Publisher of Railroad Heritage® / Creator of railroadheritage.org
Railroad Heritage galleries complement the Center's exhibits and publications. "It's Work" and "Faces of Railroading," based on our traveling exhibits, plus a bibliography and the publication It's Work were prepared as a part of "Representations of Railroad Work," a three-year program funded by the North American Railway Foundation. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers members at Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1979 (right) are examples of the images on railroadheritage.org, our Railroad Heritage Internet archive. Photos are by Richard J. Cook from the BLE-T archives.
Artist Michael Schwab's poster for Amtrak National Train Day evokes the work of the renowned Leslie D. Ragan, who created images of racing locomotives and towering cloud formations for America's railroads during the 1930's and '40's. Schwab builds on that heritage to create contemporary compositions that resonate with the unique attractions of rail travel: speeding trains, dramatic scenery and the opportunity to settle in for some personal time. In all, images that offer a welcome respite from our harried everyday lives. --Michael E. Zega, co-author, Travel by Train: The American Railroad Poster, 1870-1950
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For the first National Train Day, celebrated on May 10 in recognition of the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, the Center honors photography and its contribution to the understanding of the role of railroads and railroaders in our nation's history. These include the three photographers who recorded the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, at Promontory, Utah, as well as the 37 photographers who spread out across the country a year ago on May 10, 2007, to show activity for Brian Solomon's book, The Railway Never Sleeps: 24 Hours in the Life of Modern Railroading.We also honor the critical role that railroads played in the settlement of the continental U.S. and in fostering manufacturing and agriculture with a selection of photos on railroadheritage.org. National Train Day was conceived by Amtrak to celebrate "the way trains connect people and places." Also see Celebration at the Station.
A panel about preserving your photographic collection together with six speakers talking about railroad photography highlighted the sixth "Conversations about Photography" conference on April 12 at Lake Forest College. The attendance of 132 set a record. Co-sponsors were the Center and Lake Forest College's archives and special collections department. Canon provided support. Trains and Classic Trains magazines sponsored the reception. Photo contest awards will be announced by June 1.
The beauty and compelling importance of railroads are illustrated in this exhibition of watercolor paintings and photographs of the late artist Ted Rose at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Rose depicted railroads and railroaders in watercolors and his sensitive compositions capture varied railroad landscapes. Rose is well known to the public for the five paintings he created in 1999 for the U.S. Postal Service's "All Aboard" stamp series. The Museum, the Ted Rose Studio, and the Center arranged the exhibition, with support from the North American Railway Foundation.
