As I am working on the scans for new site I joined, FineArtAmerica.com , I was remembering the back story to this painting. When people ask me where I get my ideas from, I always answer, from everywhere. You have no idea.
Some of you may know that my husband was with the police for many years. He retired as captain of the Monterey Police Department a while ago. But he started off living in Detroit and before his long career in the police, he did get up to a few things. He told me this story years ago and I incorporated it into this painting. I tell the story here because I’m pretty sure the statute of limitations has run out on train robbery.
When he was about 12 or so, in Detroit, he and a few friends went down to the train yard. This was good number of years ago, before all the security.They went exploring and got themselves onto a train, and into the locomotive. All of them began throwing levers and pushing buttons and, lo and behold, the train started up. A few more switches and it backs itself out of the train yard and off, down the tracks it goes.
Now this event did cause a bit of distress to the boys as they were only having a bit of fun. They managed to get it stopped eventually and then, as they were good boys at heart, they got it going again, forward this time and returned it to the train yard. Of course, that’s when they got caught. Parents were all called and the boys hauled away by them. My husband told me he’d never seen his father that mad….or that proud he suspects.
