Shelby Lowe hits a new high in hobbies

Name a hobby and chances are Shelby Lowe has a hand in it. Call him a painter, artist, railroad buff, cowboy buff, author, baseball player or photographer-call him all these things and you'll be right every time. Mr. Lowe, chief clerk in the superintendent of terminals' office, Atlanta, started his railroad career as a messenger 45 years ago.

Dozens of hobbies crowd into a special room.

"In 1936 I started taking pictures with a box camera," he said. "Today I have between 5,000 and 8,000 pictures of Southern Railway alone. Overall I have about 12,000 pictures." School students from all over the United States write for his train pictures, which he sends at no charge. He has donated over 400 pictures to the Atlanta Historical Society.

Shelby Lowe displays a self-portrait showing him ready with his camera.

Some of his pictures were acquired by trading with rail-fan photographers all over the U.S. and Canada, and a couple in London. One picture in his collection is of the Crescent Limited Engine 1372 taken at Armour Yard, Atlanta, in 1925. Taken back when the Crescent Limited was inaugurated on Southern Railway, the picture is the only one of its kind in existence. "I found the picture in a garbage can in 1935 when I carried mail," Mr. Lowe said. "This is one of my prize possessions."

His photography and railroad interests proved a winning combination in 1965 when his book Southern Steam Power was published. The book is now out of print, but he still gets cards and letters from people requesting copies. Mr. Lowe started drawing pictures of trains in the first grade. "My teacher used to grab the drawings out of my hand, tear them up and throw them away," he said.

Today he spends much of his spare time making models of steam locomotives out of cardboard and brass, paying careful attention to each minute detail. Currently he's working on a model of Southern Engine 1401, the engine on display at the Smithsonian Institution.

His railway collection includes lanterns, antique switch keys, old timetables as far back as 1912, and over 10,000 clippings about old railroad days. He has a special railroad room in his home where he proudly displays his memorabilia.

"I have always loved trains," he said. "I was raised up on the railroad. My father was an SR conductor and flagman, and my great grandfather was a conductor with the Western and Atlantic Railroad during the Civil War.

My family has over 211 years of railroad experience." Mr. Lowe looks forward to a busy retirement in May: "I have four or five train paintings to do for various people, cowboy pictures to draw and paint and more photographs of Southern trains to take."

In addition to his hobbies at home, Mr. Lowe is active at the First Presbyterian Church of Douglasville where he sings in the choir and plays softball. His wife, Terry, doesn't mind sharing her husband with his many hobbies. She's a rail fan too.