LARAMIE, Wyo. — Jim Ehernberger, 88, has now been retired longer than his time working for the Union Pacific. Yet, Ehernberger still considers himself a railroad man. Over the years, he has amassed a collection of documents, maps and photographs detailing western U.S. railroad activity. While he previously donated a portion of his collection to the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, he has now contributed the balance of his collection to that institution.
According to the AHC website, the James L. Ehernberger Western Railroad Collection holds materials dating from 1849 to 2024. The collection can be measured as 649.42 cubic feet or 1,138 archival boxes plus 30mb of digital material.
Ehrenberger’s railroad passion was kindled at age 15 when he rode a Rocky Mountain Railroad Club excursion over Wyoming’s Sherman Hill in May 1953. On board that train he struck up a conversation with one of the many camera-toting rail enthusiasts. The gentleman asked if Ehrenberger would be interested in buying a camera. The man turned out to be a local yard master, who hired Ehrenberger that July when he turned 16. Getting hired was conditioned on Ehrenberger buying the yard master’s camera.
That turn of events started two phases of Ehrenberger’s life: A 35-year career with the Union Pacific Railroad and a passion for railroad photography that netted thousands of photos including steam locomotives, trains and depots. It also opened the door to writing books and magazine articles about western railroading.
What’s in the collection?
Photographs — Ehernberger says he has provided the American Heritage Center with more than 100,000 black-and-white negatives and another 50,000 photos. He photographed all 25 Big Boys, cataloged western depots before they were torn down, and chronicled the transition from steam to diesel power. After retirement, Ehernberger made international trips — with his camera — recording railroads around the world. Some of his earliest photos appeared in Trains in 1955.
Books — Nearly 1,000 books are included in the current donation, all of which focus on some aspect of railroading. The books will be housed in the AHC’s Tappan Rare Book Library, according to Center Historian Kail Moede.
Beyond collecting railroad books, Ehernberger is credited as author on more than 50 books, including Union Pacific’s Cheyenne Facilities 1868 – 2015, Union Pacific Nebraska Depots, and Smoke Down the Canyons: Union Pacific Idaho Division.
Documents — Think of just about any railroad document and there is a good chance it is in the Ehernberger collection. Most of the documents are from the Union Pacific, but other western railroads are represented. Building plans, accident reports, financial records, even correspondence among executives can be found in this collection.
There are UP engineering maps dating to 1886. Might you be interested in how the Burlington operated in Wyoming during the horrendous blizzard of 1949? The records from the Casper, Wyo., dispatcher are part of the collection. There are letters from William Jeffers, UP president, to the board of directors making the case to order the Big Boy locomotives.
Ehernberger stays active in railroading. He still visits the UP steam shop in Cheyenne, plays a role in the Union Pacific Historical Society, and corresponds with those asking various railroad-related questions.
In this collection spanning well over a century of U.S. railroading, there are ordinary objects and others with an artistic flare. One of Ehernberger’s images was recently awarded third place in the black-and-white category as part of the annual photography competition hosted by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art. The 2025 theme was “smoke.” Ehernberger submitted a 1959 image of a Colorado & Southern Railway locomotive hauling cars up grade 30 miles north of Cheyenne in a light snow. The locomotive was retired three months after the photo was shot.
