The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings A Visual Exhibit Curated by Author Tony Reevy

A Trailblazer in Railroad Photography

Can you name any of the photographers who helped document American Railroad History?

You might have said Lucius Beebe or Charles Clegg. But what about Phil Hastings?

Dr. Philip “Phil” Hastings is less well-known than other photographers. Yet, his works left an important mark on railroading history.

Phil Hastings in the field. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 10470.

A psychiatrist and photographer, Hastings developed a love for trains at an early age. Throughout his life, he traveled the United States documenting the end of the "Age of Steam". Hastings's many images tell the stories of railroad employees, communities, and landscapes. He also used a variety of photography techniques. His images help us understand American Railroading in a time of change.

This exhibit explores some of Hastings's images selected by author Tony Reevy.

A self-portrait of Phil Hastings at the Central Vermont’s Essex Junction. Hastings was an innovator in night railroad-subject photography. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Beebe and Clegg Photo Collection, Negative 4022.

A portrait of Trains editor David P. Morgan taken by Phil Hastings in the 1950s. Courtesy of California California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection.

The Boston & Maine’s southbound Alouette, east of Woodsville, New Hampshire. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 320.

Boston & Maine conductor Mike Downey on a train on the Peterboro Branch in 1952. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 386.

A Rutland Railroad conductor checks over his paperwork in the caboose, 1956. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 10509.

A conductor signs a register book at the Grand Trunk Railway station in North Stratford, New Hampshire. Hastings replicated this shot several times throughout his photography career. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 9252.

The Rutland Railroad's trackage north of Burlington included a shaky trestle across the Richelieu River connecting Alburgh, Vermont and Rouses Point, New York. Here, Hastings caught “Mikado” 32 with a westbound freight train. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 2197.

A St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain train crosses a trestle in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 10505.

A foggy dawn envelopes the Canadian Pacific passenger station at Sherbrooke, Quebec. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 10510.

A Canadian Pacific trainman couples two cars while a colleague clears snow from a switch. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 2591.

In one of Hastings's most notable photos, he captured the Pennsylvania Railroad “Decapod” crossing Rock Stream. The engine lead a northbound coal train headed for Sodus Point, New York. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 3865.

New York Central Engineer John Hitchko waits in the cab of his engine, powerful “Mohawk” 3005. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 10500.

“The Mohawk that Refused to Abdicate” is arguably Hasting's best-known image. Under a plume of black smoke, Engineer Hitchko takes 3005 and his train across Shelby, Ohio at sixty miles an hour. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 1761.

Narrow gauge Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotives 473 and 497 from a café window at Annie’s Café in Chama, New Mexico. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 232.

Every railroad-subject photographer who traveled West in the 1940s and 1950s tried to capture the Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 “Big Boys” - by many measures the largest steam locomotives ever built. Here, Hastings captures “Big Boy” 4019 in Dale, Wyoming. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 3769.

In one of his best-known photos, Phil Hastings combines two of his signatures—a silhouette of railroad workers or patrons and darkness or near darkness. This image is of what David P. Morgan called “the saddest train of all”, a train scrapping the Oneida & Western Railroad. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 10501.

In this image, taken in Sanford, North Carolina, Hastings captured an Atlantic & Western Railroad locomotive through the window of an abandoned Atlantic & Western Railroad coach. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 6015.

In this nighttime view, taken from a helper locomotive in the rain, Hastings shows the cab end and cab window of a westbound passenger train in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 3911.

Here, Phil Hastings captured a meet in near-darkness during a blinding snowstorm. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Philip Ross Hastings, M.D. Collection, Negative 2016.

A lasting Legacy

Hastings's works ushered in a new era for railroad photography. Focusing on people and communities, he introduced a new way of capturing railroad history. In doing so, Hastings reminded others of how the railroad shaped their lives.

A night self-portrait by Phil Hastings at the Central Vermont’s Essex Junction, Vermont station. Courtesy of California State Railroad Museum, Beebe and Clegg Photo Collection, Negative 4022.

In 1997, Marian Hastings donated her late-husband's collection to the California State Railroad Museum’s Library & Archives. His collection has more than 46,000 negatives and 4,000 railroad prints taken across the county. Hastings's work continues to help us to understand the end of the "Age of Steam."

Tony Reevy's latest work, The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings, provides a deeper look into the work of Phil Hastings. You can also view more of Hastings's work at the CSRM Library & Archives. Book an appointment on our website today to visit.

Learn More about The Railroad Photography of Phil Hastings by Tony Reevy

This exhibit was featured in the California State Railroad Museum's "Roundhouse Crosstalk" Podcast!

Click Here to Listen to the Episode

Appreciate