Steve Schmollinger. Final Highball

[Spades]

From Scott Inman, Southern Pacific Railroad Facebook Group

Final Highball - Steve Schmollinger

It is with a heavy heart, especially during the holiday season, to report the passing of a friend, patriot, historian, author, and legendary railfan photographer, Mr. Steve Schmollinger of Dallas Texas.
Steve’s photography influenced anyone with a love of western railroading, especially fans of the Southern Pacific.  While Steve loved to visit the Milwaukee, Santa Fe across the desert and other roads, his heart was dedicated to Tehachapi.  Steve captured some of the best framing and viewpoints of any Tehachapi photographer of the diesel era between 1970 and the end of the SP.
It was a thrill for me follow Steve’s Facebook account and his photography page.  He was still traveling and taking photos of modern railroading as time allowed, and his posts were frequent. Steve and I shared many things in common, including owning Nikon camera equipment.  I remember someone asking Steve why he preferred Nikon and he simply said, “I like cameras made by camera companies, not printer companies.”  This was classic Steve and he always told it like it was.
As a tribute to Steve, John Ford and I are considering having an unofficial and informal gathering of railfans to honor Steve at Walong when the weather is warmer and the days are a little longer.  We would only do this if there are no objections from the family. Stay tuned for more.
See you on the other side Brother Steve.  Your friendship and talents will be greatly missed.

[jagged ben]

Sad to hear this.  Hope Steve found happiness in the number of people who have admired his work.  I am certainly among them.

[Rivet Miscounter]

Sad news.  I was drawn to Steve's work about a decade ago when he did some photography in the "hogback regions" on the old Fort Worth & Denver line northwest of Dallas/Fort Worth.  Prior to that I expect that I've appreciated his work from other regions but just never connected the dots.  I really don't know much about him otherwise, but I followed him fairly closely in the past 10 years and appreciated his art.