Center for Railroad Photography & Art: Linn Westcott’s Wildly Diverse Railroad Photography

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A black, white, and light blue striped header image with the text Center for Railroad Photography & Art: Linn Westcott’s Wildly Diverse Railroad Photography

On Tuesday, July 25 at 8:00 p.m., I watched the online program “Linn Westcott’s Wildly Diverse Railroad Photography” presented by Kevin P. Keefe and sponsored by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art (CRP&A), a train photography collection based in Madison, WI. Keefe is former editor and publisher of the aptly named Trains, a magazine and online platform all about real railroads and railroad models. His book Twelve Twenty-Five: Life and Times of a Steam Locomotive published by Michigan State University Press was a 2017 Michigan Notable Book from the Library of Michigan.

Keefe knew Westcott while working for Kalmbach beginning in 1974. Today, Kalmbach Media “connects enthusiasts to their passions with magazines, books, digital products, videos, online stores, social media, and more.” Their primary areas of focus include everything associated with trains, model building, space, and general science. Westcott was the editor of the Kalmbach publication Model Railroader from 1961 through 1977 and had previous been an all-purpose editor on Trains, including a map maker and page designer. In fact, Westcott photographed the first cover for Trains, depicting a water tank at Casco Junction in northeast Wisconsin. Later, an issue of Trains titled “The Color World of Linn Westcott” showcased his work. Westcott was also an author with books including 101 Track Plans for Model Railroaders, HO Railroad that Grows, Model Railroader Cyclopedia — Volume 1: Steam Locomotives, and Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years.

After Westcott passed away on September 8, 1980 in Milwaukee, WI, his widow, Harriet Wescott, donated his Kodachrome slides to Kalmbach. While Westcott meticulously photographed trains and railroad structures through hundreds of slides, he did not keep meticulous records of where or when the photos were taken. Keefe collaborated with other railfans to rediscover engines and locations. Those who continue to work on this project have an incredibly vast level of knowledge, so I will describe only a few highlights from the talk.

Westcott photographed the Saluda Depot on the Saluda Grade in Saluda, NC, once the steepest stretch of standard gauge main line in the United States. The incline averaged 4.24% over 2.6 miles, which is an elevation gain of 606 feet. Now out of commission, the road was renovated into Saluda Grade Trail for biking and walking. Many miles away, Westcott loved Monon trains on the Chicago, Indianapolis, & Louisville Railway. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, the line was nicknamed for Monon, IN where the tracks converge. Westcott took a picture of a red-and-silver Monson train at the station in Monticello, IL. Parts of this railway are now an urban bike trail.

Besides trains, Westcott took pictures of trolleys and streetcars across the country. Many of the vehicles were PCC cars built by Presidents Conference Committee in the 1930s to compete with car traffic. The cars of Pittsburgh and the air conditioned Silver Sightseer of Washington, D.C. were PCC cars, while the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA) still runs conventional streetcars to this day. Westcott photographed “blimps” in Santa Ana, CA, which were extra long streetcars built by Pacific Electric.

Another Westcott photographic topic was convergences of track, spurred by his love of modeling. One shot occured in Massillon, OH, where the Ohio & Pennsylvania branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company (PRR) converged with the Baltimore & Ohio Rail Road (B&O) and the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (W&LE). At another favorite convergence, Westcott climbed “The Pinnacle” at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky to get a good shot of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) depot. Nearby, the South Mountain Railroad in Cumberland joined the L&N Cumberland Valley branch to go through a tunnel under Cumberland Mountain. Parts of the line are now Cumberland Valley Rail Trail for biking. An added fact about the area related to a previous post on this blog, the review of Path Lit by Lightning by David Maraniss, this junction is near the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, PA, which all-around athlete Jim Thorpe attended.

With so many beautiful photographs to cover, here is a short list of a few more locations where Westcott got his pictures:

During the Q&A, Keefe was joined by a pair of CRP&A employees: exhibition & events manager Hailey Page and acquisitions & marketing coordinator Elrond Lawrence. They discussed the extent of the Westcott collection, explaining that Westcott did not take train-focused vacations but instead snapped pictures while on the way to train shows or to meet with advertisers. The slides are of high quality and need little editing, leading one viewer to mention in the chat that Westcott used the German camera brand Reflex-Korelle, which took six centimeter by six centimeter exposures. The moderators also discussed other interests of Westcott, including history, geopolitics, and industries such as mining.

This fact-filled talk balanced the aesthetic of the photographs with detailed description. I was impressed by the breadth of knowledge displayed by Keefe during this talk. His research allowed him to describe trains, railroads, locations, stops, buildings, people, maps, and even camera angles. I look forward to attending future CRP&A events and learning more about all things locomotive.