|
Hostlers
by Andrew Harmantas
Oil on linen on birch panel
Original Painting
Image size 12" x 24" (unframed)
When I was stationed at Fort Sill, and for some years after leaving active duty, the
Frisco's Southwest Extension was the local railroad, so I was able to see passing Frisco
trains on a daily basis, and the Frisco grew on me. To those who know the industry, the Frisco
was a tidy operation, with proud crews that had an ethos of getting trains over the road. Their diesel
freight locomotives, once a dour solid black with yellow markings, emerged in a unique, simple red and
white scheme that bespoke of efficiency and friendly service. I was a semi-regular kibitzer in agent's office
in Lawton. With an adjacent car repair facility, there were railroaders and customers coming and going
all day that maintained a compelling interest in the line during traffic lulls. Every Frisco worker had
stories to tell, most of them quite funny. When I visited other parts of the Frisco and watched
hostlers move locomotives in the yards, I imagined what stories they might tell.
This is one of a series of Frisco paintings I am developing to document the Frisco
I saw during the 1960s and 1970s, before it became part of the Burlington Northern.
As some Frisco people would tell you, it was more the Frisco taking over the BN. This
is a typical scene that screams Frisco, with a relatively new locomotive beneath
a light coating of red prairie dust, moving among the dry wire grass.
SOLD
|
|
