Steam & Excursion > Joe Collias

We have lost another good one.
Joe was called home to the Lord on April 30, 2015.
  Joe G. Collias, the son of George and Martha (nee Van Buskirk) Collias was born on April 25, 1928 in East St. Louis, IL and was received into the Kingdom of God through the Sacraments of Holy Baptism administered by the Rev. Edwin J. Fritze on the 14th day of August, 1960. Joe was also  received as a Coll Member of St.  Matthew Lutheran Church on the same day.
  Joe worked in the traffic department of the Missouri Pacific Railroad and a short time later he went to work at Bemis Bag where he utilized his engineering  degree to design printing presses and paper mill machinery. When Bemis Bag moved its operations to Minneapolis, MN in 1961, Joe decided to remain in St. Louis and sought other employment. Also resulted in a career change in his becoming the Art Director of a family-owned business known as RC Can. This company was purchased by Boise Cascade and later by Sonoco where Joe remained until his  retirement. Joe's avocation included photography, a much-loved subject, that of steam locomotives which he did in earnest driving hundreds of thousands of miles, capture his  subject. Later he authored seven hard-bound books, namely: The Last of Steam; The Search for Steam;  MOPAC Power; Frisco Power; The Missouri Pacific Lines in Color; The Texas and Pacific; and Katy Power which was co-authored and displayed many of his photographs. Joe has also held membership in the following railroad historical and technical societies: Burlington; Chicago and Northwestern; Gulf, Mobile and Ohio; Illinois Central; Pennsylvania Railroad; Rock Island; Terminal  Railroad; Wabash and the Missouri Pacific, which he was bestowed life membership. Having written many articles and supplying photographs from his vast collection.
  Joe was united in holy marriage with Marjorie (nee Piel) at St.  Matthew Lutheran Church, St. Louis, MO on October 1, 1960 until they transferred their membership to Timothy Lutheran Church and in 1990 to Lutheran Church of the  Resurrection.
  Joe was the brother of the late Gene (Geraldine) Collias, half-brother of William (Nylahmae) O'Donnell.
  He leaves to mourn his passing from this world nieces, nephews, other relatives and countless friends.
  He was preceded in death by his grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, brother, half-brother and sisters in law.

He took some great photography, including Wabash trains, much of it in the steam era. I'm sorry I never got a chance to meet him.  Joe also had a good rapport with the late John Barriger, railroad president of a number of roads.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/15 19:12 by wabash2800.

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> He took some great photograply, including Wabash
> trains, much of it in the steam era. I'm sorry I
> never got a chance to mee him.  Joe also had a
> good rapport with the late John Barriger, railroad
> president of a number of roads.

 I'll second this nice post.

Joe Collias was a unique steam photographer. Like many, he used a 4 x 5 Speed Graphic with the focal plane shutter, that made a speeding train lean forward, giving the photo added visual power. The standard press camera usually came with a 127mm Ektar lens with front  shutter. (When using the rear focal plane shutter on a 4x5, of course you left the front shutter open.). The 127mm lens was designed for press work, where the photographer had to group a lot of people in the scene. Therefore, it was bordering on wide angle. Joe honed his skill to wait until the last possible second before releasing the shutter on a speeding locomotive. This filled the picture frame...and, he nailed the picture...even if he had to cut off the top of the plume of smoke to do so. This was Joe's signature photo style. Photographer Fred Sankoff, another great from that era, usually include the top of the plume.visual. I join others in missing the great Joe Collias. I wonder where is outstanding negative collection will go for preservation ?

I can tell you that Joe was very methodical and planned well in advance what he wished the disposition to be on his collection.  It is taken care of.
I will also tell you that he had an intense dislike for the vultures that usually appear at times like this.  He and I have both seen this happen and it's sickening.  Believe me when I tell you that it would be an unwise thing to do here because the family will stop it in his tracks.
As a further note, Joe used a 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 Speed Graphic almost exclusively.
He and I go back over 50 years and have had some great times together, both photographing RRs and brass modeling in HO.  He was a top notch brass modeler whose main interest was Missouri Pacific steam, but he also built some beautiful Frisco steam power. 
He was still spry for his age and still did all the yard work and still built meticulous models.
He left the world a lot better than he found it through his books and friendships.
 

I stumbled onto a copy of Joe's book "MOPAC POWER" at the flea market. Until that time, I'd never heard of him, and of course never met him. After thumbing through, and later reading most of it, I gained a lot of respect for him, and the MOPAC's often overlooked steam & diesel roster. He poured an incredible amount of time, talent and research into this book, and who knows where he found the hundreds of rare photos he managed to use. It's the only work I have by him, but it's one of my library favorites.

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Thanks for passing this along Don.
It's a damned shame he's gone. His book "Last of Steam" was one of my introductions to the joy of steam power. Without having read it in my early teens I don't think I would have the interest in steam that I do now. Among the highlights: anything CPR (simply due to my location) and his coverage of UP steam in Wyoming. RIP Mr Collias.

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

I didn't really know him personally, but remember frequently seeing him hanging around the Kirkwood (MO) station, along with many other people. Just a regular guy, nice, friendly, talkative, informative. One of the many people who's presence has made that such a great train watching spot through the years. Thanks, Joe.

I also mourn Joe's passing. I bought several of his books which I still have and re-read occasionally. I drove to St. Louis back in the late 1980's, met and visited him at his home. He provided the film of St. Louis railroading in the 1940's that became our "Glory Machines Volume 4". It was color 16mm film that included MP, SL-SF, and other railroads in St. Louis plus the Missouri-Illinois car ferry operation at St, Genevieve and a little SP sream in Tucson with a smattering of ATSF, all in the 1940's. Over the years since we released that video, I talked to Joe occasionally on the phone and found him to have a wealth of knowledge about railroading and steam power particurarilly. 

-Jim Herron

His stories of train shooting days should have been made into a book. He was a veritable cyclopedia of information of any railroads around St. Louis in the '30s and '40s.  He could remember the most obscure yards/roundhouses and towers around here and usually could produce a picture of them.  I used to get a kick out of him at swap meets and the like.   You could always tell where Joe's table was by the crowds.
He will be sorely missed by many of us.

Truly sad news. My condolences to Joe's family and his many friends and colleagues.

Joe Collias' photos were always among my personal favorites, and the knowledge that was behind all of them was prodigious. I did not meet him often, but as Don mentioned you could always count on him for some valuable insight into St. Louis railroading. He did not often present programs at railfan meetings like the St. Louis Chapter NRHS, but when he did the meeting was packed, and the program was always one that was talked about months or even years later. His movies were also first-rate, and he captured scenes I never thought I would ever see. Jim Herron mentioned his video "Glory Machines Volume 4", which is chock-full of such Collias scenes, one after the other, all as beautifully composed as Joe's stills were. It's easy to see the meticulous planning that Don mentioned and for which Joe was well known. Grab shots they are not. It is one of my very favorite videos, and a must-see for anyone, whether you have any interest in St. Louis railroading or not. And not least there are the books, classics all, prized and often referred to on many railfan and library bookshelves.

He left a tremendous legacy of documentation of railroading for others to continue to understand, appreciate and enjoy. Another giant of our avocation has passed.

MC
Columbia, Missouri



 

My hat is off as well.   Thanks to his books and Missouri Pacific's photo archives I belatedly came to appreciate how handsome MoPac steam power really was.
JB
 

He was a true gentlemen. My dad and Joe traded many negatives and stories over the years.

Mike Raia

I did some trading with your Dad too Mike.   He was a good guy and I miss him.
We laid Joe to rest this afternoon.