Item #7513
14"x17" original painting, mixed media, matted and framed. Signed lower left. 1989. As the Second World War slowly drew toward its end, many railroads were strapped just to handle the daily requirements of moving war merchandise from one point to another. As fast as trains could be loaded and assembled they moved out of town "down the line" to their next destination. The main problem that arose with the war trains was "too much tonnage-not enough locomotive..." Those railroads that could afford new locomotives placed their orders for new diesel engines but the war restrictions required that existing steam engine designs be used.
The Northern Pacific had already mounted on its rails the second largest fleet of Challenger type locomotives in the country, beginning in 1936 with the first Z-6 class Number 5100. By the end of 1944, number 5149 had been built by the American Locomotive Company of Schenectady, New York and placed in service between Spokane, Washington and Livingston, Montana.
The 5149 was the last Challenger built in this country and it was the heaviest and most powerful of the 4-6 + 6-4 types. As the subject of this illustration, Number 5149 has its freight train stretched to the horizon of eastern Washington while making a fast mile-per-minute gallop out of the western red-sky sunset. By morning the train will be in Montana.
