http://www.outdoorpainter.com / August-September 2019 67
Moore:Thistrippresentedonefantasticscene
afteranother.Aftera while,youthink,OK,I
can’tbeatthat;I’mjustgoingtoabsorbit.I felt
thisoddsortofgroundingwiththecountry.
Someofthetownswestoppedinweretrying
toriseuplikea phoenixfromtheashes;they’re
struggling.Andyourecognizethatthisis
important.
Whenwegotopleinairevents,we’re
usedtogoingtoplaceslikeHawaii,theGrand
Canyon,Easton,Laguna—thesemagnificent
locations.Onthistrip,weweregoingthrough
townswhereyoureallyhavetolookforthe
beauty.Aspainters,that’sourjobanyway,but
seeingtheseplacesbrought out some really
strongemotionsinme.
Sacran:Eachof ushadourownreasonsfor
takingthistrip—theenvironment,thecom-
munity—butforme,mypurposereallyclarified
whenwegotto ourfirststopin LaJunta.It was
obviousthatsomanythingsweredying.Where
I live,therearerailroadtrackseverywhere,but
notrains.Thingsaredisappearingquick;a way
of lifeis goingaway.It wasobviousthata similar
thingwasgoingonin thesetowns.
Whetherthey’reabletorebuildorthey
dieoffcompletely,I wantedtocapturewhat’s
happeningthererightnow.Tomemorialize
theexperience,thesixofusareeachgoingto
doa paintingthat embodies what this trip has
meanttous.
Hunter:Wehadarrivedin LaJuntaat 7:52in the
morning,paintedallday,then got on the train at
7:52 the next morning...
Erickson:I justhaveto interrupthere.Charlie
hadthewholeschedulememorized—everystop,
everyscenichighlight along the way. He’s taken
thistrip 70 times.Hunter:Well,I don’tmindflying,butif I have
thetime,I’drathertakethetrain.And,also,with
myworkdoingthemusictraincharters,I had
takenthisroutea lot.Bytheway,thereshouldbe
200 of theseroutesacrossthecountryinsteadof
19,butthat’sa separatestory.
Anyway,afterleavingLaJunta,weheaded
to Trinidad,Colorado,andwhenwearrived,
therewasa youngwomanontheplatform—
JhennWhalen.Jhennhadheardaboutwhat
weweredoing,soshecamedownfromDenver
onherown.Sheunderstoodhowimportant
andbeautifultraintravelis andhowpleinair
paintingcanplaya rolein community-building.
It turnsoutshehasa backgroundin nonprofit
management,sowe’vebeenworkingwithherto
figureouthowto turnEnTrainAirintoa no-
profitorlow-profitventure.
Thegoalis tousethecommunity-building
aspectof pleinairtohelprebuildthesesmall
townsthroughtheeconomicpowerandthe
aestheticpowerthatwehave.Therearebasically
threecomponentstowhatwe’rethinkingabout:- AnotherEnTrainAirtripwiththesixof
usat somepointin thefuture,hopefullytiedto a
touringmuseumshowthatshowcasesthestudio
workwe’vecreatedfromthestudieswemade
duringthistrip. - A pleinaireventat LaPosadain Winslow,
Arizona, where people can come out and stay,
andpaintbeautifulgardensorrailroadtracks,or
whatever.(“LaPosadais thelastof theHarvey
Househotels,andwasbuiltas partof a planto
createdestinationsforpeoplealongtherailroad
linein the1930s,”addedErickson.)- A no-costblueprintforotherartists—
bothrecreationalandprofessional—to useso
theycanexperiencethisextraordinaryrailjourney
fromChicagoto SantaFe[thestopforSantaFe
is Lamy,NewMexico]forthemselves.Weseeour
missionas providingthe“how-to”andassisting
travelersas theyplaneverystepalongtheway.
Moore:Thebigpicturehereis thatthere’spower
in whatwedo.BetweenthisandOperation
Fundstorm,whichraisedmoneyforFlorida’sFor-
gottenCoastafterHurricaneMichael,I’veseen
artistscometogetheranddoamazingthings.Not
to mentionthepleinaireventsthatcontributeto
schoolartprograms,whichwedesperatelyneed.
I hadgottothepointwhereI feltI was
justmakingprettypicturesforsale,andI
wantedtodosomethingbigger.Thisexperi-
encehasrekindledmydesiretotakewhatI
haveandgiveback,totrytomakea difference.
Maybeit’sa littledifference, but it’s a differ-
encenonetheless.UpdatefromCharlieHunter:TheSouth-
westChiefremainsunderthreat,as Amtrak
hasonlycommittedtokeepingit running
throughthe 2019 fiscalyear,whichends
inAugust.Legislativeblowbacktoearlier
attemptstodowngradeservicehasbeenso
severe,however,thatit is likelythetrainwill
continuetorun.Alsoinitsfavor,languagein
the 2020 transportationbillstronglysupports
thenationalpassengerrailsystem:“theCom-
mitteedirectsAmtraktoseekanypotential
changestotheNationalNetworkthroughthe
reauthorizationof theFASTAct,andurges
Amtraktoensureanysuchproposalsalso
increaseridershipinruralareasandimprove
serviceforlong-distancecustomers.” (Source:
http://www.railpassengers.org)KELLY KANE is editor-in-chiefofPleinAir.Aimee Erickson painting in Santa Fe, New Mexico