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 either on Memorial Day or Labor Day weekend somewhere in the North America to photograph local trains and swap slides from their collection. At each gathering, permission is granted by the host railroad 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:
1966 - Cincinnati
1967 - Kansas City
1970 - Chicago
1974 - Chicago
1975 - St. Louis
1981 - Dallas-Ft. Worth
1991 - Kansas City
1998 - Portland
1999 - Pittsburgh
2000 - Gillette
2001 - Kansas City
2002 - Duluth
2006 - Buffalo
2009 - Pittsburgh
2011 - Ft. Worth
2012 - North Dakota
2013 - Harrisburg
2014 - St. Louis
2016 - San Antonio
2017 - Evansville
2018 - East Chicago
2019 - Washington, PA