2024: A Year in Photos

Some of my favorite railroad images of the last 12 months (plus some other stuff I've been working on).

Well, I’ll be the first to admit I have been terrible this year at keeping up with this Substack — or doing much beyond the bare minimum to promote my work on social media in 2024. Part of that is because it has been a very busy year: In March, my wife and I had a baby and since then our lives have been taking care of him, working and sleeping when we can.

Despite that major life change, I was able to get out trackside in 2024 and score a few photos I was happy with. While these might not be the greatest photos I have ever taken, or maybe not even some of the best ones I’ve taken this year, I think they do a good job of depicting the fascinating world of railroading as I saw it in 2024. The railroad world is a diverse landscape of people and places and while I didn’t stray far from my home territory this year (only two shots were not taken in the Pacific Northwest), I think this group does a good job of showing that variety. Without further ado, here’s a look back at 2024…

February 10 — Coleman, Alberta

In February, I made a day trip up to British Columbia and Alberta to meet up with Todd Halamka, who was making a visit to western Canada. After a handful of trains in the morning, traffic along the Crowsnest Subdivision dried up and a drive east to Frank, Alberta, revealed why: a westbound had stalled, blocking the main line. After a few attempts to get the train moving again, the crew decided to split and run it up to the top of the grade at Coleman. At the west switch, a CPKC conductor cleared out a snow-covered switch. It’s an act that happens countless times a day in winter, but I thought this was a nice frame to kick off the year.

April 27 — Dunmore, Alberta

Millions of photos were taken of Canadian Pacific H1b 4-6-4 2816 during its ambitious “Final Spike Steam Tour” run from Calgary to Mexico City this spring. After spending a lot of time with the locomotive in 2023 during its test runs following an extensive overhaul, I was only able to make it out for one day of the tour when it headed east in April. While I got a number of shots I was happy with on the chase from Dunmore, Alberta, to Gull Lake, Saskatchewan, this candid of Steam Operations Manager Jonathan J. Morris offering up a bite to eat to other crew members (specifically Adam Meeks, Mike Manwiller, Bill Stetler and Justin Tracy) was a fun candid. With some 9,000 miles to go at this point, they were going to need all the energy they could get.

June 7 — Plains, Montana

One of the biggest changes to the local rail scene in 2024 was BNSF Railway’s acquisition of Montana Rail Link on January 1. Among the many changes that have taken place along the former MRL lines in 2024 — besides obvious ones like motive power — has been the continuation of a signal modification program that began a few years earlier. On June 7, an eastbound empty coal train passes a pair of new signals and the Northern Pacific-era searchlight signal they will eventually replace (as of this writing in late December, the historic signals were still up and in use).

June 17 — Hinsdale, Illinois

In June, I headed east to Chicago for the Center for Railroad Photography & Art’s annual Conversations conference at Lake Forest College north of the city. The day after the conference, my Dad and I ventured to the Highlands station in Hinsdale, Illinois, to capture the morning commuter rush. I took a series of photos at the station that I was particularly happy with — some of my favorites of the entire year — but I thought this more abstract one did the best job of conveying a muggy June morning on the former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s “Racetrack” (today, Metra’s BNSF Line).

September 15 — Canal Flats, British Columbia

Southeastern British Columbia has been a favorite destination of mine for more than a decade and it’s pretty easy to see why in this view from September 15. CPKC Train A19 heads south at Canal Flats, B.C., along Columbia Lake, headwaters for the Columbia River. Leading the train is an eclectic mix of EMDs, including a GP20ECO, SD40-2, GP38-2 and an SD60.

September 21 — Boston, Massachusetts

In September, we headed east for a wedding in Maine. It was a whirlwind trip to see family and there was little time for much else. But on September 21, we did make a brief visit to MBTA’s Mattapan Line. The 2.5-mile line connecting Mattapan, Milton and Ashmont is one of the last places in North America to see World War II-era PCC streetcars in regular service. MBTA 3263 would also be the first vehicle with flanged wheels that my six-month-old son would ride; not a bad start for a new railfan.

October 5 — Arlee, Montana

Perhaps no train on Montana Rail Link was as well known and well photographed as its twice-daily Gas Local between Missoula and Thompson Falls, Montana. That made it an ideal subject for me in the months following BNSF’s takeover of the regional railroad as it reflected the many changes underway along the former Northern Pacific Railroad across southern Montana. On October 5, the Gas Local was led by two BNSF SD70MACs, locomotives that (in this paint scheme) are getting pretty rare in the 2020s.

October 10 — Coram, Montana

I have never had much luck photographing the Northern Lights and even less trying to combine them with an image of a train. But that finally ended on the night of October 10 during an intense solar storm across northwest Montana. Here, the lights dance overhead as a BNSF Railway freight train heads east toward Marias Pass.

October 12 — Java, Montana

On the morning of October 12, a BNSF Railway grain train derailed while descending the west slope of Marias Pass. Hours after the wreck, my drone captured this view of the derailment and early stage of the clean-up.

November 3 — Butte, Montana

In November, former McCloud River Railroad 2-8-2 18 was brought to Montana from its home at the Virginia & Truckee in Nevada, to be used in the filming of the “Yellowstone” television spin-off “1923.” The locomotive ran around Butte for a few days dressed up as “Northern Pacific” 1770. It was the first time in 15 years that a steam locomotive operated in Montana and the first time since the 1950s that one ran in Butte.

December 2 — Columbia Falls, Montana

One of the last shots of the year was also one of the closest to home. On the morning of December 2, BNSF Railway’s Kalispell Local passes through Columbia Falls on its way back to Whitefish after serving the many industries of the Flathead Valley. This view from the drone allowed me to capture Wweyerhaeuser’s snow-covered log yard and Columbia Mountain.

December 6 — Seattle, Washington

In December, my wife had a conference in Seattle and my son and I tagged along, taking the time to check out the city’s fascinating transit scene. While railfanning with a nine-month-old exclusively via foot or public transit isn’t the easiest thing, it did result in a few nice shots, including this one taken near the Northgate Station at sunset.

What else I’m working on…

While chasing around a nine-month-old is taking up a lot of my time, it’s been a productive few months with work as well.

I’ve done a number of features for the Center for Railroad Photography & Art’s journal Railroad Heritage, but the most exciting CRP&A project this year was co-authoring a new book about the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s steam program (I guess I can add “book author” to my resume). The book, titled “Burlington’s Spectacular Steam Program,” was edited by Scott Lothes, co-written by Norm Carlson and features the incredible photography of John Gruber. I can’t recommend it enough.

The Montana Free Press has been keeping me busy with various assignments covering the northwest part of the state. I also spent some time covering Montana’s undercard House race. It was the first political reporting I had done in about five years, and while that’s not my favorite type of journalism, it was fun to dip my toes in it again.

Over the last few months, I’ve done some reporting for my old employer, the Flathead Beacon, and specifically its quarterly magazine Flathead Living (which I edited for a few years). My favorite pieces included a profile on Glacier National Park historian Ray Djuff and some of the changes at the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex.

Last but not least, in November, I wrote my first story for Railway Age Magazine, where I’m now a Contributing Editor.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! I’m hopeful that I’ll post here a bit more in the new year, but as always, no promises. Until next time…

-Justin