Realizing That I could Draw Trains Forever at a GATS Show in Houston

It was the fall of 1992.  We had had a successful GATS train show with my artwork at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.  From that, I was able to encourage my mom to agree to let me attend the following GATS show in Seattle.
For that show, I drew several Great Northern and Northern Pacific locomotives, including Great Northern's Hustle Muscle SD45.  At the time, that was a big step into the past for me, as I had only drawn locomotives for railroads that currently existed.
The drawing of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific locomotives turned out to be very successful, as we had a constant flow of traffic into our booth at the GATS show at the Seattle Fairgrounds.  Several vendors who watched our show said, "You know, the next show is in Houston, you might consider attending that.  People really love trains there."
My mom's first reaction was, "No way are we going to Houston."  But I persisted.  Christmas break fell in between the shows.  I began drawing Missouri-Kansas Texas and Missouri Pacific locomotives.  My mom saw even more how dedicated I was becoming to my railroad artwork.  
In a leap of faith, we headed to Houston, with my new drawings of M-K-T and Missouri Pacific.
I never could have imagined how popular Missouri Pacific and Missouri-Kansas-Texas would be in Houston.  It was at this show, that so many people asked for railroads I had never even dreamed of.  "Have you drawn Texas & Pacific?  Have you drawn Frisco?  Have you drawn the Texas Eagle?" they asked.
My mind took a mental note pad of all of the requests.  I realized that if I drew trains until I was seventy, I would still never run out of trains to draw.  At that GATS show in Houston, I truly realized that I could draw trains forever. 

To see more of my artwork, visit
http://www.andyfletchertrains.com/




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cumberland, Maryland-A Great Railroad Community

Image
Whenever I visit Cumberland, Maryland, I enjoy taking a moment and watching today's CSX and Amtrak trains pass by on the historic Baltimore & Ohio mainline.  Cumberland truly is a great railroad community.  I often see trains heading towards Pittsburgh and Chicago and/or Cincinnati and St. Louis to the west and towards Baltimore, Washington DC and Philadelphia to the east.  I always enjoy stopping by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad to take a step into railroad history. The Appalachians provide a scenic backdrop for this great tourist railroad. I head to the Amtrak depot downtown as I prepare to board the Capitol Limited.  In a few short hours, we will arrive in Washington, DC.  Today's journey takes us along the scenic waters of the Potomac River through Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.   Cumberland, known as the Queen City, grew up around the railroad.  The Baltimore & Ohio and Western Maryland railroads, both part of today's CSX, truly developed the regi
Read more

We All Love Model Trains- Support Your Local Hobby Store

Image
I made my last visit to Bruce's Trains, my local hobby store once known as the Whistle Stop, shortly before heading to Roanoke in 2011.  I walked the aisles and looked at the new double-stack well cars and the tri-level auto racks for sale.  I said to myself, "Wow, if the kid I was could see all of the model trains they make today."  To me, this was perhaps the finest store on earth. The kid in me wanted to return to Bruce's trains when I came back to Sacramento from Roanoke.  Fall was in the air, and I said to myself, "Wow, this reminds me of the days when I would get the Athearn blue boxes so many years ago." To my sadness, Bruce's Trains was gone.  Such is the story with many of our local hobby stores. Local hobby stores are more than places that sell model trains.  I made many friends as I first learned about trains at the Whistle Stop. Athearn made Southern Pacific SD40T-2's with a snoot nose and the Rio Grande version with a standard n
Read more

Alaska Railroad and the Whittier, Alaska Railroad Barges

Image
Alaska Railroad is an American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association regional railroad that connects Anchorage and Fairbanks. The railroad continues south from Anchorage to Whittier and Seward. At Whittier, freight cars are loaded and unloaded onto barges for Prince Rupert, British Columbia for Canadian National Railway Company and Seattle for BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad .
Read more