Spring 2026 Issue: Freedom Train, Hudson Highlands, Travels with Don, and more

Just in time for the America 250 celebration, the Spring issue of Railroad Heritage will take readers back fifty years, to a time when the American Freedom Train crossed the west … plus spectacular photography of New York’s Hudson River Valley, photographer Victor Hand’s lifelong friendship with railroad journalist Don Phillips, and more!

Highlights include:

  • Five Months of Freedom: Russ Sperry packed up his life and spent five months on the road chasing—and ultimately volunteering for—the American Freedom Train in late 1975 and early 1976. He passed away last fall, but not before donating his medium-format photography of that trip to us. Join Russ on the great adventure of his lifetime, photographing and riding behind (and aboard) Southern Pacific 4-8-4 4449 and Texas & Pacific 2-10-4 610.
  • Travels with Don: Legendary photographer Victor Hand looks back on sixty-seven years of friendship and photography with Don Phillips — a well-known Washington Post journalist who specialized in transportation, a longtime Trains columnist, and Victor’s best friend. Read about their railfan adventures chasing steam-powered trains (plus diesels and electrics) across North America and overseas, all illustrated by the great images of Victor Hand.
  • Railroads and the Art of Place: In a stunning photo essay, Eric Williams takes us to New York’s Hudson Highlands, where the Hudson River cuts though the Appalachian Mountains. Eric has explored the Highlands of New York’s Hudson River Valley and the trains of CSX, Metro-North, and Amtrak across seasons and years, deepening his relationship to the place and his photographic coverage with each successive trip.
  • Illinois Central 2516: When CRP&A member Karl Sakas purchased a 1972 Howard Fogg watercolor of an IC 4-8-2, he also received an unexpected treasure of correspondence between the famed artist and the railfan/railroader couple who commissioned the painting.
  • People: CRP&A board member Michael Schmidt reflects how his parents encouraged his and his brothers’ early love of railroads, eventually leading Michael to pursue rail photography and art collecting … and to pass along his love of railroads and photography to his son.

Plus a collections processing update and gallery, an honor roll of our 2025 donors, new exhibitions celebrating Traqueros, news, dispatches, and more. If you’re not a member, join today and get four issues a year.

Zoom: Charting the Wolverine with artist Elaine S. Wilson

In the Center’s March Zoom presentation, artist Elaine S. Wilson will describe her ongoing project, Charting the Wolverine, a series of digital prints about the views from Amtrak’s Wolverine train from Michigan to Chicago.

She’ll examine the process from its inception in 2008 to its current state that features thirty-one “map-prints” and more than 200 watercolors that she’s created. Wilson will describe her research of historic maps and atlases, and her adventures on the back roads of Michigan and Indiana along railroad lines making watercolors and drawings.

Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 7:00 pm Central Time

(8pm Eastern, 6pm Mountain, and 5pm Pacific)

This program has aired and will be posted soon on the Center’s YouTube page at @railphotoart.

Image captions (from top):

Conductor on Platform with Wolverine at Jackson Station, watercolor, 5″ x 7″

Jackson Yards, 29″ x 36″ print, with archival digital prints.

Workers on Railcar at Liberty Trail, Michigan City, Indiana, watercolor, “7 x “5

About the artist

Elaine S. Wilson’s direct, light-filled landscapes reveal the specific nature of a place through repeated encounters with a site. She values slow looking to discover what is going on there and to find its unexpected lyricism. She often chooses sites related to issues of displacement, disruption and inequity.

Her project Charting the Wolverine has been exhibited nine times in towns and cities across Michigan and Indiana. Copies of all the prints are in the collections of the Stephen Clark Map Library at the University of Michigan, and also at the Library of Congress map division.

Wilson holds her MFA in painting from Yale School of Art (1983) and her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis School of Art (1980). Her work is in the collections of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Library of Congress, The University of Michigan Office of the President, The University of Michigan Graduate Library Stephen Clark Map Collections, Washington DC Artist Bank, Herman Miller, and Cigna Corp., as well as numerous private collections.

She has exhibited widely with over twenty-five solo shows, and has been included in numerous group exhibitions. She received First Place in the Bethesda Painting Awards (2025), a DC Commission on Arts and Humanities Grant (2016), National Endowment for the Arts Regional Artists Fellowship (1996), and Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (1983).

Wilson’s more than thirty years of teaching include College for Creative Studies in Detroit, University of Michigan School of Art and Design, and Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor.

She lives and works in Silver Spring, Maryland, traveling regularly back to Michigan and Indiana to work on the Wolverine project. She is married with two children and three grandchildren.

Member-exclusive Zoom: Dining in Motion – Railroad Cuisine History

NOTE — This program was recorded. Members who missed the program can email info@railphoto-art.org for a program link. 

The Center’s next Zoom presentation “Dining in Motion,” on Tuesday, February 10, is a members-exclusive feast for the eyes! Staff members Adrienne Evans and Lisa Hardy, along with CRP&A board member Justin Franz, will combine forces to celebrate the culinary history of American railroading, from luxury dining cars to the sometimes quick-and-dirty foodways of railroaders on the go. George M. Pullman built the first real dining car, The Delmonico, that included a full kitchen and elegant dining space for passengers. Railroad companies employed creative marketing campaigns to entice passengers to choose their railroad because of the food they served. These menus became highly competitive and specific to each railroad and the region they served. 

Photographers began documenting not only the dining car, but also the railroad cafes and depots of railroaders. This presentation will showcase the history and photography of the locations and cuisine that nourished both passengers and railroaders.

