Bellingrodt was born on 7 April 1897 in Cologne, but began taking photographs even before the First World War.
His collection suffered heavy losses as the result of a fire and a water pipe leak.
After Bellingrodt's death on 24 September 1971 in Wuppertal, his archive was extended for several years by his wife until she eventually sold it in 1981 to the Eisenbahn-Kurier magazine.
Picture books and other publications with his photographs are still avidly purchased today and time and again re-published.
The society co-founded by him, the BDEF, is today the largest German association for railway fans with over 12,000 members.