Railroads, Art, and American Life

J. Craig Thorpe

Description

Watch PBS station KBTC's profile of Craig and his work on youtube.

Watch Craig's interview with Trains LIVE about his new book and his career on youtube.

Explore the past, present, and future of rail travel through 30 years of one artist's work.

Once a common part of the American landscape, trains are increasingly fading from public view. Though photographs can accurately convey the details of "what, where, and when," sometimes paintings can better convey the deeper truths of an era.

Collecting more than thirty years of paintings and renderings, Railroads, Art, and American Life tells the story of rail transportation in America through the life and works of artist J. Craig Thorpe. Commissioned by companies such as Amtrak and General Electric, Thorpe's work can be found featured on items ranging from catalogs to calendars, postcards to posters. His artwork depicts not only the golden age of train travel but considers the present and looks forward to a potential future.

Featuring more than 130 color illustrations and combining history, biography, ethics, and humor, Thorpe's personal story joins with his paintings to invite the reader to relive the heyday of American rail and better understand the role of railroads in our society today.

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Unfolding a Career
2. Shaped by the Message
3. Painting the Past
4. Painting the Present
5. Painting the Possible
6. From Commission to Celebration
Epilogue
Notes
Index

Sujets

• Pictorial
• Railroads
• Transportation
• Artists' Books
• Artist's book
• General officer
• Rail transport
• Bus
• General
• Amtrak
• ART

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 28 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253065384
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 36 Mo

Extrait

This book is a publication of
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.org
2023 by J. Craig Thorpe
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Manufactured in China
First printing 2023
Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-253-06536-0 (hdbk.)
ISBN 978-0-253-06537-7 (web PDF)
Amtrak, the Amtrak logos, Acela, Auto Train, California Zephyr, Empire Builder, and Southwest Chief are registered service marks of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation and are used with permission. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Amtrak.
This book is dedicated to my wife Cathy and our family, Timothy, Kelly, David, and Claire, with gratitude for the decades of your encouragement, love, and support. I could not have done the art, let alone the book, without you.
CONTENTS
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
ONE | Unfolding a Career
TWO | Shaped by the Message
THREE | Painting the Past: Art with Vintage Themes as a Reminder of the Rail Systems That Shaped American Life
FOUR | Painting the Present: Art with Contemporary Themes to Promote Current Rail Systems and Services
FIVE | Painting the Possible: Art with Visionary Themes to Suggest New Rail Systems That Enhance Mobility, Community, and Resources
SIX | From Commission to Celebration: How a Painting Unfolds
Epilogue: More Than Meets the Eye
Notes
Index
FOREWORD
R AILROAD ART ENJOYS A NEARLY TWO-CENTURY-OLD HISTORY , going back to the beginning of railways in England in the 1820s. Almost as soon as the first steam engines began sputtering across rickety strap-iron rails, artists began slapping oil onto canvas to capture the scene.
The field has gone through many stages, ranging from early romantic and pastoral images, such as George Inness s The Lackawanna Valley (circa 1855), to the starkly bold, such as Tom Fawell s angular 1960s diesel-electric locomotive illustrations for the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. Along the way have come others, some of whom painted primarily for railroad companies. Among these were Walter L. Greene, Leslie Ragan, and Grif Teller in the early to mid-twentieth century. I learned firsthand about the history and context of Teller s work when I met and interviewed him in the course of writing a biography, Crossroads of Commerce: The Pennsylvania Railroad Calendar Art of Grif Teller (Great Eastern Publishing, 1992, and Stackpole Books, 2003). Other, more recent artists have freely mixed commercial work with personal commissions (for example, Howard Fogg, Ted Rose, and Gil Reid). Craig Thorpe s work falls into the latter category but with a twist. In his mind, art is a reflection of railroading not only as it is or as it was but also as it can and should be.
Using various media-oil, pencil, watercolors, pen-and-ink-he sees railroads and railroading as an ethical transportation and land-use choice. In his view, it is a choice that draws people into their environments, using technology to complement nature rather than despoil it. This holds true whether he s portraying a steam-powered limited or a projected high-speed rail, light-rail, or Amtrak service.
But the personal connections between Craig and me go much deeper than an interest in railroad art. I met him in the fall of 1968 while attending the Allegheny County Fair near Pittsburgh. He and his father, Jim, were staffing a booth promoting the narrow-gauge East Broad Top steam tourist railroad in central Pennsylvania, which I d loved ever since my first visit there with my grandmother a few years earlier. Craig had built the strikingly realistic display out of cardboard, relying on his skills as a design major at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). It featured rear-screen projection photos, maps, and models, and the centerpiece was a half-scale mockup of the open-air rear platform of EBT s parlor car No. 20, the Orbisonia. We instantly became friends and have remained so for more than fifty years, a milestone that s reached by few relationships. We spent many hours in the living room of his parents home, pondering the wildly improbable possibilities for full restoration of the thirty-three-mile-long EBT. We could never have predicted that-a half century later-the formation of the nonprofit East Broad Top Foundation would give fresh hope for the realization of that very dream.
Our friendship began with a shared interest in the EBT, but it didn t end there. As children, each of us had separately seen the very last wisps of the common-carrier steam-locomotive era-he on the Baltimore and Ohio (B O) Railroad, me on the Pennsylvania Railroad-and it left deep and lasting impacts on both of us.
During our college years, with Craig at CMU and me at Penn State, we shared countless visits to historical and contemporary rail sites. Among these were Greenville, Pennsylvania, for a tour of the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad s roundhouse with three retired steam engines still in residence. Another visit took us to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, to see the last of the first-generation Baldwin Sharknose diesel units on the coal-hauling Monongahela Railway.
Other experiences centered on train rides. Our first trip together was aboard a B O Rail Diesel Car (RDC) commuter run to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, where he recalled similar travels with a beloved grandfather. Much later, he wrote an article for Trains magazine (July 2016) about his connection with those RDCs, titled The Budd Car Chronicles. Another memorable journey took us from Washington, DC, to Pittsburgh on B O s Capitol Limited, a fine train that was discontinued with the coming of Amtrak in 1971 but revived by Amtrak a decade later.
After college, our paths diverged as we pursued careers and families, with him moving to the West Coast and me settling in my native Pennsylvania. I m proud that some of Craig s artwork hangs in our home. And although separated by a continent, we still managed to be there for important moments-we each served as best man at the other s wedding, for example.
On occasion, we ve collaborated on projects. I accompanied him when he visited Harper s Ferry, West Virginia, to research the scene for a painting portraying the modern Capitol Limited crossing the Potomac River for Amtrak s 1995 wall calendar. And when he painted a string of fifty scenes for a series of commemorative railroad-themed collectibles for the Unicover Corporation, I wrote the accompanying historical copy.
Through all of this, Craig kept adjusting his artist s view of railroading, always holding a healthy respect for its heritage but interpreting the industry s meaning for the present and its promise for the future. Year after year, I ve watched him seamlessly turn out images of all three eras and have been repeatedly awed by the variety of subject matter as well as his easy mastery of multiple media. His clients include major rail operators, tourist railroads, suppliers, and museums, and his work has appeared on posters, mugs, book jackets, and many other retail and nonretail publications and products.
A cross-section of all of that is now spread before you in this book. It tells the story of a vital industry that contributed mightily to the growth of America, yes, but it also reveals the unfolding of an artist s life and work. Over a half-century span, I ve been privileged to watch it from both near and far. And it s a story that isn t over yet.

