Black Hills Central Railroad, The 1880s Train

The "1880s Train" is a favorite of visitors to the Black Hills in South Dakota. Preservation efforts were directed at rescuing three old engines that now pull passengers along a scenic ride between Hill City (where the engines are housed) and Keystone. The train, officially the Black Hills Central Railroad, had its first run in 1957 with Baldwin Locomotive number 69, a 2-8-0 engine, the Klondike Casey. That engine was later sold and has recently been restored. It is now running at its original home, the White Pass and Yukon Railway in Skagway, Alaska. (www.wpyr.com). There are four engines now running at the 1880's train, my favorites are the Baldwin locomotives 7, the 104 and the 110. The 7 has a number of red elements, the 104 has green, the 110 is blue. You may see them for real at their website http://www.1880train.com/
Oiling Number7 Acrylic 5X7 FKB1168 Hill City, SD Baldwin Engine #7 takes tourists from Hill City to Keystone in the Black Hills. 1880 Train, Hill City, SD	Conductor Ed Acrylic 7x5 FKB1169 1880 Train Hill City, SD
Letting Off Steam, Engine #110 Acrylic 5X7 FKB1170 Baldwin No. 110 1880 Train, Hill City, SD	Outbound Whistleblower Acrylic 5x7 FKB1171 Hill City, SD 1880 Train, Baldwin #110
Baldwin Engine 110 Waiting to Board Acrylic 5x7 FKB1173 1880 Train, Hill City, SD	Baldwin Number 7 at Glassblower's Trestle Acrylic 5x7 FKB1174 1880 Train, Hill City, SD
Boarding Engine 110 Acrylic 5x7 FKB1189 1880 Train, Hill City, SD	Train Station on a Snowy Morning Acrylic 5x7 FKB1190
"I Took the Train...One Day" Acrylic 12x24 FKB1195 Baldwin 110 at Canada Crossing Engine from 1880 Train, Hill City, SD	Ed in the Rain Acrylic 5x7 FKB1197 Ed, a conductor at the 1880 Train in Hill City, SD. This is a study for fkb1222, See below
Railroad Fireman David Acrylic 5x7 FKB1210	Baldwin 104 Acrylic 6x12" FKB1211
Red Wing Acrylic 10x14 fkb1307 Baldwin locomotive 104 of the 1880s Train in Hill City, SD. The train crossing was over a swampy area filled with cat tails. Redwing Blackbirds lived in the cat tails and so I changed the name of the engine to Red Wing.

"The Red Balloon"
Acrylic 24x48

FKB1200
Otherwise called self portrait as John Falstaff with 1880 Train , Baldwin Engine110, Hill City, SD, Fourth of July.

"Christmas Train"
Acrylic 24x48

FKB1212
Baldwin Locomotive 7, The 1880 Train, Hill City, SD. The number was changed to 25 because of the subject.

"Making Time ... for Friends"
Acrylic 24x48

FKB1218
Baldwin Locomotive 104, The 1880 Train, Hill City, SD
"Making time" can have two meanings: getting things done quickly as in speeding down the highway or railway, or finding the time or taking the time to do something, usually something special. Here the engineer, normally concerned about keeping on or ahead of schedule by "making time" down the tracks, stops and interrupts his normal schedule for something special or perhaps even more important, a visit with a friend.

"Wind and Rain"
Acrylic 24x36 inches

FKB1222
A rainy day in Hill City, SD. The conductor stops for a moment after checking equipment, strikes a great pose, and then hurries off to another job.

Festival of Trees, Train theme

fkb1256

A potential client asked for a Santa to be used for their festival of trees (A Christmas fundraising event). They wanted a train theme for the Santa. I chose a locomotive based on an old engine related to the location, and had it puffing out green steam in the form of a Christmas Tree. I also placed a train running around the belt and in the buckle area placed a snowflake. The snowflake incorporates railroad crossing signals in each of the six arms. The buttons on Santa's coat are similar to the locomotive wheels. The moose is a local "beloved animal" that is even used in the city coat of arms so I added a stuffed moose toy.