13: AN ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATION OF ALTON R.R. ABRAHAM LINCOLN

The Abraham Lincoln (1938)
This original watercolor and gouache with airbrush highlights on illustration board depicting the Chicago & Alton Abraham Lincoln was left unsigned by the artist.

The first Diesel passenger train, the Burlington Zephyr of 1934, had a locomotive that was permanently attached to the rest of the train. In 1935, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad bought one of the first Diesel passenger locomotives that was independent of the train it was pulling. The locomotive body was called a box cab as its flat, vertical-faced front was clearly not designed by GM stylists. In 1937, the B&O handed this locomotive down to its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Chicago & Alton, which used it to pull its Chicago-St. Louis passenger train, the Abraham Lincoln. But first the locomotive was returned to GM to add a streamlined, sloping front end as shown in this painting. As shown at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Abraham_Lincoln_Alton_Railroad_1939.JPG, this painting was used in a postcard that was widely distributed by the Alton Route to advertise its distinguished new train.
Sight size through the mat is 13.5 x 19.5, measures 21.75 x 28 inches overall.
Very good original untouched condition. There are no issues of major scratches, losses, repairs, in-painting or touch-up.
Provenance: The Fred Roniger Estate Collection.
$500 - $5,000