D. C. Jesse Burkhardt

Photojournalist D. C. Jesse Burkhardt was born in Jackson, Michigan, in 1953. A New York Central mainline cut through the fields near his boyhood home, and those tracks caught his imagination and sparked his interest in railroad history. A graduate of the University of Oregon, Burkhardt served as an editor, reporter, and photographer with four community newspapers in Washington and Oregon over a career that spanned twenty-three years. Burkhardt has published several books on railroad history and operations, as well as two travel adventures. His most recent books include Backwoods Railroads: Branchlines & Shortlines of Western Oregon, published by Washington State University Press in 2022, and Northbound Lights: Tracks Across Michigan & Wisconsin, published in 2023 by Fonthill Media of Stroud, England.