Like many have already said, it was Dick's published work in the 1970s and early 80s that sparked my interest in trains. (Only later would I find copies of his earlier material from the 1960s.) Who couldn't resist the drama and emotion of his Trains magazine essays on the Mojave Desert, Tehachapi, Cajon, the Coast Route, and the SP in general?

Many photographers with his level of talent and achievment turn out to be disappointments in person, too caught up in themselves and often downright rude. Not so with Stein. He was the most humble, warm, laid-back, enjoyable railfan you could ever meet. When I first bumped into him at Winterail in the late 80s, he had time to chat with anybody who approached him. Rather than find a seat in the dark after one of the slide shows had begun (imagine his tall bod sitting in front of you!), he simply sprawled out on the floor in front of the screen like he was on his own living room floor taking in family movies. He was truly "family" to everyone in attendance.

My only real time with Dick trackside was in late 1990, when I rode a set of Santa Fe's new Dash 8-40BWs up Cajon with p.r. manager Mike Martin. Steinheimer, Alan Miller, and John Sistrunk were on the ground shooting our train en route. After arrival at Barstow, we all had lunch near the yard, then Mike and I hopped into Dick's van for the ride back to San Bernardino. Mike went home for the night, but Dick and I went back up to Cajon, pondered the stars and passing trains at Sullivan's Curve, then got some sleep at what was then the Econolodge just off I-15. The next morning, we were shooting Super Fleet GP60Ms east of Summit and worked our way east toward Victorville, picking up sausage biscuits at McD's in Hesperia along the way. In all, a fun day of shooting back at one of my old stomping grounds, with the main guy who got me hooked on this stuff in the first place.

In addition to being a pioneer in creative rail photography, Dick was among the first of his kind who would wander great distances on foot and endure any weather to shoot locations and situations that nobody had documented before. From the hottest desert conditions to the deepest snow and cold in the Sierras.

Anyone who never had the pleasure of meeting Steinheimer in person should check out the "Across Donnner Summit" video that was released by Pentrex in 1992 (still listed at their website). Stein provides much of the narration, and there are plenty of scenes with him standing trackside working his camera. It's as close to a railfan trip to Donner with the Dean as you'll ever get.

There's a scene in the video where he says his favorite part of Donner is up "in the granite." Every time I visit my favorite place in northern Idaho, where UP's ex-SI route clings to a granite ledge 400 feet above the Kootenai River, I remember what Dick said about the granite on Donner, and I thank him for helping me to see the wonder and beauty of God's creation all around me for the past 30-odd years.