Paul D. Schneider, 64, died peacefully on Feb. 15, 2019, at the Rehabilitation Center on La Brea, in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Fairfax, where he had been living for several years while battling complications of diabetes. He was a prolific railroad author, former Trains staff member, and award-winning video producer.
Over more than 40 years, Schneider established a reputation as a singular and uncompromising voice in railroad media, rooted in a deep love of trains and diesel locomotives as well as his experiences as an employee of the Burlington Northern.
Schneider was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and as a youngster grew attached to the trains of Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo; Canadian National; and Canadian Pacific. He developed a similar allegiance to American railroads – especially the Milwaukee Road – when he moved with his family to Milwaukee as a teenager.
After high school, Schneider made extensive cross-country trips by hopping freights across much of the continental U.S., taking copious notes on his adventures and honing his skills as a photographer.
Eventually Schneider found work on BN as an operator in the Pacific Northwest, working in various locations until transferring to the railroad’s busy Union Avenue interlocking tower near Chicago Union Station. That experience led to one of his breakthrough articles, “What’s the Problem Up There, Union?” published in Trains in October 1981 with his own on-the-job photographs.
The story was as irreverent as it was informative, filled with the Schneider’s trademark brashness. “Union Avenue is an interlocking plant that looks like it was laid out by a drunken baboon with a blunt crayon,” he wrote.
Schneider scored again in the March 1983 issue with “In the Violet Hour,” a touching, bittersweet account of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific at death’s door, again illustrated with his own photographs. Both stories were included in the Kalmbach Books anthology Great American Railroad Stories, published in 2014 and including selections from nearly 75 years of Trains. The only other author with two stories in the book was David P. Morgan.
As a freelance writer, Schneider contributed to a number of publications, including CTC Board, Modern Railroads, and Passenger Train Journal. That experience helped him land what he described as his “dream job,” a 1990-1991 stint as an associate editor at Trains and the short-lived Trains Illustrated. Alas, the closing of the latter eliminated his position.
As a video producer, Schneider was the very definition of an auteur, handling not only all the direction and script writing, but also most of the photography. His images were bold and dramatic, made all the more astonishing by the limitations of his eyesight, damaged significantly by his diabetes. His chief collaborators on the series were Milwaukee-based video editor Barry Mainwood and sound editor Ray Fister.
Schneider also authored two railroad books, both growing out of his deep interest in locomotives. The first was Burlington Northern Diesel Locomotives: Three Decades of BN Power, published by Kalmbach in 1993; he followed up in 2001 with GM’s Geeps: The General Purpose Diesel, also from Kalmbach.
Through the past nearly 20 years Schneider had been living in Los Angeles, where he moved to get more involved in filmmaking. His self-financed first film, “Kill Another Day,” later retitled “Blood and Roses,” was released in 2003 but reached only a limited audience via film festivals and occasional screenings. He also produced a self-published novel version of the screenplay.
During this period he also served for a year as the editor of CTC Board Railroads Illustrated, working with David Styffe, the noted railroad photographer and graphic designer.
Schneider often posed as the provocateur, asking tough questions of his audience and expecting the same in return. Nowhere was that more in evidence than with the Observation Car discussion group, which he created in 1999 on Yahoo and which still exists today as a forum for conversations about railroad photography and writing. The group also has a Facebook page. One of the phrases it uses to describe itself is pure Schneider: “There are no sacred cows.”
Somehow, Schneider managed to stir in others some of the same intensity he brought to all his various interests, as his friend and occasional collaborator Greg J. McDonnell recalls.
“Paul was as complex as he was passionate about the things we loved and shared – art, music, film, photography, pop culture, or even just plain culture,” McDonnell says. “He was unwavering in following his dreams, and wore his passions on his sleeve. And in doing so he was no more or less imperfect than any of us.”
Rest in peace Paul Schneider. I knew him back in old Milwaukee and he was the major influence in my photography and interest in the railroads. We road the Ford train to La Crosse.
Sorry, I meant Tuesday, 2-19-2019. I got caught by Father Time, again…
P.S. My complimentary copy of Garden Railways for December 2018 arrived in the mail this past Tuesday (2-19-2018). Including the covers, it contains only 76 pages. NO sign of Christmas; not even a trace of snow in any featured artical!
To add insult to injury, GR Founder and Editor, Marc Horovitz, has been ousted due to Kalmbach’s decision to bring all editing of it’s magazines in-house. Marc lives in Denver so has “stepped” down in lieu of having to relocate to Wisconsin. Though I remained silent at the time, I qustioned his decision to sell GR to Kalmbach when he made the decision in the first place.
With the December 2018 issue of Garden Railways, Marc completed 35 years of professionally editing a great magazine…from the Colorado Rocky Mountain West no less! So now Kalmbach will perfrom all editing in-house but at the same time has eliminated in-house Customer Service in favor of relocating it far far away from Waukesha HQ. In one man’s opinion: NUTS!
