Bruce Bissell Cheever, an avid scholar of railroad history and lore, amassed an impressive collection of photographs relating to railroads and interurban railway systems in the Pacific Northwest in a lifetime of research on the subject. After earning his Master's Degree in Social Studies from the University of Washington, Mr. Cheever became an instructor in the Economics Department at Western Washington State College of Education in 1948.

 In 1951, Bruce Cheever took a leave of absence from Western to pursue his personal academic interests. Instead of returning to teaching after his leave of absence, he began a career with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This career change did not dilute his interest or research pursuits in railroads and interurban railway systems. 

Cheever published works from the 1940s through the 1970s. His works include "Electric Railroads in Whatcom County" published in Trolley Sparks, three articles written for Traction and Models: "The Fairhaven and New Whatcom Street Railway Company," "The Bellingham-Skagit Interurban," and "The Bellingham Streetcar System" and a monograph titled "The Development of Railroads in the State of Washington: 1860 to 1948," published in 1949 by the Western Washington College of Education.