Richard Allison’s Paintings Recall Great American Passenger Trains

Added: (Thu Aug 26 2010)

Pressbox (Press Release) - WINDSOR, CT (August 16, 2010) Richard Allison’s American Passenger Trains recalls the era when trains carried passengers in style and comfort. In his paintings, Allison pictures famous “named” trains that made fast travel possible between the city centers of the United States. The tracks, the trains and passenger railroading history live on in the just-released Richard Allison’s American Passenger Trains 2011 calendar published by Tide-mark Press.

In the 1800s, the United States saw the opening of five transcontinental rail lines, along with thousands of miles in additional track connecting major cities and seaports. Into the mid-20th century railroads vied for passengers, competing with greater speed, better car design, safety improvements, and other amenities. From steam power, the railroads moved to diesel-electric power until succumbing to the pressures of the automobile and the airplane.

The 2011 calendar captures the greatest days of passenger trains with full color paintings. Each painting is accompanied by a description of the action and the equipment.

January shows The Morning Hiawatha, leaving Chicago at first light. Averaging 80 miles per hour between Chicago and the Twin Cities made it the world’s fastest regularly scheduled passenger train. February shows The Yankee Clipper, pulled by an I-5 class 4-6-4 Hudson type locomotive on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. In May The Los Angeles Limited connects California with Chicago. The big Alco 484 leading this train was built in 1944 and is today one of UP’s last operating steam engines.

July features The New Orleans Special on an early morning run between its namesake city and Chicago. Fast trains like this one were called “cannonballs,” and the painting commemorates one of the most famous incidents in American railroad history. Any guesses about who was the engineer of the train that morning? The calendar caption explains. More wonderful paintings are featured throughout the year.

This beautifully designed publication is attractive and useful, with calendar grids that have large blocks for every day of the week. The monthly calendar also includes grids for the previous and forthcoming months, to make planning more convenient. The calendar opens to a generous 14 by 22 inches, nearly 10 percent larger than most other brands and includes major holidays and phases of the moon.

This and other train calendars can be purchased on line through Tide-mark’s website. Many Tide-mark titles are available through independent booksellers, at Barnes & Noble, Borders, and at Amazon.com.

Tide-Mark Press publishes distinctive books, cards and calendars. The diverse line of full-color calendars range from nautical themes, like Cruising World, and landscape titles such as America the Beautiful, to train titles like Railroading and regional titles like New England Seasons.

In addition to calendars, Tide-mark publishes illustrated books ranging in subject from Tall Ships, An International Guide and Sara Steele, Blueprint for Paradise, to Wines of Italy and Gettysburg, This Hallowed Ground. Tide-mark celebrated thirty years of quality publishing in 2009.