The Elusive Mural of the B&O no.3316 "Washington"

Courtesy of B&O Railroad Museum

 As a continuation from the previous post and after that specific research task for the B&O no.3316 “Washington” observation-lounge car, I was given my next assignment that was by many staff members at the B&O Railroad Museum called a “wild goose chase.” This post will outline my experience with this assignment and the interesting outcomes of it.

The B&O no. 3316 “Washington” has an Art Deco inspired lounge that fits into the modern art period the car was made within (built in 1949) and has a main wall feature, a photomural. In the front end of the no. 3316’s lounge is a photomural—a large scale print of a photograph on a wall, usually colored—of cherry blossoms at Tidal Basin in Washington DC. The photo is a perfect shot of the basin, the Washington Monument, the cherry blossoms across the water and their branches over the frame. Railroad fans know of the cherry blossom mural in the “Washington” but it is a relatively unknown fact online as information to find anything about it is non-existent. The B&O Railroad Museum’s archives have photographs and information around the context of the piece but do not know who made it.

So, my assignment from the Assistant Curator was to find out additional information about the photomural but especially who made it. Before me there were two-three attempts from staff members and an intern which made this task daunting if not impossible hence my start to a wild goose chase. I chose to instead look at it as a treasure hunt to be more optimistic, and this optimism paid off as I found a singular article from 1949 by the Railway Age Magazine that described the specific details of the new B&O “Columbian” trains at the time and a partial list of companies and businesses that helped different aspects of the train cars. Each car of the “Colombian” has a mural for a major sightseeing location in the cities they stop at. These murals were done by the Kaufmann & Fabry Co. a Chicago based photography studio who are best known for their photographs of the Chicago’s “Century of Progress” World Fair in 1933. It’s an intriguing connection between innovation and railroads that could only be made by the existence of these murals.

In light of the discovery, I had the opportunity to write drafts of the label to be used for the no. 3316’s “Unlocked Series” which felt like a reward and an honor to be given the chance to do. I wrote around four labels for different points of emphasis: some art history, some historical context, for the middle schooler, for the railfan, and by the request of the Assistant Curator one for myself which felt like it was against my training around labels (a motto “It’s for others not you!”). I focused on the process of making a photomural from photograph to wall decoration which further connected me to the time period the “Washington” was made in. I am looking forward to seeing the final label with the cherry blossom mural.