Bern Hill’s 1954 Covers

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Train LoverApril 29, 2024

As a further rejection of Hill’s painting style, 1954 saw General Motors ads retreat to the area below the Railway Age masthead. The paintings that fit into this area were landscape style (wider than tall) and occupied less than half the area of Hill’s previous paintings.

Click image to download a 1.4-MB PDF of this magazine cover.

Despite the size restrictions, Hill managed to make this into an action shot with the locomotive leaning forward as if it were photographed with a focal plane shutter. His signature is near the lower left corner of the painting. Continue reading →

Bern Hill’s 1953 Covers

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Train LoverJuly 8, 2024

Seeing his paintings made into a series of at least 30 posters must have been a heady experience for Bern Hill. Yet his output experienced a major decline in 1953, with just seven covers on Railway Age, or eight if he did the Christmas cover.

All images are from the Palumbo collection. Click image to download a 2.1-MB PDF of this magazine cover. Click here to download an 11.1-MB higher-resolution PDF of this image.

Over the course of the year, Hill’s paintings moved away from the grandiose landscapes that dwarfed the trains to more traditional advertising images focusing on the locomotives themselves. The last two paintings of the year were hardly different from the ones GM was using before 1950. Continue reading →

Bern Hill Posters 5

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Train LoverOctober 15, 2024

If Bern Hill did 46 paintings for General Motors before the end of 1952, why did GM only print posters for 31 of them? Greg Palumbo suggests that “the posters were limited to customers who were either going to or had recently ordered locomotives.”

This image is from the Palumbo collection. Click image to download a 6.8-MB PDF of this poster.

This might explain why the Union Pacific painting didn’t make the cut. At least for freight, UP was a reluctant adaptor of Diesels, preferring its Big Boys and other steam and, in 1952, beginning its experiments with gas turbines built by Alco and General Electric. Continue reading →

Bern Hill Posters 4

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Train LoverApril 29, 2024

I’ve shown these posters before, but I’m including them here because some of them are in higher resolutions than the ones I’ve shown before and the others are for the sake of having a complete set available on line in a few posts. All of these images are from Greg Palumbo’s collection.

Click image to download a 6.8-MB PDF of this poster.

The colors in this one were difficult because the magazine cover leans towards blue while the poster images I’ve seen lean toward green. This one leans to green. Continue reading →

Bern Hill Posters 3

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Train LoverOctober 13, 2024

Here are the rest of the Bern Hill posters that I haven’t shown in a previous post.

This image is from the Palumbo collection. Click image to download a 6.2-MB PDF of this poster.

Greg Palumbo’s image of this poster was much darker than the magazine covers and other poster images I have seen. I lightened it up. Continue reading →

Bern Hill Posters 2

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Train LoverApril 29, 2024

All of the poster images in yesterday’s post were from Greg Palumbo’s collection, but none of today’s are. Instead, I’ve used the highest-resolution images I could find for each poster. I’ve placed them all in consistently-sized PDFs, but in most cases the actual resolution will be lower than for yesterday’s.

Click image to download a 4.5-MB PDF of this poster.

As I noted about this image on the magazine cover, Hill had taken his usual liberties with reality in placing a Frisco train in a scene of oil wells that really existed, but not on the Frisco rail line. It made for a colorful scene and the colors of this image appear to accurately reflect the poster. Continue reading →

Bern Hill Posters

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Train LoverOctober 13, 2024

Counting the Southern Railway cover from February 11, 1950 and the 1952 Christmas cover, Bern Hill did 46 paintings that appeared on Railway Age magazine covers in 1950, 1951, and 1952. Near the end of this period, General Motors printed up a series of 18″x24″ posters featuring most of Hill’s paintings. Since the last cover painting used on a poster was from the December 15, 1952 issue, I assume the posters were printed in 1953.

All of the images in this post are from Greg Palumbo’s collection. Click image to download a 6.9-MB PDF of this poster.

The posters excluded the thumbtacked blurb that appeared on all of the magazine covers. In its place was the logo of the featured railroad in the lower left corner and a small black band across the bottom with a one- or two-line statement about the picture usually printed in the Coronet typeface (although the first two posters shown here are exceptions), beneath which was usually written, “Powered by General Motors Diesel Locomotives.” Continue reading →

Even More 1952 Bern Hill Covers

Posted on October 10, 2024 by Train LoverOctober 10, 2024

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. Continue reading →

More Bern Hill 1952 Covers

Posted on October 9, 2024 by Train LoverOctober 9, 2024

Hill’s mid-year paintings in 1952 ranged from mundane to highly creative. The Kansas City Southern/New Orleans image is perhaps most creative as it gives a definite feel of historic New Orleans even if it isn’t geographically accurate. A painting of a train along what is likely the Tennessee River is the least interesting.

A Kansas City Southern passenger train passes within sight of St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. This and all other images today are from Greg Palumbo’s collection. Click image to download a 2.2-MB PDF of this magazine cover. Click here for a 9.0-MB higher-resolution version of this PDF.

Hill managed to combine iron work typical of the New Orleans French Quarter, St. Louis Cathedral, and the Southern Belle passenger train all in one painting. I’m pretty sure Kansas City Southern tracks did not pass within sight of the St. Louis Cathedral but the painting conveys a real sense of New Orleans. No signature is visible on this cover. Continue reading →

Bern Hill 1952 Paintings

Posted on October 8, 2024 by Train LoverOctober 8, 2024

Bern Hill had another banner year in 1952, with 15 locomotive paintings on the cover of Railway Age. He also did the Christmas painting for the year.

A Texas cowboy looks down on a Texas & Pacific passenger train passing through cattle country. This and all other images today are from Greg Palumbo’s collection. Click image to download a 2.4-MB PDF of this magazine cover. Click here for a 10.2-MB higher-resolution version of this PDF.

This cover is a cowboy’s-eye view of the Texas & Pacific Texas Eagle passenger train passing a fenced-in area holding an improbably small number of cattle. Hill’s signature is near the lower right corner. Continue reading →