One of the ways Union Pacific used the Howard Fogg paintings it had commissioned for the Golden Spike Centennial in 1969 was to publish this set of suitable-for-framing prints on heavy paper. Each page is 18″ by 23″, and the images on each page are a little over 14″ by 17″.
Click image to download a 23.5-MB PDF of these prints.
When I pulled these out of my files to scan them, I was surprised and disappointed to discover that my set is missing three paintings: the Golden Spike, Moment of Excitement, and Bridging the Missouri. Actually, I have three sets, and all three are missing the same three paintings. This PDF file therefore just includes the other 13. At least, I have my two favorites, which are–of course–the M-10000 in Oregon’s Blue Mountains (pictured above) and Sunrise on a Domeliner.
I’m presenting these today as a prelude to my set of Union Pacific calendars, which starts tomorrow. The complete set of 16 Fogg paintings were used on the 1969 calendar. But before we get to that calendar, we’ll start tomorrow with 1940 — the first year Union Pacific calendars featured scenery along the railroad — and continue through 1971, skipping the three years I am missing, which are 1941, 1942, and 1947.