CSX Sponsors Legendary Train Photographs Exhibition at Prominent Museum

CSX is the lead sponsor of Steam and Steel, The Photography of O. Winston Link, October 11, 2008 through January 25, 2009, at one of the world's most preeminent museums of photography, the Eastman Museum.

The dramatic night photographs of America's last steam engines taken by Link for the Norfolk & Western Railway are considered some of the most enduring and iconic rail images by art historians and observers alike. Famed photographer Link captured the final days of the steam engines, the towns and their residents along the route of the Norfolk and Western Railroad. The exhibit is part of the collection of the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, Va.

The Eastman Museum houses one of the world's most important collections of photography. The adjacent George Eastman House, a mansion and former home to George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, is well known for its historic significance and beauty of the structure and surrounding gardens.

Other elements of the exhibit are Passing Time, a recent video by British rail videographer Andrew Cross and Tracks: The Railroad in Photographs, from the Eastman Museum collection.

"TRAINS!" Day events held on Oct. 19 included train music, model trains, giveaways, crafts and activities for the whole family. Operation Lifesaver volunteers also gave safety presentations, and other presentations recounted steam locomotive history by well known rail photographers.

"CSXT has a significant presence in upstate New York, and this exhibit offered an ideal way to bring our public safety message to several key audiences," said Robert Rohauer, CSXT's Community Affairs and Safety Officer based in Buffalo, N.Y.

"We planned our public safety component to complement the historic photographs, and at the same time to educate the participants about the dangers associated with being on, or near, railroad rights of way. With the assistance of our partners at Operation Lifesaver, we were able to develop a schedule of events that allows us to reach a wide range of audiences, all of whom are coming to the museum to enjoy the fine work of O. Winston Link and the other artists."