# Railroad Artist Recommendation



## Anderson (Feb 2, 2012)

I was chatting with someone over at alternatehistory.com, and I was wondering if anyone could recommend a decent railroad artist for a commissioned piece. I'm not usually much for steam stuff, but a bit of chatter with one of the users there brought a (fictional) image to mind that I'd like produced.


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## trainman74 (Feb 3, 2012)

Don't have a recommendation, but I do have an interest in alternate history, so I'm interested in what the piece would be. The California Zephyr being pulled by a steam locomotive in Amtrak colors?


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## rrdude (Feb 3, 2012)

Check with TRAINS mag, the last name Danneman, comes to mind. Think there were Danneman brothers working there.

Or try, http://www.trainweb.org/railartist/awards.html

http://www.railroadart.com/artist.html


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## Hotblack Desiato (Feb 3, 2012)

Could try this guy: http://www.trainpaintings.com/


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## gustav (May 2, 2012)

I would highly recommend Chris Nelson. I purchased one of his original paintings and the detail is fantastic!


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## Anthony (May 3, 2012)

Amtrak has commissioned several pieces from J. Craig Thorpe (http://jcraigthorpe.com/).


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## gustav (May 3, 2012)

Hello Anthony,

Thanks for sharing that link to the J. Craig Thorpe website. On the upside, a few of his paintings are among the best I've come across. On the downside, it appears that he doesn't do such a good job of promoting himself. Specifically, you can't order any of his reasonably-priced prints online and there is no information on his general commission pricing. However, the bottom line is that he appears to be a great railroad artist. But is he affordable to the average person?

However, I would venture to compare the detail of two of Chris Nelson's paintings against anyone in the business. 100 Cars Ahead is my favorite of all railroad paintings because of the realistic colors (not over-emphasized like Robert West) and the intricate details of the EL-3. Another one of my favorites is Showing Off which features the mighty B&O EM-1... this is the one I currently own (I posted previously as a guest) and I have had offers well over and above what I originally paid for it but I'm not in the market to sell any of my prints or paintings. I think Chris's recent noteriety at the Baltimore Watrcolor Society (captured honors and BWS placed his painting, Founding Fathers, on their flag) helped to boost the inquiries and subsequent offers for my painting. Just an FYI, if you check Chris Nelson's commissioned paintings page, he gives some general pricing guidelines that are reasonable (and affordable) for his level of talent IMHO.

Anyway, J Craig Thorpe's paintings are marvelous! Thanks for sharing that link too!

I also have another favorie railroad artist by the name of David Oram. I don't own any of his originals right now but I may look into buying one soon.

Best regards,

gustav


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## gustav (May 3, 2012)

One more thing.... I just noticed that you placed a photo of me against my profile. Where the heck did you get it from? Did my wife send it to you? FYI, I lost another tooth since that picture was taken.


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