Amtrak wall calendar, 1986.

Since 1974, Amtrak has been involved with the publication of an annual wall calendar that generally features a name train, new equipment or important pieces of rail infrastructure—and sometimes all three. The upper third of the calendar has featured artwork by noted railroad artists such as Gil Reid, Ted Rose and J. Craig Thorpe in mediums including watercolor, oil-on-canvas and photography.

Led by diesel-electric F40PHR locomotives No. 400 and No. 399, the Crescent heads south past the monuments of the nation’s capital on its journey to New Orleans. At Washington Union Station, the train would have been switched over from electric to diesel-electric locomotives as it moved off the electrified Northeast Corridor. Originally operated by the Southern Railway and known as the Southern Crescent, Amtrak took control of the train on February 1, 1979.

The Crescent continued to use Heritage Sleeping cars of the type in this watercolor until the mid-1990s when Amtrak introduced the long-distance Viewliner equipment. These stainless steel cars were the first single-level Sleeping cars manufactured in the United States since the 1950s.

Artist: Gil Reid (American, 1918-2007) for Amtrak.

From the W. Mike Weber Collection.