My complimentary copy of GR came with a fantastic subscription offer for four (GR has been reduced from bi-monthly to quarterly publication) issues to be delivered to my German address. A great deal but without Marc why bother to subscribe in the first place? The December 2018 issue with a mere 76 pages carries a cover price of $7.99. Besides the covers, three pages inside were devoted to showing past covers of GR. In my opinion, a total waste of paper and content!
I see little reason to continue supporting Kalmbach Publishing Company with such a negative attitude. I’m sure this message will be deleted but perhap’s not before a few devoted members of the railfan community will read it first. Like Marc, it’s been a grand ride ever since I purchased my first issue of Model Railroader, which was the February 1959 issue. Trains came a year later, in 1960.
A bitter good-bye to all of you. Even the employees at Kalmbach. You’ll survive without me. Sadly, I won’t miss the magazines, just the many wonderful people who contribute to the prototype and model railroad blog sites.
73
Joseph Toth Jr.
The Trinity River Bottoms Boomer of Dallas, Texas
Derailed in Deutschland
Michael Shore: I find it short of disgusting when Trains gets all over a railroad’s case when it downsizes the work force but has followed suit with the elimination of the wonderful girls who were employed in customer service in Waukesha.
One one word: Hypocrisy!
i agree with Joseph Toth’s comments. Whenever I renewed a subscription or phoned in a book order I always had a little chat with the staff in Milwaukee.
Did it really make that much of a difference to the bottom line to get rid of the Kalmbach staff
What a fitting tribute it would be to Paul’s memory to re- release some or all of the more than 25 one-hour On Location documentaries on DVD. I am fortunate to have a few of the series on VHS. I treasure his work and miss his great contributions.
I agree, William.
RIP Paul.
No age was given.
A real Blunder at Kalmbach was the decision to no longer publish Trains Illustrated. Model Trains went long befor TI did. However, this company continues to publish several non-railroad magazines. It’s time to return to the roots and heart of Al Kalmbach’s dream and restore Quality before Profit once again! Even the girls in Waukesha who ALWAYS provided Friendly Professional customer service have been replaced by strangers with no knowledge of railroading whatsoever. Placing a call with them (first in Tampa FL, now in Big Sandy, TX., where on earth next week?) is a total waste of time.
Please pass the Barf Bag. Oh my, so sorry, too late……
73
The Union Ave and Rock Island articles are etched in my early teenage memories. Great stuff, more interesting than any High School studies.
Wow, Greg you really described Paul in a nutshell, and I could not agree with you more.
This is truly sad, although it seemed that he never recovered from his medical issues of about 6 years ago. He was the heart and soul of the ObsCar list which is a shell of its former self. He encouraged me to write book reviews for CTC Board-Railroads Illustrated during his all-to-brief tenure, something that continues in my work at The Ferroequinologist. His perspective and advice regarding that publication would have been welcome.
RIP, Paul.
He was a great fan of, and great photographer of, BNSF’s former Burlington line in the Chicago suburbs. That’s a place I visit several times each year.
Paul will be missed.
I remember those articles. Paul made you feel you were there with him.
I am riding on the BNSF right now, just as I found the link to this tribute. Paul’s article on the Rock Island at it’s end was and remains one of my favorite pieces ever to appear in Trains. RIP Paul and condolences to those who knew him.
Rest in peace.
Would love to see the Union article reprinted in Trains or Classic Trains. It was one of the best ever.
Paul was a joy; he made one think and question, which is necessary for anyone poking at sacred cows. My one piece I did for him for CTC Boards Railroads Illustrated created quite a correspondence, both through “Observation Car” and personally. He was also encouraging and seeking kindred spirits. When you think of railfans, it’s so easy to segment. Paul could bring people together by being provocative. He nurtured spirited discussions, which hopefully made people think and then connect at deeper levels. In the railfan world, getting “beyond paint schemes” is always a challenge. How does one speak of one’s passion? A usual remark is, “I really liked the paint scheme.” Paul made everyone go deeper. My favorite discussion starter he did in Observation Car was a leading question, like: “What rail experiences did you have when you 18?” I know I gave some rather elaborate responses to his question. Our interest is more than just a locomotive or a “paint scheme.” What were the life experiences trackside that formed our interests and informed our passion? Paul had a way to pull those deeper, self-reflective thoughts out. Plus, he took a lot of teasing and created camaraderie, leading to friendships and connections across the miles. A first class editor and a first class eye for the different, we need more “Paulie” out there in the trackside world.
One of the most readable and irreverent of railroad-related authors.
Should have been editor of TRAINS in the post-DPM years, but Kalmbach may not have liked his viewpoints.
My favorite Schneider piece was an article in April 1994 TRAINS about the motive power on MARCRAIL in Maryland.
I hope some provision has been made to preserve his photography.