"If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing in style and on your own terms, and nobody's Goddamned else's!"
- Lucius Beebe
Lucius Beebe (1902-1966) and Charles Clegg (1916-1979) were upper crust New York society gentlemen who deeply loved the railroad and each other.
They were men of many talents. Beebe was best known for his journalism and writing; Clegg for his unique eye for photography. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with. The pair were familiar faces in high-class American society, often rubbing elbows with Hollywood stars and New York Social elite. Beebe produced dozens of publications and took hundreds of photographs with Charles Clegg of railroads across the United States. Through their respective lenses as a journalist and a photographer, they helped popularize train photography to the wider public and inspired future generations of railfans.
Lucius Beebe
To call Beebe eclectic is an understatement. He lived and breathed theatrics and eccentricity until the day he took his final breath .
On December 9, 1902, Lucius Beebe was born to a wealthy family Wakefield, Massachusetts. He lived a life of luxury. He attended Yale and Harvard, but graduated only from Harvard. While in school he was known for his mischievous shenanigans. For example, he toilet papered railroad magnate, J.P. Morgan's, yacht which caused his expulsion from graduate school.
He found work with the New York Herald Tribune, covering news stories for them. He would eventually transition into writing about Café society in his column, "This New York". It was this job that set him up for life, as he became famous for his work and began advertising products himself.
Beebe met Clegg in 1941 at an elite party in Washington DC, and their mutual interest in railroading helped blossom a lifelong partnership in business and in life. Together they published over 35 books. When Beebe passed away in 1966, he left the bulk of his $2 million estate to Clegg and their dog. Clegg died by suicide in 1979, on the day he reached the same age at which Beebe had passed.
Charles Clegg
Charles Clegg was born on June 29, 1916 in Youngston, Ohio. As a boy he was interested in electronics, railroads, and photography. While those subjects dominated his adult life, he is primarily remembered as Beebe's faithful and loving partner in life. His work portrays an empathy and awe that he felt for the mighty and powerful locomotive. He also had a knack for capturing a sense of camaraderie between the people who worked for the railroad. His work offers a glimpse into what it was like to work on the rails.
His legacy inspires photography today. His precise and unique eye for framing locomotives and the people who worked on them greatly expanded the world of railroad photography. His books have encouraged future generations to take up the hobby of capturing the magic of railroading.
The Gold Coast
Early in 1948, the railroad aficionados purchased their first private car, “The Gold Coast," from the Georgia Northern Railway at Moultrie, Georgia. It was their pride and joy. The car is outfitted in Victorian Baroque style. You can see this car at the museum today, where it is restored to its 1940's elegance while in the care of Beebe and Clegg.
To watch a virtual tour of the Gold Coast, click the button down below.
The Enterprise to Nevada
Rising anti-gay tensions resulted in what was known as the "Lavender Scare" in 1948. This caused Beebe and Clegg to move out of New York and settle in Virginia City, Nevada. Captivated by the romanticization of the "Old West," this former boomtown was especially appealing to the couple. It was also brimming with railroad history, and was the home of the famed Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Beebe and Clegg revitalized the Territorial Enterprise, an old local newspaper. The Enterprise was the very same newspaper where a young Mark Twain cut his teeth writing professionally.
Tension between the locals and the way the couple ran the newspaper began to brew. They were out of touch with their audience, since they hailed from a completely different world than those of the Virginia City residents. They often published stories that inflamed and criticized the local population. After a decade, Beebe and Clegg sold the newspaper and moved to San Francisco. They lived the rest of their lives happily continuing their work of railroad and society articles.
Shapers of Queer Culture
Hallmarks of queer culture can be seen through the way Beebe and Clegg lived their lives. They exemplified the "dandy" lifestyle by living elegantly and dressing in fine bespoke suits. The Gold Coast car itself is an extension of this aesthetic, since they redecorated in a sort of "camp" Victorian style. Decorated by a Hollywood set designer, it wasn't period accurate, but it portrayed the idea of Victorian elegance in a gaudy, unapologetic manner.
Beebe and Clegg's queerness is often left out of many works written about them. Clegg is often referred as Beebe's "close friend" or "business partner." Many authors in the past avoided representing the men as they were: romantic partners. Lucius Beebe is credited with the popularization of the term "partner" when referring to one's significant other. Beebe and Clegg were as open as a gay couple could be at the time, and to misrepresent them is erasing queer history.
Credits:
Photographs courtesy of the California State Railroad Museum