transcontinental Railroading, edited by the Center and published by Indiana University Press in 2019, is part of a major project examining the histories and impacts of all of the nation’s transcontinental railroads. The 10×10-inch hardcover book features 19th-century photographs by some of the most ac­complished photographers in the nation’s history—artists such as William Henry Jackson, Timothy H. O’Sullivan, and Car­leton E. Watkins. Also included is recent photogra­phy from artists who explore the lasting impact the railroads have had on the landscape, both to the benefit and the costs of the region. At stake in all of these images, both period and more contemporary, is not only the railroad itself as a subject, but how photographers of different eras, with different motivations and different sensibilities, have thought of the transcontinental railroads and their legacies.

Expanding on the visual themes in the companion exhibit, the book offers a deeper look at the circumstances, histories, and impacts of the railroads that came to connect the Midwest with the Pacific Coast. Essays by railroad historians Keith L. Bryant, H. Roger Grant, Don Hofsommer, and Maury Klein add context and depth to the book’s 240 photographs. Robert D. Krebs, who served in the executive offices of railroads in all three regions, including as chairman and CEO of the BNSF Railway, wrote the foreword. Photographer Drake Hokanson, in the book’s concluding essay, reflects on photographing the transcontinental railroads then and now, and what these images can teach us.

$60 plus $5 for domestic shipping, hardcover, 10×10 inches, 320 pages, color and b/w

Beebe and Clegg: Their Enduring Photographic Legacy, a new book from the Center for Railroad Photography and Art, tells about how partners Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg introduced railroad photography and the world of railroading to wide popular audiences. Beebe (1902-1966) initially championed the three-quarters or “wedge-of-pie” perspective in his photography. Clegg (1916-1979) introduced a more innovative outlook, boosting creativity for both of them. Their photographs shine in this new book, produced with the best of modern digitization, design, and printing techniques.

Over the course of eight chapters, the book traces Beebe and Clegg’s life and times together, their visual influences, short lines, narrow gauge lines, Nevada and the Virginia & Truckee, and their photography. The book includes 222 images from the California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives, all scanned from negatives and carefully cleaned and checked, revealing surprises. Many are previously unpublished. Thirty-six additional images come from other sources. “Their legacy is larger than the publications they produced, for they demonstrated that railroads serve America as an icon of its experience,” authors John Gruber and John Ryan conclude.

$65, plus $5 for domestic shipping, hardcover, 8.5×11 inches, 224 pages, duotone

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