A funny thing happened on the way to assembling the collection of art pre- sented here. A call went out to all working railroad artists known to me, asking for images to celebrate the 40 year history of Amtrak. To my pleas- ant surprise, the variety of images sub- mitted not only portrayed aspects of that history, from Stewart Buck’s work depicting the early “Rainbow” color schemes, to Michael Schwab’s Acela de- parting Washington, DC, but also cap- tured “fallen flag” routes, such as Marc Desobeau’s “Pioneer at Strawberry,” as well as such state-sponsored trains as Brad Faegre’s blunt-fronts on the Capi- tol Corridor in California and Alex Craghead’s Washington/Oregon Cas- cades. Another not so surprising sur- prise: Amtrak’s Empire Builder is the most popular train, whether with pas- sengers, journalists, or artists. No less than four of the twelve works here de- pict that iconic long-running train in the varying splendor of its setting. So just like Amtrak, these men and women have been building a history, in this case in art. Each work is accompa- nied by the artist’s comments on the work itself.
Linda McCray “Amtrak 410 East,” Hand-watercolored Print of a Pen and Ink Drawing, 7” x 10”, 1994
On a brisk late summer morning in 1994, the Empire Builder en route to Chicago pulled into the Glacier Park Depot in the Rockies of western Montana. It was an exciting time for passengers arriving at their destination and for those just beginning their journey. Amtrak No. 410, an EMD F40PH built for Canada’s GO Transit in 1978, leads the train. It was one of six purchased by Amtrak in 1990 and was used throughout the system before it was sold in the early 2000’s and scrapped. The moment is captured in pen and ink and print- ed using the finest lithography method. I hand watercolor some of them to make one-of-a-kind collector’s prints.
Gil Bennett
“Empire Builder on Stevens Pass” Oil on Canvas, 18” x 24”, 1990
Amtrak’s Empire Builder climbs the west- ern slope of the Cascade Range on its way up to the Cascade Tunnel at the top of Steven’s Pass. With Mount Index looming in the background, the two 3000 h.p. F40s have a string of eight Superliners in tow as they head up the pass. This painting was done during the tenure of W. Graham Claytor, Jr., who liked watercolor paintings used for the annual Amtrak calendar. The rest of the Board, most of them younger then Graham, wanted to use an oil paint- ing instead. This painting was used for comparison purposes.
44 JANUARY 2012 •
RAILFAN.COM
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