CORRECTION: "Crossroads of Commerce" has NOT joined the Ghost of the Panhandle

George,

   Thanks for sharing that story. I am a fan of the Pennsy's calendar art. I have a water-stained copy of this that I picked up several years ago from an antique store.

Tom 

A friend of mine, the owner of the now closed Catotin Mountain Trains give a set of 4 PRR Calendar art still in the original PRR folder.

                                             "Crossroads of Commerce"

                                           "The Horseshoe Curve"

                                          "Partners in Progress"

                                                       "On Time"

Mounted and framed hanging in my man cave/train room basement. I type up the narrative on the back of each print and mounted it under the print in the frame.

I really like the calendar art too!  That is so sad about Ken Murry dying in the house fire!

I’ve had Dan’s “Crossroads of Commerce” book since shortly after it was released and still enjoy looking through it periodically.  There are railroad books I consider timeless, including those authored by the late Don Ball; and Dan’s book on Grif Teller and the PRR calendar artwork is certainly in that same league.  It’s a “must have” for any fan of the late, great PRR and especially for folks with an interest in the PRR calendar art.

I’ll note that Dan and I are both originally from Lewistown, PA and in the dedication he thanks his mother and father for introducing him to the PRR at the Lewistown station in 1950’s.  I also credit my interest in railroads and the PRR in particular to my dad taking me to the Lewistown station to watch trains in that same era.

Curt

I didn't know that Dan was from Lewistown.  My first time in Lewistown was in 1959 we we arrived by train to visit my Dad prior to us moving there.  Lewistown was always  a good  location to listen to the trains coming up the Juniata.

Jan

Question: Where is good place to get railroad art prints like that? Is there some sort of dealer that specializes in that sort of thing? 

Not sure about reprints but; it looks like there are original PRR calendars available on eBay if you'd want to go that route.  The condition of an original would be a bit of a crap shoot, of course.

Curt

juniata guy posted:

Not sure about reprints but; it looks like there are original PRR calendars available on eBay if you'd want to go that route.  The condition of an original would be a bit of a crap shoot, of course.

Curt

You can find calendars at York as well.

George

When I first heard about the reported demise of this painting, I was heartbroken. I thought that I had seen the painting more recently than 2014.

This past Saturday, while attending the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society annual meeting in Strasburg, I visited the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. There, hanging in its place in the Grif Teller exhibit on the 2nd floor, was the 1953 Crossroads of Commerce painting.

This morning I spoke with the museum's collection manager and she confirmed that the painting was the original and that the museum had negotiated with Ken Murry's estate and now is the owner.

This is excellent news!!!     

George

Thanks for the good news, George.

Tom