Evolution of a railway painting by David A. Oram

Click on each image for a closer look!

David A. Oram is an artist living in Bradford, Ontario, a small town north of Toronto, with his wife and two children. Although he has had some formal training he is largely self taught, working mainly in acrylics and watercolors. David is well known to those of us who are railway fans for the many great railway-themed paintings he has done. he has generously allowed us to reproduce a number of them on our TRHA website (visit here and here and here). A massive version of one of his painting of steam engines at the John St. Roundhouse graces the side of a parking structure in Roundhouse Park as well as we reported here.

Earlier this year, David sent us this note and the accompanying images to update us on his latest work and how it was created.

"I would like to share with you my latest painting. It was commissioned by author Lorenz P. Schrenk for use on the cover of a new book he co-wrote with Robert L. Frey, on the history of the Northern Pacific (NP) Railway and its locomotives in the years 1870-1887. The subject of the painting is N.P. No. 6, a 4-4-0 steam locomotive often referred to as an “American” type, built by Baldwin Locomotive works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1871. It is shown in the summer of that year in its colorful paint scheme pulling a three car passenger train. The location chosen was a curved wooden trestle on a section of the NP that ran from the shores of Lake Superior westward towards Carlton, Minnesota.

Instead of including an image of the completed painting, I thought I would show you the progression from pencil sketch to finished painting and book cover. The painting is titled American Pioneer." - David Oram

To see more of David's work visit his website by clicking here.

Posting by Russ Milland; Images by David A. Oram