Lieutenant Colonel Joe Dale Morris is retired from the United States Army Transportation Corps. He is a native Texan, professional railroader and a Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railway historian. He is an accomplished artist and his pen-and-ink drawings and water colors have appeared in many railroad books. He resides in Austin, Texas with his wife Jo Nell.
Colonel Morris directed the restoration and operation of SP/T&NO MK-5 Mikado #786 in Austin, Texas and SP M-6 Mogul #1744 in Fort Worth, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana and was involved in the training of locomotive engineers, both steam and diesel, for short line and tourist railroads for many years.
Colonel Morris has authored three books and did the graphic design, layout and artwork on, The Texas State Railroad (1979); Serving the Golden Empire, Branch Line Style, (2002); The Slim Princess in the Sunset, 1940-1960 (2008).
Colonel Morris co-authored SPs Golden Empire 1954-1958, the color photography of John B. Hungerford and Harold F. Stewart with Rod Crossley (2011); The Southern Pacific Lines in Texas and Louisiana, 1934-1961 with George C. Werner (2012) and The Southern Pacific along the Pacific Coast with Rod Crossley (2014).
Colonel Morris has also done the graphic design, layout and artwork for five other books, SP Narrow Gauge Locomotives and Equipment by Robert A Bader (2008), Chasing the SP through California, by Rod Crossley (2010), Memories of the Cab Forwards by Richard F. Lohse (2013), The Southern Pacific in Northern California and Oregon by Mark C. Hornbeck (2014) and The Southern Pacific Trackside in Transition by Alden Armstrong (2015).