Railfan for Life – the Photography of Harold Carstens
R
– by Jeff Shultz
ailfan. Historian. Not two terms you might think of as synonymous, but which can be for the railfan with a camera and a talent for catching noteworthy
photos for posterity. Hal Carstens was an excellent example of this, documenting his railfanning trips with thousands of photographs over a period of sixty years. In that time he preserved the memories of dozens of railroads and their equipment, much of which no longer exists except in his and others’ photographs. Railfan for Life (http:// carstensbookstore.com/ neraforlipho.html) includes over 120 pages of Hal’s photographs, selected
by Carstens Publications’ editors and divided into 8 sections:
“Hal’s Backyard” covers New Jersey and New York – including the the NY Harbor car ferries
“Chicagoland”
features mostly photos of passenger service at Dearborn and LaSalle Stations
“Mainlines
East to West” consists of photographs of everything from an Amtrak SDP40F to a Washington Terminal RS-1
“Traction
Action” has photos of urban transit and electric traction railraods from across the USA
“Narrow
Gauge” includes photos of a variety of narrow gauge railroads from Colorado and New Mexico to Pennsylvania and Massachusetts
“Short
Lines” celebrates regional and short line railroads in photos, concentrating on a few in the Eastern US and Canada.
“Travels
Abroad” shows photos of railroads and transit systems that Hal encountered during trips to Great Britain and Germany
Each section also includes explanatory text about the railroads and locations photographed, to help tell their place in history, as well as why they were of interest to Hal. Each photo is also extensively captioned. Hal Carstens loved trains, and that love comes through in the hundreds of photographs included in this book. With a foreword by his widow Phyllis and additional text by E. Steven Barry, Bob Gallegos, Chris Lane, George Riley, Otto M. Vondrak, and James A. Boyd, this book is a labor of love – love of Hal by his family and co-workers, and love of trains by Hal himself. Hal Carstens joined Penn Publications as an associate editor in 1952, becoming the President in 1962. Carstens Publications publishes Railroad Model Craftsman, Toy Trains, and Railfan & Railroad magazines. Hal passed away at home on June 23, 2009.
“Steam
Figure 1: Railfan for Life – the Photography of Harold Carstens. MSRP $34.95 (Hardcover) $19.95 (Softcover). Page 94 • Issue 11-09• Sep 2011 • Railfan for Life/Harold Carstens/First Look, page 1
and Again” closes out the book with photos from the last days of steam in regular use in the US and Canada along with its continued use in tourist and excursion service.
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Contents
Index