Born into a family of railroaders, Bob Haines (1940–2022) developed an early fascination with both trains and photography, taking his first photographs as early as 1953. Trained in aerial photography while enlisted in the US Navy, he gained vast technical experience, sharpened his eye, and gained newfound appreciation for the documentary value of the still image that would define the rest of his life and work.
Fresh out of the Navy, Bob worked first with Charlotte McGraw, the founder of Artcraft Camera in Kingston and a retired Captain in the United States Army who served in World War II. He then ran steam engines with the Middletown and New Jersey Railroad before becoming a press photographer with The Daily Freeman, where he earned the paper several awards with his sports photography. Throughout this period, he worked tirelessly on and off the clock developing networks of contacts, fellow enthusiasts, and collectors all united by their profound interest in the history of Ulster County and the region around.
Bob Haines’s works and words reached far beyond the pages of the newspaper. His expertise was shared through radio segments, local exhibits, and several publications. Aside from his news photography, his personal photographic portfolio preserved a remarkable vision of activities, events, and infrastructure during periods of immense change in the region.
Beyond the lens, Bob was involved closely in the reviving what became the Catskill Mountain Railroad - sharing collections materials, clearing brush, and gathering volunteers to support a local tourist railroad. When he wasn’t on assignment, he was often outdoors, walking railroad tracks with camera in hand, capturing striking images, collecting relics, and documenting the changing landscape.
Bob often put himself in precarious positions to get the perfect shot. He waded into streams, trudged through deep snow, lay on cliffs, climbed trees, and even hung from moving locomotives. Bob had special access, first through family and then his press pass, to accidents, infrastructure, and the workers who kept the railroads running. As his reputation grew, he was often called upon to document wrecks for investigations.
Bob Haines’ surviving collection reflects his broad scope of interests and comprises his own photographic portfolio as well as a remarkable array of objects and archival visual materials that document not only local railroads but the broader experiences of people in this region over the last century.
