The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society's Fred Jukes Photograph Collection consists of 557 photographs fixed to ridgid cardboard frames. The subject matter of the collection is largely focused on North American railroads and steam locomotives, there is also a sizable collection of railroads and locomotives from Central and Southern America.

¶ Mark Frederick "Fred" Jukes (1877-1971) was a prominent rail photographer, known most famously for his action shots of locomotives on narrow gauge railroads in Colorado. Born in Emerson, Manitoba, Canada, in 1877, Jukes and his family moved to Virginia City, Nevada in 1892. It was in Virginia City that Jukes first became facinated with the railroad, when he began studying mechanical drawings from the Colliery Engineer Company. The same year, he purchased his first camera for five dollars and produced his first known photograph (of a Colorado & Truckee 4-4-0). In 1894 Jukes and his family moved to Bellingham, Washington, where his interest in railroading continued to grow. Jukes parlayed this interest into a career first with the Canadian Pacific as an engine wiper, and later in the shops of the Colorado Midland Railway. Poor eyesight prevented Jukes from gaining a position as a locomotive engineer, and he turned to photography as a full-time job by 1900, although he briefly returned to railroading in 1902 after selling his gallery in Laramie, Wyoming.¶

557 Sheets

Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library &; Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library staff for details.