About

Charles was first attracted to the Santa Fe Railway during childhood vacations where he would see frequent trains passing through a guest ranch in Victorville, California beginning in the 1960s. In high school he taught himself photo developing at home and began writing how-to articles published in model car and, later, model railroad magazines. He progressed through photo classes in high school and received awards along his way to earning a bachelors degree in photojournalism. A long career in new product development for toy manufacturers made use of his skills in researching prototypes, designing hot rod and custom vehicle toys, photography, building concept and sales sample models, graphic design and archiving data for collectors. Approaching retirement, he began volunteering at the Western Archives of the Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society where he has cataloged photos since 2012. In retirement, he writes books, builds models and maintains online die-cast toy data.