Depot turns 100; party planned on Saturday

Howard Fogg, a renowned train artist, was commissioned to do two paintings of the 1947 Freedom Train that toured across the United States with an exhibit of historic documents. This second painting of the Freedom Train was thought to have been lost but hung in the home of Larry and Johnnie Taylor for more than 20 years before they learned of its true identity. The Youngs will display the painting during Saturday’s Reunion ’Round the Rails event in Russellville.
Howard Fogg, a renowned train artist, was commissioned to do two paintings of the 1947 Freedom Train that toured across the United States with an exhibit of historic documents. This second painting of the Freedom Train was thought to have been lost but hung in the home of Larry and Johnnie Taylor for more than 20 years before they learned of its true identity. The Youngs will display the painting during Saturday’s Reunion ’Round the Rails event in Russellville.

RUSSELLVILLE — Russellville will celebrate the 100th birthday of its railroad depot on Saturday. All are invited to the party, and there is no admission charge.

The event — Reunion ’Round the Rails — is part of a statewide celebration of May as Arkansas Heritage Month, sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Heritage.

Formerly the Missouri-Pacific Railroad Depot, the Russellville Depot is the centerpiece for the downtown revitalization project. The depot is also home to the organization Main Street Russellville.

Built in 1916 to replace the original 1880 station, this rehabilitated structure, designed in the Mediterranean style, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features railroad memorabilia. The depot opened in 1917; the last passenger train stopped at the station in 1960.

Activities for Reunion ’Round the Rails will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday in downtown Russellville and conclude with a fireworks display at 9 p.m. Friends of the Depot, a committee of Main Street Russellville, is sponsoring the event.

“We promise hours of good music and many things for out-of-town guests to enjoy for the day and evening in Russellville’s wonderful downtown,” said Suzanne

Alford-Hodges, co-chairwoman with Judy Hodges of Reunion ’Round the Rails.

One highlight of the celebration will be a display of artwork depicting

trains. Several local artists will display their work, including Doyle W. Young of Dardanelle, and Rita Goodman and Jeannie Stone, both of Russellville.

Young’s watercolor Dancing the Rails was commissioned by a patron who sought the depiction of “Gandy Dancers” at work on the rails by the Russellville Depot.

Young said the term Gandy Dancer “garnered its beginning from the early railway line workers who maintained railroad tracks and kept the rails straight.

“The term is said to be from the dancelike movements of the spike driver, plus the name of Chicago-based Gandy Manufacturing Co. that produced the rail-tracking tools.”

Goodman, who owns Gallery 307 across the street from the depot, has created an oil painting she calls 884 Steaming Through. It depicts the Union Pacific’s steam engine “Living Legend” No. 884, when it rolled into Russellville in 2016, stopping at the Russellville Depot.

Stone, who displays her work at Gallery 307, has created an oil painting she calls Connection Bound.

It is an impressionistic rendering of a family traveling on a train meant to capture the sensory effects of train travel, Stone said.

The art show will also include the first public showing in the area of a Howard Fogg original watercolor of the Freedom Train, owned by Larry and Johnnie Taylor of Springfield [in Conway County]. Fogg was an American artist specializing in railroad art.

“This is the 70th anniversary of the Freedom Train,” Larry Taylor said.

“The Freedom Train made its first stop Sept. 17, 1947, in Philadelphia, carrying some of America’s most precious documents, including original copies of the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence,” he said.

“During World War II, these and other documents were removed from Washington, D.C., and moved to Fort Knox, where they were kept until the end of the war. In 1947, the attorney general under President Truman, Tom Clark, worked with others to take these documents around the country to show them to people. The American Locomotive Corp. (ALCO) liked the idea and agreed to build the engine that would carry the cars,” Taylor said.

“ALCO did this, in part, as a way to promote its new diesel electric engine. The train was named the Freedom Train and painted red, white and blue. It was guarded at all times by 27 United States Marines,” he said. “The Freedom Train toured from September 1947 through 1948.”

Information on the website freedomtrain.org said the official end of the tour was Jan. 16-22, 1949, in Washington, D.C.

Taylor said ALCO commissioned Fogg to do two paintings of the Freedom Train: one showing the train leaving Washington, D.C., with the Washington Monument in the background, and one with the train alongside an older train engine. It is the second painting that the Taylors own.

Taylor said he and his wife got the painting from his wife’s mother, who liked to visit flea markets and “pick” things she liked.

“We had been to Philadelphia in 1976 for the bicentennial celebration of the United States and became interested in the red, white and blue train that was developed to commemorate that occasion,” Taylor said.

“Our son, John Larry, had taken pictures of it, so his grandmother knew of his interest. She saw the painting of this red, white and blue train and thought it was the bicentennial train, so she bought it for him,” Taylor said. “This was in 1979 or early 1980.

“We assumed that train was the bicentennial train, and it hung in our house for many years. We knew it was a Howard Fogg painting and thought it wan an original, but we did not know anything about it. That was before the internet, and we had no real way to research it.”

In 2003, the Taylors were watching the movie Legal Eagles.

“Johnnie noticed our painting,” Larry Taylor said, laughing. He said Johnnie went to the internet and found information on it. “We had a treasure and didn’t know it.”

Taylor said the painting featuring the train by the Washington Monument was used in posters and postcards that were sold at Freedom Train display sites. The Taylors’ painting, which he believes is titled OId Meets the New, was apparently never reproduced and thought to be “lost.”

Larry Taylor will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday at the depot. Following his comments, he will answer questions. The Taylors’ story can be found online at freedomtrain.org.

Reunion ’Round the Rails will begin with a brunch fundraiser at 10 a.m. at the American Legion Hut, followed by a welcome and opening ceremony at 11 at the depot. Musicians will provide entertainment throughout the event. Activities for all ages include a model-train exhibit, Toys for Tots train rides, reading and storytelling, contests, a depot store, a picnic theme contest, dancing and the fireworks finale.

Patrons are invited to bring lawn chairs and spend the day in historic downtown Russellville.

For a complete schedule of events, visit www.mainstreetrussellville.com or Facebook: The Russellville Depot #Depot 100. Information is also available by calling (479) 967-1437.

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