Memories from Fargo - Regular Edition
Memories from Fargo is one of six color prints by well known artist Mr. Larry Fisher offered in the GNRHS company store.
The image is a high quality 17 inch high by 21 inch wide giclee print. The mat closest to the image should be placed just under the signature and the numbering on the print. The mat sizes and frame are of choice for the finished print framed.
A family of three, after years of saving, scrimping, and hoping, are about to realize their dream. Ride the train out to the west coast and reacquaint themselves to some long-lost friends and family members. The vacationing family resides just across the Red River in Moorhead, very close to these Great Northern tracks for the past decade, so the mode of transportation was never an issue…The Great Northern’s transcontinental Western Star, trains No. 3 and 4.
The Western Star was a relatively new train on the GN roster, inaugurated in 1951. She replaced the Oriental Limited as the secondary train to the famed Empire Builder. Both passenger trains served the Fargo-Moorhead area, only 12 hours apart. The westbound Star was due in at 1:30 p.m. and the westbound Builder at 1:45 a.m. The Builder ran on a faster schedule because the Star took a longer route across North Dakota and made more stops along the journey to Seattle.
The vacationing family poses to allow their friends and family to record their ‘historic’ venture west. As Great Northern’s Western Star number 3 slows for her Fargo arrival, “On the Advertised”, the fireman in the cab of F-3 355-A gets in on the festivities also. The outbound engine crew waits where the train will stop and have made sure that third man does not walk in front of the cameras and spoil an event that will remain in the Mom and Dad’s memory forever. Their 10-year old daughter will especially remember this June 6, 1957 trip.
The basis for this scene was inspired by a real event that happened June 6, 1957. The little girl in the painting grew up to be the wife of the “Memories from Fargo” artist. She remembers their eastbound return trip a few weeks later, also on the Western Star. During a stop in Great Falls, Montana the train’s conductor, knowing that their destination was Fargo, informed them that the Fargo-Moorhead area had been hit by a devastating tornado. All memories of this highly anticipated vacation will be bitter sweet.
Unfortunately, Larry’s wife of over 49 fantastic years passed away on April 30, 2019. To commemorate her happy days in and around Fargo, plus her inherited interest in trains and travel, Larry’s agent commissioned this painting to honor her. Carol is missed.
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