Welcome to Trackside with Justin Franz

A new Substack newsletter about railroad imagery and whatever else I'm working on

Hello and welcome to the first edition of Trackside with Justin Franz. You’re probably wondering what exactly this is. Well, let me explain. I love to share my work with friends, family and colleagues, usually through sites like Flickr, Instagram and Twitter. But there are constraints on what those platforms can do and so I decided to start a Substack newsletter about railroad imagery and whatever else I’m working on. 

For those of you who don’t know me (Perhaps a friend sent this link to you?), here’s a bit about me: I’m a writer, photographer and editor based in Northwest Montana with a big interest in railroading and railroad photography. I’m the associate editor of Railfan & Railroad Magazine and the managing editor of Flathead Living Magazine. I also do a lot of work for places like the Montana Free Press, Atlas Obscura and even the Washington Post on occasion. I’m also a proud board member of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art. Simply put, I like to stay busy! 

While this newsletter will be a new way for me to share my work, I don’t just want it to be a list of links and a passing “Check this out!” I hope to turn this into an outlet to share my thoughts about the stories I’m working on and the process I go about making them. While railroad photography will be the big focus of this newsletter, I’ll sometimes explore other interests of mine (after all, I don’t spend all my time writing about and photographing railroads. Diversity is the spice of life!). I also hope that people who aren’t into railroads might find this newsletter interesting and I’ll most certainly try to write it for as wide an audience as possible. For those readers, I hope to offer a little insight into why I and so many others spend so much of our free time trying to photograph big machines moving across the landscape. I’ll also try to highlight other people who I think are doing interesting work. 

So, with that, let’s get to some actual photos…

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David Turner, a Nevada Northern Railway fireman, uses hand signals to guide locomotive 81 into the East Ely, Nev., railroad shop in February 2022.

Nothing Like The Nevada Northern

"Among all railroad historic sites anywhere in North America, the Nevada Northern Railway complex at East Ely is-no question in my view-the most complete, most authentic, and best cared-for, bar none. It's a living American treasure.” —William L. Withuhn, curator emeritus, History of Technology and Transportation at the Smithsonian Institution.

The vast majority of my railroad photography focuses on contemporary subjects, but there are exceptions to every rule. The Nevada Northern Railway Museum in East Ely, Nev., is one of them. A quick synopsis: The railroad was built in the early 20th century to move copper. When the mines played out in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the owner shut the railroad down and donated most of it to the town of Ely, which was desperate for any sort of economic jolt. The railroad was turned into a museum and today and welcomes tens of thousands of people annually. What makes the Nevada Northern unique though is just how unchanged it is from the early 20th century, thanks in large part to its remoteness. 

Nevada Northern Railway 2-8-0 81 emerges from a tunnel in Robinson Canyon just outside of Ely, Nev. The locomotive was restored to service in 2021, after not being used for more than six decades.

I made my first trip to Ely in 2016, after being the recipient of the railroad’s “Steam, Steel and Strobes” Scholarship, where they invite one young (30 and under) photographer to participate in the railroad’s annual winter photoshoot. While it sounds like a great deal for the photographer (and it is), it’s an even better deal for the railroad, because if you go to the Nevada Northern once you’re hooked and you’re going to want to go again, which I did in 2019 and 2022. While the photo charter is structured around pre-planned photo opportunities, my favorite part has always been the access you get to the shop and crews. In my mind, the best photos don’t happen on the organized photo line but happen well before the sun comes up when these dedicated railroaders prepare century-old steam locomotives. 

My most recent trip, in February, felt the most productive, in part because I felt like I was finally starting to understand the people and place. On Friday night, I bellied up to the bar at the Outpost Bar, a few blocks from the engine house with some other photographers. When the locals found out we were in town for the photoshoot, they exclaimed how much they loved the railroad and railroaders. The bartender even pointed out the stuffed animal, a plush version of the world-famous Dirt, next to the pint glasses. There’s no doubt about it, Ely loves the railroad.

Below are a few of my favorite shots from the Nevada Northern over the last few years. If you want to learn more about the railroad, be sure to check out my story about it in the Washington Post published last month.

An unposed moment: I don’t envy the railroaders of the Nevada Northern who, for three weekends in a row in February, have to deal with a few dozen photographers sticking their cameras in their faces. Inevitably, someone will ask them to pose for a picture and a lot of the time, at least in my opinion, the images look well… posed, fake, not authentic. To me, the best images are the ones that aren’t planned or posed, like this one of shop foreman John Henry, center, and two crewmen looking out the shop doors on a chilly February morning. It’s the last day of a three-weekend stretch of charters, and I’m sure they can’t wait for everyone to leave.

Steam scene: Nevada Northern 81 steams through the East Ely, Nev., rail yard with a short freight train. I generally like to use wider lenses when shooting steam locomotives (aka: not telephoto lenses) because that is what was available in the steam era and a tele of a steam engine looks “off” to me. But sometimes, especially in winter when the steam is more dramatic, it works well.

There are a lot of amazing places in the 56-acre rail yard, but few are as magical as the roundhouse — especially when the afternoon sun shines through the windows above.

Executive Director Mark Bassett, left, talks to a crew member on a cool winter afternoon in February 2022. There’s nothing like the Nevada Northern…

What Else I’m Working On…

A lot of the stories I’ve done about railroading for mainstream media outlets tend to be positive — stories about old steam trains in the mountains of Nevada or fancy new locomotives for Amtrak — in part because I want to share my enthusiasm for the industry with a wider audience. But I don’t ignore the imperfect either and over the years have written about everything from concerns over oil trains rolling through sensitive environments to deadly derailments. 

Recently, I wrote about BNSF Railway’s new employee attendance policy, which according to union officials, has resulted in hundreds of railroaders quitting. You can read that over at the Montana Free Press, one of the outlets I frequently write for (You can read all my Free Press stories here and if you have a little more time, check out the podcast I did for them about Montana’s ongoing housing crisis). 

Well, that’s all I’ve got to say this time around. I promise the next one — probably in a month or so — will be a bit shorter. If you enjoyed this newsletter, be sure to share it with a friend. 

See you trackside, 

Justin