by Bruce Kelly/photos by the author except as noted
I was a 15-year-old in southern California with the obligatory 4×8 plywood sheet model railroad in my bedroom when I bought my first train enthusiast magazine, the July 1978 issue of Railfan. It had a terrific front cover photo and inside story by Ron Johnson featuring Maine Central. But what captivated me most was the article “Western Vacation” by Bill Rettberg — 12 pages of some of the neatest photography of California railroading that I had seen at that point, taken by a guy visiting from Baltimore, of all places.
In that article, Rettberg and his cousin Tim Padden managed to get themselves just about everywhere from West Colton and Cajon Pass to Tehachapi Loop and Feather River Canyon, capturing photos that looked like the work of experienced locals. Beyond the pictures, though, it was Rettberg’s storytelling about their 11-day adventure that took me along in their rental car, brought me trackside wherever they went, and kept me hooked from start to finish. That article inspired me to embark on my own photographic adventures in SoCal at a young age, and it was a prime example of the kind of material that was meant for a magazine with the word “fan” in its name.
During the 1970s, when Trains called itself “The Magazine of Railroading” and published some of the best rail photography and writing, while also catering to readers within the rail industry, it was a bold move for Hal Carstens to launch a new magazine aimed directly at railfans. Editorial and creative input for Railfan came from Tony Koester and Jim Boyd, who were already on the Carstens payroll as editor of Railroad Model Craftsman and Flying Models, respectively.

ABOVE: Kelly pokes away at the keyboard in 1994 with daughter Shannon on his lap at the Carstens offices. Shannon is now a historian and published author and photographer herself. —Amy Kelly photo
Soon after its Winter 1974 debut, Boyd switched from planes to trains, taking full charge of Railfan and developing its popularity among hardcore rail enthusiasts and working railroaders alike — so popular, in fact, that Railfan increased from quarterly to bimonthly in its third year; acquired the name, photographic collection, and additional readers of Railroad magazine in 1979; and increased to monthly publication in 1987. And through it all, while other rail-themed magazines entered the fray, it was Jim Boyd and his overall approach to the magazine who stood up on a soapbox and actively, vocally, promoted the hobby like no one else.
That same July 1978 issue I purchased at age 15 introduced me to Boyd’s “Camera Bag” column. In the issue, that column discussed the use of filters for properly separating various colors into distinct shades of gray when shooting black & white. It meant nothing to me at the time; in 1978 I was shooting color negative film. But thanks to Boyd, when I expanded beyond color negs and slides and began shooting slightly more in b&w during the 1980s (rail magazines were publishing far more photos in grayscale than color in those days), I knew to use a K2 yellow filter to make the red nose and tail stand out from the gray body on SP units; likewise for capturing the finer hue differences between the Armour Yellow, Harbor Mist Gray, and red pinstripes of UP units. Not to mention making blue skies richer and adding contrast and tonal range overall.
Who in their right mind cared about shooting proper tonal range for black & white in the 1990s, when some railroad magazines were including more and more color photography? Anyone who wanted to get more of their work published in Railfan & Railroad, CTC Board, or Pacific RailNews, that’s who. In fact, 20 pages of Ted Benson’s expertly composed Santa Fe semaphore photos featured in the March 2024 issue prove that b&w is still relevant today.

ABOVE: The modern office building and warehouse of Carstens Publications located at 108 Phil Hardin Road in Fredon Township (Newton), N.J., as it appeared in 1992.
Learning the Ropes
In July 1988, 10 years after buying that July 1978 issue, I walked through the front door of Carstens Publications in Newton, N.J., to join the staff. The first thing that struck me was how old-school some of the office equipment and furnishings looked, at least compared to what I’d left behind in the West. Of course, the offices were built new in 1973, but the accumulation of papers, folders, and artifacts that sat on top of the file cabinets and shelves made it feel like time had stood still since then.
But what really hit me after I hired on was that I was getting paid to do all the things I used to do just for fun — research railroad history and current operations, write stories and photo captions, draw maps, and go out trackside taking pictures. Heck, I even got paid to take new books or videos home and write reviews about them. Not bad for a 25-year-old with only two years of college and a few more years of photofinishing, portrait studio, and news photography work under his belt.
My move from the Pacific Northwest to the Northeast presented culture shock on a colossal scale. But from my Western perspective, whatever the Northeast lacked in terms of spacious vistas or spectacular mountain ranges it more than made up for in variety, energy, and nostalgia. Boyd and Mike Del Vecchio eagerly introduced me to Conrail’s busy multi-main freight corridors, short lines that lugged coal behind diminutive switch engines or F-units, and more steam-powered tourist operations than I’d ever imagined existed. I found the basic black Baldwins, Alcos, and Shays of the Northeast to be the quintessential, authentic experience of American railroading the way it used to be. Our team visits to Cass, Steamtown, East Broad Top, and other such places felt like we’d gone to Jurassic Park, where smoke-belching beasts from long ago still lived and breathed in their ancient environments.

ABOVE: On October 12, 1989, Jim Boyd is at Delaware & Hudson’s Taylor Yard near Scranton, Pa., framing the pusher that would soon work northward to Clark’s Summit on the rear of Train PYRP (Potomac Yard, Va.–Rouses Point, N.Y., manifest). This location was just two hours from our offices in Newton.
Amtrak’s San Diegans had been the passenger trains of my youth, zipping through orange groves and up and down the SoCal coast at up to 90 mph. Within a year of moving to New Jersey, I found myself photographing passenger, commuter, and transit operations almost more than freight. Del Vecchio acquainted me with his beloved ex-Lackawanna lines where NJ Transit push-pull diesel-powered trains mingled under catenary with m.u. electrics, while Boyd brought me to the scenic Hudson River for Metro-North FL9s and Amtrak Turboliners. The former Erie Railroad main line to Port Jervis, N.Y., became a personal favorite, a rural escape featuring mountains, Otisville Tunnel, and Moodna Viaduct, where Metro-North and NJT trains could be seen in foliage of all seasons, and framed with predictable timing against the setting sun.
Then there were those company-paid trips to Western events like the 1989 celebration of Los Angeles Union Station’s 50th anniversary, which drew appearances from SP 4449 and Union Pacific 8444. Boyd, Del Vecchio, and I went our separate ways shooting the main line steam moves and station festivities, thus ensuring we’d come back to the R&R offices with coverage of the event from all angles. The following year, Carstens flew me to SoCal for a story on Santa Fe’s brand-new Super Fleet locomotives.
My cab ride up Cajon Pass took me through territory I remembered intimately from my youth. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, that evening and most of the next day I explored Cajon with none other than Richard Steinheimer. An unexpected bonus of my job was being at the receiving end of photographs and manuscripts from many of the biggest names in the rail hobby — as well as some highly talented newcomers — and interacting with them during preparation of their work for the printed page…