View source for H. Reid

{{Short description|American historian}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{multiple issues|
{{Page numbers needed|date=April 2013}}
{{no footnotes|date=April 2013}}
}}
'''Harold A. Reid''' (1925–1992), also known by the pen name '''H. Reid,''' was an American writer, photographer, and historian. Reid's photographs of [[steam locomotive]]s, captured the last days of steam motive power on America's [[Class I railroad]]s, notably on the [[Virginian Railway]], and ending with the [[Norfolk and Western]] in 1960, the last major U.S. railroad to convert from steam.
In ''The Virginian Railway'', published in 1961, Reid combined photography with a storytelling style and depth of facts recording the "Richest Little Railroad in the World" before it merged [[Mergers and acquisitions|merger]] in 1959.
== Childhood, education, marriage ==
Reid grew up with the railroad. His childhood home in [[Norfolk, Virginia]] was adjacent to the massive [[Lamberts Point]] facilities with general merchandise and [[coal pier]]s of the [[Norfolk and Western Railway]] (N&W). Author Lloyd D. Lewis who himself was a child when he first met Reid, relates that "H" (as he preferred to be called) printed a small newspaper for his neighbors as child. He attended Elon College (now [[Elon University]]) in [[Elon, North Carolina]] and graduated from the [[College of William and Mary]] of [[Williamsburg, Virginia]]. He and his wife Virginia (née Ewell) Reid lived in Norfolk near the [[Virginian Railway]] (VGN) tracks leading to [[Sewell's Point]].
== Newspaperman, author, railfan ==
Reid was a newspaperman by trade and worked a brief time in [[public relations]] for the local [[Norfolk County, Virginia|Norfolk County Public Schools]] in what is now the [[Chesapeake, Virginia|City of Chesapeake]]. He began honing his art with black and white photography with a Brownie box camera when he was a child in the 1930s. Black and white remained his favored medium even as color photography became popular in the 1950s. He contributed articles and photographs to ''Trains'' magazine, published by Kalmbach, and his work was noted by its longtime editor [[David P. Morgan]].
Following a long friendship with the Assistant to the general manager of the coal-hauling [[Virginian Railway]], after that company's merger into the N&W in 1959, he wrote his epoch work, ''The Virginian Railway'', which was published by Kalmbach in 1961. In that book, Reid combined his photography with a storytelling style with facts. Reprinted three times, first and second editions of ''The Virginian Railway'' have become valued as collectible items.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}
Reid's other published work include contributions to ''Trains Magazine'', two other books, ''Extra South'', (1964), published by Starucca Valley Publishing, and ''Rails Through Dixie'' written with Johnny Krause (1965), published by [[Golden West Books]]. His photography work has been featured in many other publications, notably several by Lloyd D. Lewis which include ''The Virginian Era'' (1992), ''Virginian Railway Locomotives'' (1993), and ''Norfolk and Western and Virginian Railways in Color by H. Reid'' (1994), all published by TLC Publishing of [[Lynchburg, Virginia]]. His photographs have been published in many other books.
== Photography ==
Author Lewis describes Reid as a "consummate artist of the black & white image."{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}} At a time when many rail photographers concentrated on still photos taken from front and side profiles, Reid created unusual shots. Taken from above and below, Reid's photographs often included scenery or surrounding features in the genre described in depth in author [[Leo Marx]]'s 1964 book ''[[The Machine in the Garden]]''.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}
The travels of Reid and his friends in search of rail subjects took him to sites as far from Hampton Roads as [[Louisiana]], [[New England]], and the [[Hudson River]] Valley in New York. The hobby of rail photography was still emerging, and Reid occasionally slept in logging camps and rose early to catch the work of steam locomotives on the [[short line railroad]]s which were the last bastion of steam in the United States.
==Death==
Reid died in 1992, aged 67.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2023-01-16|title=H. Reid could shoot as well as he could write - Classic Trains Magazine - Railroad History, Vintage Train Videos, Steam Locomotives, Forums|url=https://cs.trains.com/ctr/b/mileposts/archive/2020/06/05/h-reid-could-shoot-as-well-as-he-could-write.aspx|website=cs.trains.com}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Virginian Railway]]
*[[Norfolk and Western Railway]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
=== Books ===
*Lewis, Lloyd D. (1992) ''The Virginian Era''. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc.
*Lewis, Lloyd D. (1992) ''Virginian Railway Locomotives''. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc.
*Lewis, Lloyd D. (1994) ''Norfolk & Western and Virginian Railways in Color by H. Reid''. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. {{ISBN|1-883089-09-3}}
*Reid, H. (1964). ''Extra South. An Unscheduled, Unhurried Look At Dixie Steam Railroading'' (1st ed.). Susquehanna, Pennsylvania: Starrucca Valley  Publications.
*Reid, H. (1961). ''The Virginian Railway'' (1st ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Co.
*Wiley, Aubrey and Wallace, Conley (1985). ''The Virginian Railway Handbook''. Lynchburg, Virginia: W-W Publications.
=== Magazines ===
*Reid, H. (1953) "''Trains & Travel Magazine''" December 1953 "Some Fine Engines", Kalmbach Publishing Co.
== External links ==
*[http://www.nwhs.org/ Norfolk & Western Historical Society] covers Virginian history
*[http://www.vmt.org/ Virginia Museum of Transportation ] displays 2 of only 3 extant VGN steam and electric locomotives, located in Roanoke, VA
*[http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts/ Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005165356/http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts/ |date=October 5, 2013 }} non-profit group of preservationists, authors, photographers, historians, modelers, and railfans
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050306054101/http://www.virginiasampler.com/virginian_railway_authors.htm listing of Virginian Railway authors and their works]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050401233906/http://virginiasampler.com/virginian-railway-mullens.htm Mullens West Virginia Caboose Museum] a community project in [[Mullens, West Virginia]] with photos
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051026071304/http://johnsonsdepot.com/ Johnson City, Tennessee Railroad History] Includes the Cy Crumley ET&WNC Photo Collection: a favorite railway of H. Reid
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050310121615/http://www.club-e-stores.com/Caboose/VGNcaboose_342-3.htm Victoria Virginia's new home for Virginian railway Caboose 342] a community project with photos
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050407175014/http://club-e-stores.com/Caboose/caboose64_lynchburg.htm Lynchburg Virginia's project to save the oldest extant Virginian Railway Caboose # 64] a community project with photos
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080228142912/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Roanoke/NR_Roanoke_VirginianRailwayStation_128-5461_text.pdf preserving the Virginian Railway Passenger Station at Roanoke Virginia] a community project with photos (requires a pdf file viewer)
*[http://www.ns.com/ Norfolk Southern Corp website]
*[http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?board=Virginian;action=display;num=1098089350 link to site of Railfan.net forum for Virginian Railway which has ''Roanoke Times'' story and photos]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, H.}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American photographers]]
[[Category:American people in rail transportation]]
[[Category:College of William & Mary alumni]]
[[Category:Rail transport photographers]]
[[Category:Writers from Norfolk, Virginia]]
[[Category:20th-century American historians]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:Historians from Virginia]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]