Letters

Forty years of lettering vintage locomotives

In 1979, when the California State Railroad Museum needed someone to hand paint the original graphics on a vintage steam locomotive they were restoring, Jim Ingram, Jim Ingram Signs, Penryn, California, bid on the project. It turned out to be the first of many locomotives and coaches he would gild, letter and stripe over the next 40 years.

“These railroad people know each other,” says Jim, “all over the country and all over the world. In 1994, when the Golden Spike National Historic Park in Utah was refinishing some of its engines and cars, they had me come to do them. I’ve done locomotives and coaches in Illinois, Nevada and elsewhere.