Mikado's Farewell: China's Last Steam Railroad, by Travis Dewitz and Todd Halamka

Photographers Travis Dewitz and Todd Halamka made a two-week winter visit in 2018 to photograph steam locomotives at a remote coal mine railroad in China, located 2,700 kilometers northwest of Beijing. They were able to arrange for extensive access to create an in-depth portrait of the place and its people. In this presentation for the Center for Railroad Photography & Art's Virtual Conversations conference, Scott Lothes moderates a discussion between them about their trip, photography, and experiences.
Halamka is a practicing architect and founder of Todd Halamka + Partners in downtown Chicago. His focus on railroad photography began in 2011, combining his lifelong love of trains and the outdoors with his fascination for image making.
Dewitz is a photographer based out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He has been published or featured in National Geographic, Trains magazine, Bakken Business Journal, Un-Sung Magazine, Vogue Italia, Cinamagic, Child Model Magazine, International Contemporary Artists Vol. XII, Amtrak brochures, Volume One, and Railfan & Railroad magazine. He is also the author of Blaze Orange: Whitetail Deer Hunting in Wisconsin.
Photographs © 2020 by Travis Dewitz and Todd Halamka
Produced by Scott Lothes, Center for Railroad Photography & Art, www.railphoto-art.org
The Center for Railroad Photography & Art is a membership-based organization. Support our mission today: railphoto-art.org/support/

[@RolfStumpfRailMedia]

What a world-class set of photos and footage right from the middle of the action. Priceless. Chapeau to Travis Dewitz and Todd Halamka.

[@kenmunozatmmrrailroad6853]

Amazing guests here.

[@ChristopherMay]

Wow. Absolutely stunning photography and wonderful stories to accompany it!

[@drakehokanson]

Great work and congratulations to Travis, Todd, and Scott! You not only brought me fine steam photographs and video, but took me to a remote part of China to meet the locals.

[@EntropicRemnants]

Absolutely stunning photos. I would have paid much to watch those spark runs.

[@atsf93]

An incredible set of photographs and an equally interesting story! Thank you for making the trek to China, staying up for long hours, and sharing your images with us. As someone that has traveled to China before I know it's a very long trip. However, the people were very welcoming despite the language barrier. I'm glad that was the case for your visit.

[@thecnwmondovilinepaulscota7304]

Wow, such an amazing group of photographs! Thank you for sharing them with us...

[@stef6567]

Some great images.

[@railhead5771]

Nothing 'pretty' about it, but very evocative. A wonderful distillation of another world, as well as a great tale of shared experience.

[@RailPreserver2K]

These guys are the modern version of o winston link