This week’s “Railroad Memorabilia” picks are brought to you by Linda of Selective Salvage.
My husband and I recently moved to Patagonia, a small rural community in the southeastern corner of Arizona that owes its existence to the railroad. The town honors its heritage as evidenced by the fact that the current town hall was once the depot for the New Mexico & Arizona Railroad and the upcoming Welcome Center for the Sky Islands Tourism Association was a Southern Pacific caboose that ran through the town in the 1960s. I’m currently involved in the restoration of the caboose, which is what inspired me to feature three pieces of “vintage railroad memorabilia” as my picks this week.
Steel Locomotive Toy, c 1909
What I like about this piece: The original paint and the fact that the cow catcher is intact make this little engine a remarkable piece of railroad memorabilia. The patina is marvelous given that this is a toy that has been played with for a century.
Rock Island Railroad Line Tureen, c 1924
And this one? Didn’t all the great books and movies about cross-country travel by railroad include dramatic scenes played out in the dining cars? As I recall, they do which is why I opted to include this elegant soup tureen that was commissioned for the Rock Islands Lines. I can see the characters of “Murder on the Orient Express” enjoying a creamy bisque while Poirot eyes them suspiciously.
Scrap Iron Ray Carrington Sculpture, c 1971
Why this piece of railroad art speaks to me: I applaud the ingenuity of artists like Ray Carrington who has been preserving railroad history through his sculptures for half a century. His work is created with railroad scraps that were collected in and around the old sawmill town of Hilt, California. Each piece is OOAK and speaks to the importance of reclaiming the environment for future generations.
If you too are interested in railroad memorabilia, check out this article detailing 25 of the Best Train Museums around the country. Don’t forget to sign-up for our email newsletter so you don’t miss out on any of our upcoming articles that celebrate the vintage lifestyle.
