I have been photographing railroads and trains since 1952. My first locomotive image was an SP 2300-class Ten-Wheeler switching the packing sheds at Los Banos, CA that year, using a "Brownie" box camera (remember those?). My grandparents worked a cattle ranch in the area, where I often spent my summers.
Over these many years, and many thousands of images, I remain married to short-lines, logging, industrial & slim-gauge pikes, and the steam locomotive.
On Oct. 31st, 2020, after 32 years, I finally "pulled the pin" and retired as a locomotive engineer, conductor & brakeman for the San Diego & Arizona Railway, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the non-profit Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Assoc., Inc. (PSRM.org). My all-time favorite "tourist railroad" is the 3'-gauge Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. I have run and fired both wood-, coal- and oil-burning steam locomotives, as well as a large array of diesel-electrics, from G.E. 70- & 80-tonners to EMD F-7s, GP-7s, 9s, and MRS-1s. But I but preferred the hand-fired coal-burners, hence the handle: "No.4 Scoop". Probably my most memorable activity was hand-firing the regular passenger train over Cumbres Pass on the C & TS (at an oxygen-deprived 10,015 feet above sea-level!).