Hi,
I saw someone suggest that Coker might have designed the C&TS Sunrise Herald. I thought I would recall the one business deal with John Coker.
In 2004, just after I lost my job, I decided to complete the transformation of my 20 page 1975 collage term paper on the GM into a 400 page book.
The book has many errors due to confusion on my part as to how to write, check and publish a book. One item I learned I revealed was that assuming a historical document saying a locomotive is a 0-4-2t is not the same as saying that the document was using the Whyte system.
I had a good B&W photo of Gainesville Midland decapod #203 in the late 1950s. I contacted Coker about doing a color painting based on the B&W photo. He was very easy to work with and did an excellent job. The date on his painting is 2004. Since GM 209 was the display locomotive in Gainesville, Georgia, I asked for the engine number to be changed to 209. So 203 was the only Russian Decapod saved by the GM and the rest were Baldwin Light Decapods.
My first copy of the book was January 2006.
It was then that I caught the incorrect colors on the bookcover. The GM used primer red for the top deck of the tender, cab and cab doors. Of course the locomotive was black. The gotcha was that the GM use yellow (faux gold) for the trim on the steps, walkway to allow access to the boiler and sand box (dome) and the lettering. Coker painted it in white and I accepted it in white.
Another "you dummy" mistake on my part. I still get a laugh at it.
Other than my errors, Coker's painting is right on the money and a great work.
Doug vV
A side note, everyone along the GM's former route who has a decapod claims the Russian heritage even though the other 4 decopads were built in the 1920s and 1930s. My book offers the correct explanation about the Russians being those built in 1918 for Russia. I also think of the line from "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" where the editor of the Shinbone Star (after getting the true story about Jimmy Stewart's character) says something like
When the myth becomes the truth, print the myth.
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Carrie Fisher quotes:
Instant gratification takes too long.
I was street smart, but unfortunately the street was Rodeo Drive.
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Luna Lovelace (Harry Potter):
I sleepwalk you know that's why I wear shoes to bed.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2017 06:45PM by dougvv.
