 |
O. Winston Link MuseumCelebrating the Master of Modern Steam Photography |
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2025 / RWH
he O. Winston Link Museum collection comprises the striking photographic and auditory works developed by photographer-artist O. Winston Link between 1955 and 1960. A successful commercial photographer from New York, Link brought his studio outdoors to create carefully arranged images designed to convey the end of the steam propelled Norfolk & Western Railway and the communities and countryside along the right of way.
Covering much of Western Virginia and bordering portions of North Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland, Link took advantage of the region’s then unique combination of mountainous terrain, sparsely arranged populations and steam rail infrastructure to capture the end of America’s once thriving industrial age.
ocated in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, the O. Winston Link Museum was created in 2004 to celebrate the photography and audio recordings of Ogle Winston Link (1937-2001) — a commercial photographer and artist now remembered for his documentation of the last years of mainline steam railroading on the Norfolk & Western Railway. The museum occupies a portion of the former Norfolk & Western passenger station in downtown Roanoke, renovated in 1949 by famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy and host to numerous passengers trains of the N&W and Southern Railway. In addition to featuring numerous examples of Link's photographic work and audio recordings of steam railroading, and the equipment he used to create them, the museum also interprets regional Virginia history in general and Roanoke's railroad legacy in particular though exhibits, images, and memorabilia. The station building is one of the structures in Roanoke's Norfolk and Western Railway Company Historic District. Norfolk Southern's Roanoke shops are nearby, as well as Amtrak's platform for its irginia Service and the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
Click to see the O. Winston Link Museum plotted on a Google Maps page
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
1948 Official Guide ad / collection
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
collection
Virginia State Rail Map / collection
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
postcard / collection
collection
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
postcard / collection
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
postcard / collection
postcard / collection
See also these related scrapbooks:
- Virginia Museum of Transportation in Preservation
- Norfolk & Western Fallen Flag in Mainlines
- Virginia Creeper Trail in Preservation
- Amtrak's Virginia Service in Mainlines
Link's Caboose
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Norfolk & Western #518508
Roanoke, Va / May 2016 / RWH
from The Norfolk & Western Handbook by Conley Wallace and Aubrey Wiley / collection
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Roanoke, Va / Oct 2023 / Daniel Alls 
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Click to see Norfolk Southern's Roanoke Shops complex plotted on a Google Maps page
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
collection
A Modern Man's Masterpiece
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Raymond Loewy (November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by Time magazine and featured on its cover on October 31, 1949.
Loewy spent most of his professional career in the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1938. Among his designs were the Shell, Exxon, TWA and the former BP logos, the Greyhound Scenicruiser bus interior, Coca-Cola vending machines and bottle redesign, the Lucky Strike package, Coldspot refrigerators, the Studebaker Avanti and Champion, and the Air Force One livery. He was engaged by equipment manufacturer International Harvester to overhaul its entire product line, and his team also assisted competitor Allis-Chalmers. He undertook numerous railroad designs, including the Pennsylvania Railroad, S-1, and T1 locomotives, the color scheme and Eagle motif for the first streamliners of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and a number of lesser known color scheme and car interior designs for other railroads. Loewy worked with designer Donald Dohner to enhance the design of the PRR GG1. Loewy's career spanned seven decades. The press referred to Loewy as The Man Who Shaped America, The Father of Streamlining and The Father of Industrial Design.
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
collection
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
collection
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Apr 2026 / RWH
Lagniappe
Star City Sainthood
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Image and Likeness
image and artwork RWH
Backshop Brocade
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Cabin Fever
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Study in Spheres
Apr 2026 / RWH
Streams In the Desert
Apr 2026 / RWH
Virginia is for ... Museums
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Spaceport 101
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
Precision Transportation
Apr 2026 / image and artwork RWH
Owl Sight
digital adaption of original Link logo by RWH
Snapshots
Green Cove Goodness
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
collection
Green Cove, Va / Nov 2011 / Will Hankins
Green Cove, Va / Mar 2025 / ETH
Roanoke, Va / Apr 2026 / RWH
See also our complete Virginia Creeper Trail scrapbook in Preservation
Links / Sources
- O. Winston Link Museum website
- Virginia Blue Ridge page for O. Winston Link Museum
- Wikipedia article for O. Winston Link Museum
