image maker & RACONTEUR

SteelWheels.Photography is Frederick Manfred Simon: Railway Industry Photographer & Multidiscipline Creative (professional railroader, advisor, consultant, freelance photographer, videographer, and author).

My fascination with trains began more than 50 years ago when my father, an enthusiast himself, introduced me to trains. Even as a toddler I was always eager to see Soo Line trains passing through Osceola, Wisconsin where my father was assigned while in the US Air Force. We would watch locomotives switch railcars at the Great Northern rail yards near our then family home in Great Falls, Montana, culminating in a final move to where I reside today, Spokane, Washington, a mecca for rail aficionados like myself. The combination of railroader and photographer have come together to afford me a rare perspective and ability to develop a unique style of emotive and provocative railroad imagery. Join me as I continue to highball, chasing sunsets and moon glow whether in the cab of a locomotive or my camera in hand with a fervor for images that spotlight my affinity for rail power, my love affair with trains, and the magical mountains and lush landscapes they traverse and bisect. You'll get "All-Black" as I take you on my quest for un-ordinary railway images.

In addition to my on-going photography work, I am working on my first book to be published by the close of 2020. My byline has appeared in Trains Magazine, Locomotive, and shortly in the Center for Railroad Photography & Art publication, Railroad Heritage. I have produced and presented multimedia productions at the highly acclaimed Winterail and Autumn Leaf shows, and for the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad in support of their bid to remain operator of the Washington Department of Transportation’s Central Washington Subdivision. Considered as “hands down” the best presentation. My work has been exhibited and well-received at notable Spokane establishments.