Steam & Excursion > Sherman Hill, the Super Bowl of steam

Back in 1864 when Grenville Dodge encountered a band of Crow Indians in the foothills west of Cheyenne,  he stumbled on what became the way over the mountains for Union Pacific.  Details of the encounter vary, depending on whose history you read, but the ridge, later nicknamed the "gangplank"  became part of UP's fabled Sherman Hill, Wyoming crossing.  Fortunately for us, one of the photographers who haunted the Hill during the great days of big steam was Richard H. Kindig.

I painted this scene based on one of Mr. Kindig's photographs for my longtime friend, UP steam historian Gordon "Sandy" McCulloh.  The painting shows a westbound Union Pacific train struggling upgrade at Lone Tree on the Gangplank.  The helper on the train apparently had developed some sort of problem and two helpers drifting eastbound downgrade back to Cheyenne were called on to couple to the front of the stalled train and help pull it up the grade.  So we are treated to the unusual sight of tenders leading and a great smoke display to gladden the heart of any railfan long before the days of Tier 4. 

Today you can pull off Interstate 80 at the Lone Tree historical marker, take a few steps away from the monument  and you will see this same scene, unchanged, except of course for the trains themselves.
JB

---

Beautiful artwork. I feel as though I'm almost there!
Bob

Yes, this is ARTWORK ! Not done in day by any means.

Looks better than the picture :)

Great work!  It's so hard to paint well, especially of anything that disappears into a horizon, like a train.  The details get harder and harder to paint, but great work here.  Modern abstract artisits are nothing compared to this kind of work.

WOW!  I can only imagine what that must have sounded like.

Excellent piece of work JB, I paused for a moment to try and figure out what was wrong with
the photograph!

Out

It's beeen many years since I did this painting and before I did the scan I too puzzled over the three smoke plumes and four engines. I e-mailed Sandy and we recalled the story about the helper in front of the articulated having issues.
JB


callum_out Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Excellent piece of work JB, I paused for a moment
> to try and figure out what was wrong with
> the photograph!
>
> Out



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/16 11:59 by Copy19.

WOW!

JB:
 A refreshing and very real change from the traditional 3/4 view of a locomotive's face.
In a sense it might not be  a traditionalist's definition of good art except for the background information.
Or as they say in writing: good fiction has to make sense; reality sometimes makes lousy plots and compositions.
You have brightened the day of many TO readers, thank you.
RTB
 

You have posted several of your paintings.  This one, as far as I am concerned, is the best one I have seen. Great work and a terrific scene once the non smoker is explained.

That is really good.  Interesting scene of course, but the rendition/style/technique is very nicely done, about as good as any railroad art I have seen including from some of the greats.  

JBWX

Outstanding work of art depicting an amazing scene.  Thanks for posting!

Excellent painting John! Thanks.

Stunning work JB,just beautiful.
Regards,DK

John:

Great stuff! My F unit paintings must of been a sintch compared this this one!

Thanks for sharing with us here.

Regards, Jim Evans

Nice rendition of Dick's photograph John. Thanks for posting.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Actually Jim, F and E units are very difficult to draw.  They are either right on, or very wrong.   That's why I enjoy doing Fs especially when I can top off the drawing with black widow colors! 
John Bromley, in howlin' wind Omaha tonight...  Congrats  Broncos!

FiveChime Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> John:
>
> Great stuff! My F unit paintings must of been a
> sintch compared this this one!
>
> Thanks for sharing with us here.
>
> Regards, Jim Evans

Wonderful, what a sight and sound that must have been! Where's a time machine when you need one?
~wko - whaddya mean they haven't been invented?

Another great painting by John. I have one hanging prominently in my living room that I personally cherish and I think of John and Pat everytime I look at it. Thank you again John for the generous gesture of giving that to me. It really means a lot. I would post it here but TO turns the verticle format photos sideways and I don't want to be accused to causing nneck issues, LOL.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY