Artist: Graham Coton (biography)
Medium: Gouache on Acid-free Board
Size: 14" x 17" (350mm x 435mm)
Date: c. 1970

This is the unique original Gouache painting by Graham Coton.

The wreck of Old 97, known as the Fast Mail, occurred when the engineer, 33-year-old Joseph Andrew ("Steve") Broady at the controls of Southern Railway 1102, was operating the train at high speed in order to stay on schedule and arrive at Spencer on time.

The Fast Mail had a reputation for never being late. Locomotive 1102, a ten-wheeler 4-6-0 engine built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, had rolled out of the factory in early 1903, less than a year before the wreck.

This bold painting by Graham Coton illustrates the moment the Locomotive derailed causing the death of nearly all on board.

The painting was used to illustrate a page in an as yet un-identified issue of Look and Learn so the date is approximate.