RAILROAD DINING, ART, AND CULTURE IN REVIEW BY JAMES D. PORTERFIELD “Something In the Water”
“Leaving Los Angeles” ACRYLIC ON CANVAS BY LARRY FISHER
THE TITLE EXPRESSION IS HOW Grandmother Porterfield
explained the
incomprehensible simultaneous outbreak of similar occurrences to me as a child — friends taking ill, favorite toys disappearing, things like that. “Don’t worry yourself over it,” she’d say reassuringly, “it’s just something in the water.” That fond memory came to me recently
when I received word that noted railroad artist Larry Fisher was publishing a book celebrating his work titled Fisher: Master of Rail Art. Shown below, it is the third book from a notable railroad artist, each of them self-published, in the last four months. About the Artist: Fisher was born into
a railroad family on May 9, 1939. His father was for 35 years a brakeman and conductor on the Soo Line. His biographical sketch recounts an early and interesting beginning to his career. “During his father’s early years
otherwise
on the Soo Line,” it goes, “his job took him away from the family for long periods of time. Larry’s dad would always send letters back home and would include a pencil drawing of a train scene for Larry and his brother Darrell. In the return letter that Larry’s Mom would write to her husband, Larry would include a crude drawing of his own.” Fisher himself cites an earlier experience
as proof of his passion for trains. When he was about three years old, and his father was working in Sparks, Nev., on the Southern Pacific, Larry recalls seeing that railroad’s famed cab-forwards hauling long lines of yellow refrigerator cars. So it was that, when the family eventually moved to North Dakota, and he began drawing pictures of Soo Line trains, they were sometimes headed by a cab- forward with the Soo Line logo emblazoned on the tender. Fast forward through high school
The Pennsylvania: The Eastern Lines is an all-color book on this great railroad, written by Steve Stewart, with color photography by Dave Augsburger. The book is largely a photo book, covering the area from Long Island through to Harrisburg. The photos show the diesel era on this road, as well as electric operations with a variety of power.
$30.95
S/H per book: $5 US, $9 Canada,
all others, call or email for rates.
Order item CRS-PRRE
877-787-2467 TOLL-FREE 660-695-4433 NON-US
WhiteRiverProductions.com 57
Pennsylvania: The Eastern Lines
The
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