Born in 1943, Michael A. Eagleson took his first photograph of a train at the age of 11. By 15 years old, he had heavily documented the railroad line that passed through his home town of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, as it neared its final days. For the rest of his life, he photographed as many steam locomotives as he could. The mission took him to more than 77 countries and led him to owning his own steam locomotive, which he restored in Northampton, Pennsylvania.
Now, Eagleson’s world-renowned photographs and film work following the slow death of the steam locomotive on American railways is coming to Bethlehem. The more-than 60 years of work has been donated to the Industrial Archives & Library (IAL).
During his career, Eagleson also wrote a column for Railroad Magazine called “In Search of Steam,” which explained the history of steam locomotives. He worked as an agent for the Erie Lackawanna, a fireman on the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and was briefly employed by the Lionel Corporation.
Following Eagleson’s recent death, IAL volunteered to hold the collection temporarily while his surviving family decided on a permanent home. Nick Zmijewski, IAL’s Archivist, said helping to save work with such significance and quality, as well as recognition in the railroad enthusiast community, was incredibly important to the organization.
Through the family’s generosity and desire to share Eagleson’s work with researchers and historians, IAL has been named the collection’s permanent home.
The collection also includes quality photographs of operations at Erie Lackawanna and the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Zmijewski says several authors have already made requests for materials from the collection.
A full preparation and processing of the collection is expected to take several years due to its size and range of formats.