-Dan Cupper, editor, Railroad History , journal of the Locomotive Railway Historical Society, and retired Norfolk Southern locomotive engineer
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I extend my thanks and appreciation to the following individuals and organizations who have supported my vision and offered encouragement, as well as commissions, over these past thirty years. There are countless other individuals and rail-related agencies that have embraced the use of rail art and been a support to me. Your collegiality, and that of countless others, continue to make this a memorable journey.
Dan Cupper for writing the foreword and fifty years of friendship, shared perspectives, and hope.
Charlie and TJ Faddis and Eric Floodeen for decades of friendship, common interests, and support.
Employees of the East Broad Top Railroad for introducing me to the world of railroading.
Bob Bregent for commissioning the Olympia, Washington, station painting that started this whole adventure.
Al Runte for introducing me to the rich heritage of railway art and its role in promoting and preserving the National Parks and, indeed, all of America s landscapes.
Bill and Christine Dean of Master Communications Group and Joe Sillian of ABB Traction for commissioning the X2000 art.
Bruce Heard, Rob Eaton, Joe McHugh, David Gunn, Marlon Sharpe, Emmett Fremaux, Matt Donnelly, Doug Duvall, Dan Engstrom, Cesar Vergara, Gary Erford, and countless others at Amtrak for over twenty-five years incorporating my art in the promotion of passenger rail locally and nationally.
Chuck Mott, Lloyd Flem, Jeff Schultz, the late Ron Sheck, and other colleagues in All Aboard Washington and the Washington State Department of Transportation for their active use of art to underscore the need for rail investment.
Bruce Agnew, Tom Till, and others at the Cascadia Center of Discovery Institute for relying on original art to promote northwest passenger rail in the Cascade Corridor.
Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Mott, Lou and Deborah Steplock, Dennis Beeghley, Bob Alkire, Bob Hillerich, and the late Hal Cooper for commissioning paintings and drawings for their private