Mark Klingel is a 28 year old photographer and author now living in Buffalo, New York. He has been interested in trains since he was three years old when his family took him to the Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Once he saw one of their active steam locomotives, the Edison, in action, Mark became fascinated with trains. Growing up in a quiet suburb outside of Detroit, Michigan, Mark was most active in the model railroad hobby with an O scale layout occupying his family’s basement. After graduating from Albion College in Michigan with a double major bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and History in 2019, Mark began exploring the photographic side of his primary hobby while working part time and full time jobs in Sales and Marketing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Mark hit the road traveling around the State of Michigan photographing railroads, including a majority of the roads serving the Lower Peninsula. In 2021, he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard as an Operations Specialist and began photographing America’s railroads in multiple parts of the country while traveling between active duty assignments. After completing basic and specialized training in Cape May, New Jersey, and Petaluma, California respectively, he was assigned to the Coast Guard command center in Buffalo, New York in July 2021 for his first active duty tour.
As of January 2024 Mark is an online graduate student of Arizona State University pursuing a Master’s Degree in Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
Since arriving in Buffalo, Mark has photographed the railroads of Western and Upstate New York extensively. When he is not on duty coordinating search and rescue, pollution, marine safety, and law enforcement cases on the eastern Great Lakes, he can be found somewhere trackside. Within the last few years, Mark has written three books about America’s railroads. One covers the tourist railroads of Northern California, and two cover the short line railroads of Buffalo, New York and the New York’s Finger Lakes region respectively. All three books include high quality photos documenting operations in the modern era as well as researched history on each railroad featured.
For Lakeshores’24 Mark will be the keynote speaker talking about “Rochester Area Railroad Stations and More!” Some of the stations and locations featured in his presentation can be seen in his newest book, The Railroads That Built the Finger Lakes: From Fallen Flags to Modern Short Lines. Outside of the Coast Guard and railfanning, Mark has remained active in the hobby through his membership with the Genesee Society of Model Engineers, the Western New York Division of the National Model Railroad Association, and the New York Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society.
