WGRF History

The World's Greatest Rail Fans (WGRF) was formed by a group of railroad photographers in 1966 in order to have some respectability when seeking access to railroad yards and industrial mills to photograph the locomotives there. The group still gathers annually in Sep or Oct somewhere in the North America to photograph local trains and swap slides from their collection. At each gathering, permission is granted by a host railroad or industry for a group photo to be taken with a locomotive of interest. You can view past group photos below!

1968, Minneapolis, Minnesota

1969, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1971, Denver, Colorado

1972, Birmingham, Alabama

1973, Omaha, Nebraska

1976, Buffalo, New York

1977, Memphis, Tennessee

1978, Kansas City, Kansas

1979, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1980, St. Louis, Missouri

1982, Minneapolis, Minnesota

1983, Salt Lake City, Utah

1984, Toronto, Ontario

1985, San Bernardino, California

1986, Vancouver, British Columbia

1987, Chicago, Illinois

1988, Montreal, Quebec

1989, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1990, Denver, Colorado

1992, Duluth, Minnesota

1993, Omaha, Nebraska

1994, St. Louis, Missouri

1995, Cleveland, Ohio

1996, Chicago, Illinois

1997, St. Paul, Minnesota

2003, Indianapolis, Indiana

2003, Indianapolis, Indiana

2004, St. Louis, Missouri

2005, Cleveland, Ohio

2007, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

2008, Southern Pines, North Carolina

2010, Kansas City, Kansas

2015, Birmingham, Alabama

2022, Morton, Illinois

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS BY MIKE SOSALLA

We are still looking for group photos from the following years:

For more information on WGRF, contact Jim Herold at jherold2@charter.net