James D. Porterfield

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. . . to my web site. I've created it to highlight my work capturing and sharing the culture of railroading with those who have an interest in railroad and industrial history, in historic preservation, in railroad fiction, especially that written by railroaders, and in rail travel. Let me hear from you if you have a story to share or a question I might be able to answer,

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Along with the home team's batter scorching a two-out double just inside the left field line with the bases loaded to give his team the lead, and the look - and feel - of an old Boeing 727 at lift-off, author and columnist Jim Porterfield enjoys the timeless charm of a train ride and the satisfaction that comes from cooking. In two of his books, the long-running DINING BY RAIL: The History and The Recipes of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine (St. Martin's Press, 1993), and the more recent (and shorter-lived) FROM THE DINING CAR: The Recipes and Stories Behind Today's Greatest Rail Dining Experiences (St. Martin's Press, 2004), he combined these latter two loves to provide a detailed account of eating on the train. In each book over 300 authentic recipes for dining car specialties past and present are accompanied by descriptions of rail travel, culinary practices and cuisine. What makes the recipes timely is the fact that they prepare high-quality dishes using a minimum of space, ingredients and utensils, generally in an hour or less.

Today Jim is at work on several projects, each with railroading and its history at the center. He recently oversaw the reprinting of Harry Bedwell's THE BOOMER: A Story of the Rails (University of Minnesota Press, 2006), arguably the best railroad novel ever published. For it he wrote an introductory essay and glossary, and compiled a bibliography of Bedwell's other work. Earlier, Jim edited and introduced Jack Orr's acclaimed SET UP RUNNING: The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904-1949 (The Penn State Press, 2001), a biography of Orr's father, O. P. Orr. Now he's at work compiling two anthologies of railroad short fiction, set for publication in 2010.

Drawing on his background as a teacher, Jim has begun work on several books for children. Some of them draw on his knowledge of railroading, but others are from subjects as diverse as careers and photography.

As a Contributing Editor for Railfan & Railroad, a magazine for North American railroad enthusiasts, Jim continues to compile a tear-out ANNUAL GUIDE TO DINNER TRAINS for the June issue, to assemble PORTRAITS OF RAILROADING to illustrate how today's railroad artists portray a particular rail theme, and to create SITE GUIDES TO AMERICAN RAILROAD HISTORY that take readers on a tour of locations across the United States where significant events in rail history occurred that also had an impact on America's history.

Elsewhere, he occasionally reported on and reprinted CLASSIC RAIL FICTION in the now-defunct Vintage Rails, has had periodic features in Amtrak Express, an on-board magazine, that included "Scenic Rail Dining," "Special Chefs' Chef's Specials," "Southern Family Reunions," and "Give Gourmet;" was the FOODSTYLES columnist for Radisson's in-room Voyageur, and did CELEBRITY CHEFS profiles in United Airlines' Hemispheres.

A popular speaker, Jim has been welcomed at gatherings as diverse as the Tourist Railway Association Inc. (TRAIN) and the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners, at The Children's Museum of Oak Ridge (Tennessee) and Amtrak's Chef Certification and Training Program, and among passengers on the American Orient Express and attendees at the annual Penn State Altoona Railroad Heritage Conference, which he organized and hosted. He has appeared both locally and nationally on radio and television to talk about railroad history, rail dining, and rail travel.

Jim Porterfield lives in State College, Pennsylvania. Aside from writing, he is a marketing instructor at The Pennsylvania State University and a training coordinator for a leading insurance company. He has been a loyal patron of Amtrak since 1976, and became a skilled cook testing recipes for his articles and books about food.