Category Archives: Books

Rio Grande Steam Finale: Narrow gauge railroad photography in Colorado and New Mexico

In the 1950s and 1960s, many of the nation’s greatest railroad photographers journeyed to southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico to document the final years of the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s spectacular narrow-gauge railway. They were driven by a fever for which there was no cure: the chance to photograph half-century-old trains operating on rails spaced three feet apart, the last remnants of an empire.

Drawing from thousands of images of the Rio Grande narrow gauge in the Center’s archive, editors Scott Lothes and Elrond Lawrence gathered the finest work on this rich subject by Tom Gildersleeve, John Gruber, Victor Hand, Don Hofsommer, Jim Shaughnessy, Fred Springer, Richard Steinheimer, and Karl Zimmermann. Inside Rio Grande Steam Finale you’ll find a stunning gallery of black & white and color images, lavishly presented and many published for the first time, covering the narrow gauge from Alamosa to Chama, Durango, Farmington, and Silverton.

Engaging essays by Hofsommer and Zimmermann, both of whom experienced the narrow gauge first-hand in the 1960s, provide context and personal insights. Extensive captions add context to the stories of the photographs, which trace the pattern of typical train operations of the era. The book concludes with a chapter of color images of today’s Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad.

  • Hardcover, 10×10 inches, 228 pages, more than 200 photographs and two essays
  • Endpaper map and elevation profile by David Styffe
  • $60 plus $5 for domestic shipping
  • International shipping is available; please inquire by email at info [at] railphoto-art.org

Cover photo: Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotives 497 and 487 hammer up the four percent grade to Cumbres, Colorado, under a dramatic sky at Windy Point on October 3, 1967. Photograph by Victor Hand

Continuity & Change: The Lure of North American Railroads

Continuity & Change: The Lure of North American Railroads is a dazzling publication by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art that explores the photography of contemporary railroading in North America and the passage of time. 230 photographs and thirteen essays delve into a wide range of topics: railroads and nature, pathways of commerce, passenger railroading, heritage activities, workers, international connections, continent-crossing networks, and how the passage of time marks both railroads and photography.

That last notion is at the heart of this 384-page book. Railroads and photography came of age together in the nineteenth century and share a dynamic relationship in the twenty-first. That relationship flows from the traditions of both photojournalism and commercial photography, and it is defined today by the paradox of continuity and change.

Drawing from the Center’s talented community of image-makers and from their own lifelong interests in railroads and the visual arts, editors Alexander Craghead and Scott Lothes present a stunning body of work in a lavish production. As a bonus to commemorate the Center’s 25th anniversary, eight foldouts are included with spectacular railroad images that could not be limited to two pages of coverage.

Continuity & Change is a landmark book that makes the compelling case that the union of railroads and photography is as rich and potent as ever.

  • Hardcover, 11×11 inches, 384 pages, 230 photographs including eight foldouts
  • $65 plus $9 for domestic shipping (It weighs 6.5 pounds!)
  • International shipping is available; please inquire by email at info [at] railphoto-art.org

The Railroad and the Art of Place: An Anthology

The imprint of the railroad on the North American landscape remains indelible across space and time. A handsome hardcover book from the Center for Railroad Photography & Art, The Railroad and the Art of Place: An Anthology, examines the industry’s history and physical presence to match its status as an economic or cultural force. Noted editors and authors Jeff Brouws, Alexander Craghead, David Kahler, and Kevin Keefe have assembled the work of 25 contemporary photographers who explore the post-industrial railroad landscape beyond the mere portrayal of passing trains. Narrative essays by many of the photographers offer historical context and deeply personal insights into what drives their art.

In The Railroad and the Art of Place: An Anthology, readers experience a rich world of isolated prairie towns, once-grand railway terminals and small-town depots, imperious mountain main lines, sprawling locomotive facilities, congested factories and steel mills, and lonely grade crossings. In every image, the emphasis is on exploring the broader railroad environment — its architecture, its sense of place, its essence, its feeling.

Produced to the highest standards and featuring 230 color and black-and-white photographs, this deluxe 372-page book is printed on heavy stock and portrays a storied industrial culture in an entirely new context. Generously funded by the Kahler Family Charitable Fund.

$60 plus $5 for domestic shipping, hardcover, 11×11 inches, 372 pages, 230 photographs

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

Cover of the book "The Railroad and the Art of Place: An Anthology"

Digital Excerpts

The Railroad Photography of Donald W. Furler

Donald W. Furler helped write the rules of railroad action photography. From taking engine pictures as a teenager in the early 1930s, he joined an elite group of railroad photographers who created a new aesthetic to portray the drama of steam railroading in motion. From the late 1930s through the 1950s, he dedicated nearly all of this free time to documenting operations throughout the northeastern United States and Canada, using a succession of ever-larger cameras for maximum detail and clarity. The Furler Collection is a cornerstone of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art’s archive, and we are proud to present this monograph.

Scott Lothes, the Center’s president and executive director, wrote the text and selected the photographs. His lead essay examines Furler’s life and photography, his relationship with the first editors of Trains magazine, and the changing railroad landscape of the Northeast. Maps by David Styffe present those railroads as they appeared in 1946 at the height of Furler’s activity and as they are today. Alan G. Furler, the photographer’s son, provides a poignant and personal Afterword.

$60 plus $5 for domestic shipping, hardcover, 10×11 inches, 216 pages, 200 duotone photographs

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