Richard Steinheimer: A True Artist

The death of Richard Steinheimer on May 4, 2011, closed out a career that, in the world of railroad photography, was unparalleled. Although he came to prominence in an era marked by other great talents, “Stein’s” visual insights, his astonishing technique, and his storytelling abilities were an especially potent combination. His images of railroading in the West — especially California — are indispensable to the historical record, but they are much more than that. Only a true artist can provoke the kinds of responses you are likely to experience when you see these images. To see more of Stein’s captivating images, see “Phone Calls From God” in the September 2011 issue of Trains magazine.

Showing the effects of 15 years of desert and mountain service, Southern Pacific F3 6153 rests in the diesel shop at Roseville, Calif., on February 26, 1965, the eve of its retirement. Once in the vanguard of dieselization on the SP, the 6153 and her sisters are about to give way to a second generation of EMD motive power.

Deep in the Sierra Nevada, SP F7s emerge from a snowshed at Norden, Calif., with an eastbound freight in August 1963. Visible in the scene are Lake Norden (left) and, beyond the snowshed, an open truss “bridge” supporting a turntable roof.

On its inaugural run, SP’s new Starlight passenger train is ready to depart San Francisco’s Third and Townsend station for Los Angeles on a breezy evening in October 1949. The new train uses equipment from the recently discontinued Noon Daylight. Doing the honors is streamlined Daylight 4-8-4 No. 4442.

In one of Steinheimer’s iconic photographs, Denver & Rio Grande Western 2-10-2 No. 1403 leads an eastbound coal drag through a pristine winter scene at Thistle, Utah, in 1951.

A car inspector and a flagman chat just before train time for one of Santa Fe’s San Diegan trains, ready to depart San Diego for Los Angeles in February 1952. In the foreground is one of AT&SF’s distinctive oval-window “pendulum” cars, which employed a passive tilt system on curves.

Santa Fe on Cajon Pass, 1974: A quintet of EMD hood units leads a westbound coal train descending the north line of the pass amid a cloud of brakeshoe smoke.

The flagman on Union Pacific train No. 9, the City of St. Louis, fulfills the call of duty during a blizzard at Rawlins, Wyo., in March 1953.

Late in their career of regular freight service on the Colorado narrow gauge, a pair of D&RGW 2-8-2s congregates at the water tower in Antonito in the winter of 1961.

Its distinctive blunt-end observation car bringing up the rear, SP train 101, the City of San Francisco, climbs through Cold Spring Canyon toward Donner summit and Norden in August 1962. Note SP’s distinctive full-length dome-lounge at the center of the train.

Gateway to vintage power: the side door of a Milwaukee Road E-50-B boxcab electric, photographed in April 1972. The builder’s plate proudly displays the motor’s GE heritage.