Among the paintings recently sold by Soulis Auctions are a series of profiles of F3 locomotives, all of them signed by Ben Dedek. All of these locomotives were made in 1947 or 1948 so presumably the paintings were done around that time. I’ve never seen them used in advertising, so they may have been painted on speculation or to help buyers visualize what their locomotives would look like.

Click any image for a larger view. Click here to download a 3.7-MB PDF with high-resolution images of all these profiles.

This locomotive was delivered in October 1947. The locomotive detail is precise, indicating these were all made from some foundation drawing, and the pinstripes and other paint lines are crisp.

GM delivered this locomotive in November 1947.

GM delivered this locomotive in March 1948.

New York Central received this Diesel in April 1948. Zooming in reveals that the letters are hand drawn.

GM delivered this locomotive in March 1948.

This one was also manufactured in March 1948.

Here’s a photo of Ben Dedek about the time of his retirement holding some of his recent art including an Aerotrain and a Southern Pacific F7 numbered 1500. I can’t find any evidence that SP ever numbered any F unit 1500, so this was probably more to indicate the locomotive’s horsepower.