I previously noted that GM artists first made a “foundation drawing” of each class of locomotive and then painted color schemes over that drawing. However, it is apparent from the data cards presented yesterday that multiple foundation drawings were made … Continue reading
Fourteen railroads bought a total of 117 E6 locomotives, and Palumbo provided nine data cards, two of which were from the same railroad. I’ll present about half today and half tomorrow and do so in the approximate order in which … Continue reading
Before 1940, railroads were used to custom ordering their locomotives, and initially General Motors followed that model, individualizing each run of Diesels for its purchaser. The smooth-faced E1 was sold only to Santa Fe; the bulbous-faced E2 was sold to … Continue reading
From about 1935 to 1940, Leland Knickerbocker and Paul Meyer worked for General Motors Art & Color Department helping to style locomotives made by GM subsidiary Electro-Motive Corporation. In 1941, when GM combined EMC and Winton Engines to form Electro-Motive … Continue reading
About a dozen Railway Age covers after 1953 are unsigned and cannot definitely be attributed to Bern Hill by another criteria. Here, I’m going to look at these covers to see if they look like Hill’s style or that of … Continue reading
In 1954 through 1956, Kudner commissioned several artists addition to Bern Hill and Ralph Brillhart to paint GM locomotives to use for Railway Age covers. I’ll present as many as I can from either Greg Palumbo’s collection or from Google … Continue reading
In the 1960s through the 1980s, Ralph Brillhart became known for painting spacemen and aliens for covers of science fiction books. But before that, he painted at least eleven pictures of General Motors locomotives for Kudner to place on the … Continue reading
In 1955, General Motors had 20 cover ads in Railway Age, but only three are clearly attributable to Hill. Ten were done by an artist named Ralph Brillhart and one was by an artist named Herb Mott. The Christmas cover … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
