Warren McGee, the second son of a railroad engineer, grew up in the railroad town of Livingston, Mont., chasing engines, visiting the roundhouse whenever he could, his young ears thrilling to train whistles.

Thus ensnared, McGee went on to work for the Northern Pacific Railroad, graduating from humble brakeman to passenger conductor over the course of his 40-year career.

In 1930, McGee, then 16, picked up his first camera, a 120-mm, Agfa Ready Set and started snapping photos of trains. He would take 40,000 black-and-white images, color slides and prints of railroad engines and cars.

McGee admits he had no idea that what he was doing would one day matter so much to historians and railroad buffs.

“If I’d a known that when I was young, I’d a swaggered a lot more than I did,” McGee said.

In 1997, McGee donated his vast collection to the Montana Historical Society. Now a portion of that collection has come to Auburn.

From Jan. 13 through April 18, the White River Valley Museum will host the traveling exhibit, “On Track: The Railroad Photographs of Warren McGee,” celebrating the man’s photograph collection as it chronicles and pays tribute to 20th century Northern Pacific trains from Montana to Washington state.

The images are grouped by decades that serve as markers in the evolution of railroad technology, offering views from Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington. Underneath each are interpretive panels.

“It’s a significant historical record of the Northern Pacific from basically Montana and Idaho west,” said Clark McAbee, project manager for the Morton Depot Restoration and author of a number of railroad articles. “There’s actually some pretty good interpretive panels that tell you who he is and what he did. As a member of the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association, he was, and is, revered.

“He has a quite a collection, and it’s nice to see that it went to a professional museum, and that people can accees it and it’s saved for all time. It’s a record of times and places and events we will never see the likes of again,” McAbee added.

“There are 40 large-scale photographs, all taken by Warren McGee and a few taken of him,” said Patricia Cosgrove, museum director. “You get to see this gentleman when he first gets his job, and he’s in overalls in a very menial position working for Northern Pacific. By the middle of the exhibit, he’s in a conductor’s suit and he’s a conductor, the highest ranking guy on the train. All are black-and-white photographs, and as you look around the gallery and progress in time, they turn into color photographs, because he’s taking pictures over such a long period of time from ’30s to ’90s. He is in his ’90s now and lives in Montana. We invited him, but haven’t heard back from him.”

Local author, photographer and Burlington Northern retiree Jim Fredrickson, who has written three books about trains in the Northwest, praised the exhibit.

“McGee’s photos are superb and make a splendid exhibit,” Fredrickson said. “When I first started in train photography, he was already world famous.”

Jointly sponsored by Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association, Montana Department of Transportation and Montana Historical Society, the exhibit features nearly 40 stunning photographs taken by McGee over a 60-year period, beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 1990s.

After seeing “On Track,” museum visitors can climb aboard a 1924 Northern Pacific Railroad caboose in the museum’s permanent exhibit, “1920s Auburn.” Other permanent exhibits include an 1850s pioneer cabin, hops farming and an 1890s Muckleshoot Indian canoe scene.

=====

Warren McGee exhibit programs

• Feb. 5, 6:30-9:30 p.m. – Museum Open House and Railroad Lecture

Join us for our kick off 2010 Lecture Series event! The Museum Open House is held from 6:30 – 7:30; lecture and slide show from 7:30 – 9:30. Admission is $5 adults, $4 children and seniors.

• Feb. 6, 12-3 p.m. – Railroad Veteran’s Panel Discussion

Local and regional retirees will convene to discuss railroading’s golden age. Free with regular Museum admission.

• March 13, 1-3 p.m. – Morse Code Performance by the Morse Telegraph Club

Dashes and dots prevail as old time operators in full costume send telegraph messages throughout the Museum. Bring the whole family to this incredible performance.

• April 10, 12-4 p.m. – Family Day: Railroad Adventures

Get on the right track for fun at this family friendly celebration of railroading. Free with regular Museum admission.