Jim Thomas has been a member of ORHF’s Board of Directors since 2020 and serves on its Finance Committee. He has been close to ORHF since the Brooklyn Roundhouse days, has been a frequent visitor since the museum was built, and was recruited by our Board Secretary, David Jorling, to join the Board. Fun fact: David and Jim are actually family—Jim’s wife (Mary) is the sister of David’s wife (Ana).

Jim has photographed railroads for 66 years. His work has been published in books, magazines and calendars. For Jim, trains, travel and photography are a great combination. He has visited 29 countries (10 specifically for train photography) and has photographed railroads in 50 states. Among his most interesting trips–which he repeated two weeks a year for three consecutive years—were in Inner Mongolia, China, in winter, where he photographed the last mainline steam operation in the world.

Jim has over 100,000 train photographs in his collection. We are fortunate to have 60 of them currently on display in the Enginehouse. If you haven’t been to the museum recently, plan a visit to see this exhibit. His photos are exquisite. The show focuses on “Keeping Steam Alive”—a portrayal of steam since the 1950s, dedicated to those who worked to preserve it.

Mary and Jim live in Lake Oswego. Jim has two sons, Jeff and Ben. Jeff lives in Germany with his wife, Katrin, and son, Franz. He is a software developer for a large consulting firm. Ben is a musician and performs regularly in the Los Angeles area, often along with his partner Toni Boller. Ben was the lead singer for Dweezil Zappa’s band for seven years.

Beyond railroads, Jim’s interests include jazz music, Italian food and salted caramel ice cream. And surprise, his favorite movie is “The Train,” starring Burt Lancaster. We appreciate his warm sense of humor and significant contributions to ORHF.