Jim Wrinn has been editor of Trains since Oct. 27, 2004. A native of Franklin, N.C., he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in journalism and political science. He worked at newspapers in Durham, Gastonia, and Fayetteville before joining The Charlotte Observer in 1986. He was a staff writer and editor, and worked for every section of the newspaper he could -- whether it be general news, business, religion, sports, and even the humor column.
Jim grew up watching the Southern Railway in his father's hometown, Westminster, S.C., and in Asheville, N.C., and riding the nearby Shay-powered Graham County Railroad at Robbinsville. He began reading Trains at age 6 in 1967 and had a subscription the following spring. The gift of a 35mm camera in 1977 started him taking black and white negatives and color slides. He has been an editor or writer at various times for "Rails South," a regional publication; Norfolk Southern's "Focus" magazine; the Piedmont Carolinas Chapter, National Railway Historical Society's "Flyer" newsletter; Southern Railway Historical Association's "Green Light" and later "Ties;" and N.C. Transportation Museum's "Shop Talk." Solely or in collaboration, he has written books about the Aberdeen & Rockfish short line, "The Road of Personal Service," 1992; "Spencer Shops, 1896-1996," 1996; "Pictorial History of North American Railroading," also 1996; and the Southern Railway and later Norfolk Southern steam program in "Steam's Camelot," 2001. He is preparing a book on the Graham County now.
Jim is a lifelong steam fan, and he is a qualified locomotive engineer at the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer. When not enjoying railroading, he enjoys hiking or bicycling, music, visiting National Parks, and sampling the vintage from wineries.
Email Jim: jwrinn@trainsmag.com