20th Century Power #9

20th Century Power #9, Acrylic on canvas, 11"x14"

Night Train (Class A)

I did title this post, but that is not necessarily the title of this painting.  When I was a young child, I saw a steam train rush through my mother's home town of Rome Ga in the dead of night.  It was N&W 1218, a huge 2-6-6-4 articulated class A steam locomotive, but I had no way of knowing at that age what I was seeing.  It was so dark, I only was able to see the locomotive for a second as it rushed past.  I was only vaguely able to see how massive the locomotive was.  Its shrill N&W "hooter" whistle pierced the darkness in a haunting way that you could not imagine unless you have heard it before.  This painting is one of my many attempts made over the years to relive that moment.  No camera could have captured the magic of that moment.  The instant was etched into my brain and remains in the realm of my imagination.  Maybe, one day, I can create a painting that will illustrate what I saw, but it would be very abstract, an overlay of flashigh rods and spinning drivers, and a streak of headlight surrounded with swerling steam.

Hudson Jazz 1

The President is Dead

This painting focuses a lot on movement in a nod to the Futurists.  The locomotive depicted is Southern Railway 1401, which is now on permanent display in the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC.  1401 is the only surviving Ps4 class locomotive that ran for the Southern Railway, and she was the lead engine on one leg of the trip for President Roosevelt's funeral train. These beautiful locomotives were painted green with gold striping and lettering. They were, by many, considered to be the most attractive locomotives of the Pacific wheel arrangement.

Tending the Steeds

This painting represents a common scene on the Norfolk and Western Railway, back in the late '40s or 1950s.  The steam locomotive was known as "the iron horse".  The title of the painting reflects that association.

Going North

This is a painting of 2 steam powered trains entering a suburban station on a foggy rainy day. The location is fictitious, and is based on a model diorama I once built.  This is what dreams and dark imaginings are made of.