AndyFletcherTrains

Northern Pacific's route through Montana is part of today's regional railroad, Montana Rail Link.  Montana Rail Link, a member of the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association , provides first mile/last mile rail service, originating and delivering carloads from its customers.  Montana Rail Link interchanges freight with both BNSF and Union Pacific.  This gives Montana Rail Link customers great access to our nation's railroad network. To see more of my Northern Pacific and Montana Rail Link artwork, visit my website, http://www.andyfletchertrains.com/

Five Santa Fe locomotives are sanded and fueled at the Barstow locomotive facility.  An SD40-2 and an SD45-2 prepare to lead a piggyback train eastbound across the Arizona and New Mexico desert towards Kansas City for interchange to the St. Louis-San Francisco "Frisco" Railway. A GP35 and a GP9 prepare to lead a westbound mine run towards Boron.  Meanwhile, a lone SSB1200 switch engine shoves cars in the vast Barstow yard to build trains.  Barstow truly is a key railroad community. To see more of my Santa Fe artwork, visit my website, http://www.andyfletchertrains.com/

A Grand Trunk Western train moves freight through Durand, Michigan. Today's train carries carloads bound for interchange at Chicago.  Bringing up the rear of the train is Grand Trunk Western caboose #75003. Grand Trunk Western caboose #75003 has now been restored and is on display in front of Durand Union Station for us all to remember to important role cabooses have played in railroad history. To see more of my Grand Trunk Western artwork, visit my website http://www.andyfletchertrains.com/

Two things first attracted me to the Chicago Great Western Railway.  First was their many colorful paint schemes.  Second was their can do attitude towards railroading. In the many photographs I saw of Chicago Great Western, I saw lash-ups of F-Units teamed with all sorts of motive power pulling mile long freight trains across Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota.  Chicago Great Western truly stuck it out and fought hard to keep its railroad running. One of the first Chicago Great Western locomotives I drew was an SD40 painted bright orange.  What inspired me to draw it was how proud the railroad was of its new locomotives as they stood out working alongside first generation diesels. I always enjoy drawing new Chicago Great Western equipment.  I feel Chicago Great Western's history stands to be remembered by us all. To see my Chicago Great Western artwork,  visit my website http://www.andyfletchertrains.com/chicago-great-western.html

The Great Northern Empire Builder connected the Upper Midwest with the Pacific Northwest and was named for Great Northern founder James J. Hill. Today's Amtrak Empire builder is its namesake train. See my Great Northern Empire Builder postcard and hundreds of other postcards at my website http://www.railwaypostoffice.com/

Living in Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s was a great experience for me.  In Pennsylvania, I drew many railroads that were popular throughout much of the Keystone State. At shows such as Allentown, I saw firsthand how popular railroads such as Lehigh Valley were.  In seeing my drawings of the C628's and C420's, fans would ask for RS3's and many other locomotive models. I had first been inspired to draw Lehigh Valley from reading about it in an old Don Ball book.  Living near Lehigh Valley's former trackage and visiting with the men and women who had worked for the Lehigh Valley truly deepened my understanding of this beloved railroad.