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CRP&A to Offer Preview of Newly-Acquired Steinheimer Collection

Steinheimer captured this stunning image on moonlit-night in the Bitterroot Mountains in December 1973. The Center for Railroad Photography & Art is offering a preview of the legendary photographer’s work on August 2. Photo Courtesy of CRP&A. 

CRP&A to Offer Preview of Newly-Acquired Steinheimer Collection

By Railfan & Railroad Staff

MADISON, Wis. — The Center for Railroad Photography & Art will give members a first look at the newly-acquired Richard Steinheimer collection on Tuesday, August 2. Joining the Center’s staff during the online presentation will be Shirley Burman Steinheimer, “Stein’s” widow, partner, soulmate, fellow photographer and long-time keeper of his visual legacy.

Steinheimer, who died in 2011, was one of the most legendary railroad photographers of the 20th century and long considered to be the “Andel Adams” of the craft. 

In June, CRP&A announced that it had acquired nearly all of Steinheimer’s color photography, which comprises about 30,000 slides, as well as a significant selection of black and white prints and scans spanning his entire career, plus black and white negatives circa 1975 and later. 

Steinheimer burst onto the railroad photography scene in the 1940s and 1950s with visually striking images of the west. In the decades to come, his work appeared in Trains Magazine, Railfan & Railroad and numerous books, with iconic titles like Backwoods Railroads of the West and The Electric Way Across the Mountains. When he wasn’t snowshoeing around Donner Pass or riding trains over Montana’s Bitterroot Mountains, he worked as a commercial photographer in Silicon Valley, shooting for Fairchild Semiconductor, Intel, Apple, and other pioneering technology companies. 

Steinheimer’s images arrived at CRP&A’s headquarters in Madison, Wis., in June and since then professional archivists have been digging into the collection. They’ll be sharing some of that effort next week during the online presentation. The Zoom meeting is open only to Center members, however, there is still time for people to join and register for the event. Registration closes on Monday, August 1, at 4:30 p.m. CST. 

The collection preview will take place on Tuesday, August 2, at 7 p.m. CST. Click here for more information on how to join

The Center also launched a fundraiser this summer to help cover the cost of digitizing the Steinheimer collection. Two CRP&A board members, Bon French and Richard Tower, have established a fund to match all gifts dollar-for-dollar, up to $20,000. The match will be available through September 30.

The Center for Railroad Photography & Art was founded in 1997 to preserve and interpret significant images of railroading. It does that through exhibits, publications and conferences. For more information, visit railphoto-art.org.

Editor’s Note and Disclosure: Associate Editor Justin Franz is a Center for Railroad Photographer & Art board member.

This article was posted on: July 25, 2022