Mike Danneman has had a lifelong interest in trains. His Dad, Herb, nurtured his interest in railroading by taking his sons trackside to watch switching in the train yards on a regular basis. Herb himself has had a lifelong avid interest in trains and has authored two definitive books on Rio Grand passenger equipment.

Mike's Mom, Mary, is a talented watercolorist, specializing in wildlife subjects. Her influence can be seen in Mike's superb scale model backdrop painting and landscape detail in his paintings. Growing up in these conditions definitely had something to do with his later interest in scale model railroading and painting trains.

Mike began his art career in 1984, working as an illustrator for Model Railroader and Trains Magazines, and became Art Director of Trains in 1990. In 1995, he left Kalmbach Publishing to pursue a full-time career specializing in freelance railroad art and photography.

He has been painting trains in acrylic paints since 1980, and the originals preside with many private individuals and collections. Some of his railroad paintings and artwork can be found in the collections of Union Pacific Railroad, CSX Transportation, Wisconsin Central, Kalmbach Publishing Co., Leanin' Tree Publishing Co., McMillan Publications, Withers Publishing, Lionel Corporation, Pentrex, Marshfield Clinic, National Model Railroad Association and Centennial Publications. Over the years, many railroad book covers have also featured Mike's artwork. Other mediums gracing his art have been magazines, calendars, Christmas cards, china, advertising and even a puzzle.

Scale model railroading also takes up part of his spare time. A small 5'x7' N scale Rio Grande layout was built during his Kalmbach days of apartment living in Wisconsin, and has been featured in the pages of Model Railroader. In more recent years, he has been working on a new and improved 19'x25' N scale railroad based on the Rio Grande's climb up the Front Range of the Rockies west of Denver, Colorado.

Traveling is an important aspect of Mike's life and career. He has traveled extensively around the United States and Canada in pursuit of railroad photographs. Many of these photos later become sources for inspiration at the easel. Getting out and actually seeing the railroad, or at least seeing the country it used to run through, is useful for the paintings' accuracy and detail.

In the last several years, Mike has painted the original artwork for the Union Pacific’s annual Holiday ornament. He is also an Official Photographer for the Union Pacific, mainly covering the big railroad east of Rocky Mountains.

Since 2004, Mike and his brother, Tom, have photographed and produced Trains Magazine’s Railroads at Work calendar. Incidentally, Tom is now Art Director at Kalmbach Publishing, Mike's old job!

Mike has co-authored two books with Gary W. Dolzall, Steel Rail Across America and The Spirit of Railroading. More recently, he has authored Scenery for your Model Railroad and Rio Grande Through the Rockies, all for Kalmbach Publishing Co. Due out in the near future is a book about how to paint backdrops for model railroads, also to be published by Kalmbach.

His other hobbies include caring for and riding his horse, Hoss, and spending time outdoors. Mike and his wife Katie, also an artist, live in Arvada, Colorado, where they both enjoy spending time with their two horses and two dogs.