(The following story by David Flick appeared on The Dallas Morning News website on September 30.)
DALLAS — Union Pacific Engine 4018 is a rusting hulk, though an unusually massive one.
In any case, Jerry Barton prefers to look at its potential.
“It’s pretty bad now,” he acknowledged, “but come back in a month and a half, two months, you’ll be surprised. It’ll be a knockout.”
During those two months, Mr. Barton, 47, will sand, prep and ultimately paint the 133-foot locomotive in its original colors of black, white and silver. When done, it will be the pride of Fair Park’s Museum of the American Railroad.
The engine, one of eight remaining “Big Boys” – the largest steam locomotives ever built – will be the most daunting train Mr. Barton has ever painted, but not the first.
Mr. Barton, who began painting car bodies in his native Shreveport, La., has for the last decade become one of the nation’s few painters specializing in trains.
Although the bulk of his work consists of freshening up working locomotives, these days he’s spending considerable time at places like Dallas’ railroad museum.
The fundamentals of painting a train are not much different from painting a car, he said. The difference is in the size.
“It’s 10 times the size, and when you’re repainting a car you’re working in a nice, clean, covered area. For something like this, I don’t have a shop. They can’t bring the trains to us,” he said.
And working outdoors means working with the elements. You can’t paint when it’s too cold, or too windy, or when it rains, or even when it looks like it might rain.
Mr. Barton just completed work on another engine for the railroad museum. Because of Dallas’ rainy summer, the work took six weeks – two weeks longer than planned.
But he shows off the engine with pride, noting that it took five different colors.
“It’s hard work, but when it’s done, it makes you feel good to look at a job that massive that you’ve done with your own hands,” he said.
But the Big Boy will be his largest challenge.
“It’s the biggest piece we have,” said Bob LaPrelle, the museum’s president and chief executive officer. “It’s kind of the core of our collection. I’m sure it’s the biggest thing he’s ever attempted.”
Mr. Barton is currently sanding down the engine’s tender. Like any home project, the prep work takes far longer than the painting itself. Besides the weather, another obstacle Mr. Barton will face will be the State Fair of Texas, which opened Friday. There’s only so much work you can do when visitors are around.
A survey by locomotive enthusiasts described No. 4018 as being in the worst condition of the surviving “Big Boys” – its boiler is covered with rust, and the piston rods have been severed.
But Mr. Barton looks at it and exclaims confidently: “Come back when I’m done. It’ll be beautiful.”