Ohio Valley Railroads

Regular readers will note that I’ve been on a bit of a photography kick lately. For one I just got a new SLR and for another I’m taking an introductory photo class here at school. I’m sure more pictures will be making it to this site sometime soon. With any luck, they’ll be even better quality than before (I can hope at least).

I’ve decided now to take some time and research some famous railroad photographers. Their work can be of interest to pretty much anyone who sits track-side with a camera, and even if that’s not exciting their plenty nice to look at. I’ve prepared a couple paragraphs with some basic bibliographic information on two of the more well-known railroad photographers.

Otto Perry

Otto Perry was famous for his work out west during the late steam and transition eras. He spent a great deal of time documenting the Denver & Rio Grande Western while working as a post officer in Denver. Many of his photos feature long manifest trains streaking their way across the plains, but just as many could be old narrow gauge lines snaking their way through the mountains.

Regular readers might also have seen the photo he took at the CL&N’s yard in downtown Cincinnati. This photo features CL&N 4-4-0 #17 and was made during one of Perry’s trips to the east.

After Otto’s death his work was donated to the Denver Public Library and is now available for display. A sample of the collection was also put together as a book that can be found at all the usual used book sources. I picked it up from my university library and would recommend it.

O Winston Link

Probably the most famous of railroad photographers was Ogle Winston Link who was most well-known for his photographs of the last days of steam on the Norfolk and Western. Often these photographs were taken at night, requiring elaborate flash setups in order to capture the entire locomotive with light. I’m sure the crew really appreciated it when 100 flash bulbs suddenly went off! His most famous photo, known for displaying three types or transportation, is us at the top of this post.

The majority of Mr. Link’s work is available for viewing through the Link Museum. His famous book Last Steam in America is also easy to find, although I haven’t yet taken the time to read it myself. I’ll be sure to post a review up when I do.

I’m sure that I’m just scratching the surface of great railroad photographers. Are there any that you know of? Let me know in the comments and I’ll try to find some of their work for a future post.