Framed Rene Weaver (1897-1984) oil on board painting depicting Union Pacific train at Cape Horn, California. Signed lower left. Handwritten verso, "Excursion Train to Cape Horn". When constructing the Intercontinental Railroad, certain areas offered the greatest challenges. Cape Horn in Placer County is one of the most infamous. A long narrow peninsula thrusting out of the ground near the town of Colfax, the railway at Cape Horn was built at the cost of over 300 Chinese workers' lives. Hanging from ropes and clinging to the rock face, they chiseled by hand to create the path for locomotives to round the high, dangerous peak. In 1969 as part of the centennial of the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, a call was issued by Southern Pacific Railroad for artists' interpretations of connected events, to hang in San Francisco City Hall, and then in the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake. Perhaps the most noted of the paintings submitted was this large and evocative impressionist oil by noted Western artist Rene Weaver. Weaver was already highly regarded for his paintings of various western scenes, and chose this scene as his entry. It depicts a bright and rather cheerful Union Pacific excursion train, the Governor Stanford, with groups of tourists in Victorian dress standing atop the sharply contrasted rocks below, clearly expressing the artist's sense of the tragedy that occurred below the tracks. Broken tree trunks litter the steep faces of the cliffs, evoking the broken lives of the hundreds of workers who died there, and to the right of the train, two Chinese workers stand with pick and shovel, separated by a smaller peak. This is a powerful and expressive painting that memorializes the sacrifice of the Chinese workers in a subtle and evocative way. The painting is accompanied by an envelope of provenance, including an article featuring this painting from the Sacramento Bee from May 4, 1969. Dimensions: (sight): 36"h x 47.75"w; (overall) 43.25"h x 55.25"w. Weight: 24lbs This painting is too large for us to ship. Please arrange pickup. Two shippers we recommend are: CCC Transport: corlancartage@gmail.com (920) 450-5027 for out of state. And Delbert McCrea 831-566-6088 for within CA.