Born September 7, 1939 in Grand Rapids and raised there, with a long family history in the area, James B. Winslow has had a life-long interest in West Michigan and Grand Rapids history. In an interview in August 2001, Winslow stated that he began collecting historical items in the 1970s and has become increasingly focused on Michigan railways, having a personal collection of 22,000 to 28,000 items. He continues to donate items of Grand Rapids interest to the GRPL Local History Archives, where he also did volunteer work in 1997, processing the various railroads collections and giving some attention to the Reeds Lake/ Vaudeville area holdings.

Winslow attended Ottawa Hills High School, Junior College in Grand Rapids and graduated in 1968 from Michigan State University. He has four children and eight grandchildren. Jim worked for GM for 31 years, retiring in 1996. He is past president and a current member of the Grand Rapids Historical Society. He is past director of the National Pennsylvania Railway Society and he serves presently as Historian of the Western Michigan Railroad Historical Society and President of the Grand Trunk Western Historical Society. In addition to an article in Keystone magazine, included in this collection, Winslow has published a number of other articles for railway publications and one for Smithsonian magazine.

In 2003, Jim Winslow married for the second time, and his life took another direction. He no longer has the large collections that he once has on railroading, but continues to maintain some historical interests and activities.