For the ninety years spanning 1934 to 2024, Kalmbach Publishing Co. (later Kalmbach Media) was a national leader in railroad publications with its books and flagship magazines, Trains and Model Railroader. Editors like David P.Morgan helped shape the visual culture of railroading. The company amassed a collection of more than fifty original paintings and drawings, their creators a who's who of railroad artists. Following the sale of Kalmbach to Firecrown Media in 2024, the company donated the Kalmbach Art Collection to the Center for Railroad Photography & Art, which now preserves and shares the artwork through a traveling exhibition and this publication.
