1969 Union Pacific Railroad Calendar
DESCRIPTION
Spanning from December 1968 to December 1969, this centennial calendar issued by Union Pacific commemorates the history of the railroad. To honor this anniversary, Union Pacific commissioned the nation's preeminent railroad artist Howard Fogg to paint each majestic scenes showing the railroad's evolution across space and time.
Howard Fogg's Paintings
Union Pacific's usual protocol for their annual calendar was to print company photographs on smaller paper. For this special "Golden Spike" issue however, the company commissioned Fogg's paintings and printed on extra large paper. These 16 paintings show a variety of freighter trains at work across the nation. Through setting these scenes across a wide range of environments, Union Pacific paints itself as something of a connective tissue linking the sprawling United States into a coherent unit. While some plow through snowy mountain ranges, others barrel across plains or unload at port. Notably, the 1968 year-view page leads the calendar with its sole depiction of the otherwise-invisible laborers making these trains run.
Though they aren't named on the sheet, some of the trains depicted here include Big Boy 4023, the M-10000, UP No. 119, and the rotary snowplow 900081.
The Golden Spike
The date of May 10th here is stylized to celebrate the passing of 100 years since nailing in the Golden Spike. This railroad spike (actually made of pure gold) was the ceremonial last spike driven in at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory in 1869 to join the Eastbound Central Pacific and Westbound Union Pacific, thereby creating the first transcontinental railroad. Though the spike was driven at 12:47 p.m. local time (as noted in the "DONE" telegraph sent across the country shortly after), the calendar incorrectly marks the event as occurring at 2:30 p.m.
CONDITION
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