D. C. Jesse Burkhardt

Photojournalist D. C. Jesse Burkhardt, was born in Jackson, Michigan, and as a kid lived close to a New York Central mainline, sparking his interest in railroad history and operations. He graduated from Jackson Community College in his hometown and later from the University of Oregon, and subsequently served as an editor with four different community newspapers in Oregon and Washington in a career stretching over 23 years.

Burkhardt "semi-retired" in 2017 but has kept writing, compiling photographs, and producing books. After completing a heavily-researched book on railroad abandonments in the Pacific Northwest in 2025, he is now working on a book on active rail lines in the Northwest region with England-based Sutton Publishing. Over the past 30 years, Burkhardt has published a dozen books on railroad history, as well as two travel-adventures.