H. Reid

Who was H. Reid?

Harold A. Reid was an American writer, photographer, and historian. Reid is best known for his railroad-related photography and published works. An avid fan of steam locomotives, he helped capture the last days of steam motive power on America's Class I railroads, notably on the Virginian Railway, and ending with the Norfolk and Western in 1960, the last major U.S. railroad to convert from steam.

H. Reid helped establish rail photography as a hobby. In The Virginian Railway, published in 1961, he combined photography with a storytelling style and depth of facts which have helped the "Richest Little Railroad in the World" live on the hearts of its former employees, railfans, and new generations of children who had yet to be born when it became a fallen flag in a 1959 merger.