Join us if you are hungry for a mouthwatering journey where chefs worked their magic in rolling kitchens for passengers to dine in style while watching the passing scenery. And railroaders’ favorite stops brought warmth and a reprieve from their hard work. Attendees might want to bring their favorite snack to enjoy while engaging with this delicious presentation.

Tuesday, February 10 2026, at 7:00 pm U.S. Central Time (8pm Eastern, 6pm Mountain, and 5pm Pacific) 

Not a Center member? Join today and help support our work.

Photo captions (from top):

A Duluth & Northeastern crew maintains a railroad tradition—cooking in the caboose—as their freight train pauses on a siding at Saginaw, Minnesota, in January 1962. Photo by John Gruber, Gruber-04-004-0058.

A school class from Hopkins, Minnesota, receives lunch aboard a Soo Line Railroad passenger train while touring the Shoreham Shops in Minneapolis, in November 1959. Photo by Wallace Abbey, Abbey-04-130-05.

The presenters

Adrienne Evans, director of archives and collections, has been with the Center since November 2017. With a solid background in photographic archives, Adrienne served as the 20th Century Colorado Photography Collections Project Archivist for History Colorado and also worked for the Wisconsin Historical Society and Montana State historical Records Advisory Board. Adrienne holds a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in photography from the University of South Dakota and a Master’s degree in Library Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin- Madison.

Justin Franz is a writer, photographer, and magazine editor. Originally from Maine, he graduated from the University of Montana’s School of Journalism in 2011, and spent nine years as a newspaper reporter. Today, he is the associate editor of Railfan & Railroad and Railroad Model Craftsman magazines. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, New York Times, Seattle Times, Atlas Obscura, Trains, Railroad Heritage, Railway Age, and the Montana Free Press. He is also the co-host and co-producer of Project 7, a true-crime podcast about the life and disappearance of Montana militia leader David Burgert. A lifelong railroad fan, he lives in Columbia Falls, Montana, with his wife Ashley and son Franklin.

A native of Flagstaff, Arizona, Lisa Hardy is the Center’s program administrator and considers Wisconsin her forever home. She holds an associate’s degree in performing arts from Eastern Arizona College, a bachelor’s degree in theatre education with a minor in studio art from Northern Arizona University, and master of fine arts in arts administration from Southern Utah University. While Lisa’s academic pursuits predominantly centered around the arts, her professional journey spans many years working in diverse administrative roles in both the public and private sectors. Lisa, her partner Craig, and their loyal dog, Maggie, enjoy hiking, canoeing, kayaking, sailing, camping, and sitting around a crackling fire laughing and telling stories with friends.

Zoom program change: “Focus on Texas” on January 13th

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Zoom program, “Two Generations—A Family Connection on the Iowa Interstate” has been postponed. We plan to host Jeremy and Christian Schrader in a future presentation that will appear on the Center’s YouTube page at @railphotoart.

In its place, see railroading in the Lone Star State through the eyes of J. Parker Lamb and Fred Springer, two photographers who spent much of their lives in Texas, and who both donated their work to the Center. Executive Director Scott Lothes will share both photographers’ work in this program, which he originally prepared for the Lexington Group in Transportation History. It features main lines and short lines from Houston to El Paso in the 1950s to 1980s.

Tuesday, January 13, at 7:00 pm Central Time

(8pm Eastern, 6pm Mountain, and 5pm Pacific)

This program was recorded and is available on YouTube at @railphotoart

Those who registered for the “Two Generations” program will receive a Zoom link for the “Focus on Texas” program. Special offer: Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase the Center’s book, The Railroad Photography of J. Parker Lamb, at 40% off cover price

Photo captions (from top):

Fort Worth & Denver Railway train no. 7 stops at Quanah, Texas, on December 27, 1958. Photograph by Fred M. Springer, Springer-TX1-03-27.

A Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad brakeman in a cowboy hat watches as his local freight train switches at Granger, Texas, in July 1971. Photograph by J. Parker Lamb, Lamb-02-044-09.

For decades, seven Class I railroads converged on Fort Worth’s busy Tower 55. This long exposure shows headlight streaks from both north- and westward movements in July 1985. Photograph by J. Parker Lamb, Lamb-02-065-06.

Register today for Conversations 2026

Registration is now available for Conversations 2026, the annual conference hosted by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art, on the weekend of April 24-26. Get full details and register online here.

This year’s conference will be at The Indiana History Center in downtown Indianapolis. This new location allows for more seating capacity and provides hotels within walking distance. Free parking will be provided at the venue.

On Friday, attendees can enjoy a train ride on the Nickel Plate Express in nearby Noblesville, Indiana. Tickets for purchase with registration include appetizers, drinks, and a photo runby. Join us and support the Center!

Conference presenters on Saturday and Sunday include:

• Jennifer Al-Beik
• Darryl Bond
• Jeff Brouws & John Hankey
• David Busse
• Jeff Mast
• David Oroszi
• Bill Stewart
• Robert West
• and more!

Conference scholarships are once again available to younger and/or emerging photographers and visual artists. Visit the Conversations 2026 web page for full details and to register. We can’t wait to see you on April 24-26!

Pictured (from top):

Western Maryland Scenic 2-8-0 734 in Cumberland, Maryland, in 2003. Photograph by Jeff Mast.

Southern Pacific’s Lone Pine Local getting out of Mojave, California, in 1980. Photograph by Jeff Brouws.