Artist John McQuarrie's Palette for the SPRR Sacramento Depot Mural, c.1929,
"BREAKING GROUND AT SACRAMENTO JAN. 8, 1863 FOR FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD"
Artist John McQuarrie's Palette for the SPRR Sacramento Depot Mural, c.1929,
"BREAKING GROUND AT SACRAMENTO JAN. 8, 1863 FOR FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD"
From: "Wendell Huffman" wwhuffma@clan.lib.nv.us
ReplyDeleteNice. I wonder how many people have ever looked at the mural and wondered why there is a hot steam locomotive in a depiction of the ground breaking. Of course, as we know, it is historically accurate as the SVRR tracks came to just a few feet of where the CPRR first threw dirt. The locomotive strikes me as patterned after one of the California Central engines. And the reason for the crowd on that January 8th was that it was then a major holiday – Battle of New Orleans Day.