Hill did six more paintings in 1952 including the Christmas cover.
Another worm’s-eye view painting shows an attractive Monon Diesel locomotive overshadowed by the friction bearing of a freight car. Unless otherwise noted all images today are from Greg Palumbo’s collection. Click image to download a 2.6-MB PDF of this magazine cover. Click here for a 9.9-MB higher-resolution version of this PDF.
In the 1990s, friction bearings were banned from cars used in interchange service because they were too prone to accidents. But in 1952 they were common enough that no one was bothered by the prominent role one played in this painting. The blurb quotes Monon president John Barriger, who headed a succession of small railroads but was one of the most respected executives in the industry. Hill’s signature is near the lower right corner.
Coal is loaded onto a Baltimore & Ohio train. Click image to download a 3.0-MB PDF of this magazine cover. Click here for a 12.5-MB higher-resolution version of this PDF.
A conveyor belt seems to be loading coal on a train. But why are the locomotives under the coal tower rather than the hopper cars? The locomotives are the reason for the ad, but it implies that they are powered by burning coal. I don’t see a signature.
Sunshine and storm clouds are in the same painting of a Boston & Maine passenger train. Click image to download a 2.2-MB PDF of this magazine cover. Click here for a 9.2-MB higher-resolution version of this PDF.
This Boston & Maine freight train seems to be headed from the sunny mountains to the stormy Atlantic Coast. The river on the left may be the Merrimack. Hill’s signature is, for once, highly visible near the lower left corner.
A Jersey Central train crosses the Newark Bay Bridge. Click image to download a 2.7-MB PDF of this magazine cover. Click here for an 11.4-MB higher-resolution version of this PDF.
The Central Railroad of New Jersey Newark Bay Bridge forms the backdrop for this brightly colored Jersey Central Diesel. The bridge was two miles long and had four tracks to accommodate heavy freight traffic. In 1958, a commuter train sailed off the bridge when it was open, killing 48 people including Kurt Vonnegut’s brother-in-law. I don’t see a signature on this cover.
A Lackawanna freight train passes through the Delaware Water Gap. Click image to download a 2.0-MB PDF of this magazine cover. Click here for a 8.2-MB higher-resolution version of this PDF.
The Lackawanna’s passage through the Delaware Water Gap was dramatic enough that the railroad put it on the cover of its timetables in the late 1950s through 1960. Hill made it even more dramatic through extreme vertical exaggeration. Hill’s signature is near the lower right corner.
Christmas is Dieselized as eight tiny F units replace reindeer to pull Santa’s sleigh over a suburban American neighborhood in 1952. Click image to download a 1.7-MB PDF of this cover, which is from a Google scan.
Google’s image of 1952’s Christmas issue is marred by a mailing label for the University of Michigan Transportation Library. There is no signature on the Google image of this cover, but I found most of Hill’s signature on a copy at the University of Oregon Library near the lower right.
Click image to download a 560-KB PDF of this cover, which is a photo of the copy at the University of Oregon library.