By Rail to The Highlands poster – Vintage British Railways Poster – Terence Cuneo – c1950
The West Highland Line is widely considered to be one of, if not, the most scenic rail journeys in the world. The West Highland Line runs from Glasgow to Fort William, the largest town in the West Highlands, to the picturesque fishing port of Mallaig. Highlights of the scenic railway include the Glenfinnan viaduct, which featured in the Harry Potter films, Loch Lomond, Ben Nevis, and the magnificent Horse Shoe Curve that circles around the glen beneath Ben Dorain. This fabulous By Rail to The Highlands poster features another of the journey’s main attractions… the train ride through the spectacular steep-sided Monessie Gorge that takes passengers dauntingly close to the fast-flowing River Spean. Cuneo’s vantage point from the brake van at the rear of the train offers a remarkable view of the train speeding around a long, gentle curve. This unique angle allows us to see all the train’s crimson lake and cream-coloured coaches.
The Vintage British Railways Poster was created by the British artist Terence Cuneo in the early 1950s. It depicts the Royal Scotsman hauling its ‘Blood & Custard’ liveried carriages through the rugged and awe-inspiring Scottish landscape as it winds its way north through the Western Highlands, passing through remote and stunningly beautiful areas. The locomotive gracefully steams into the distance, pulling its coaches along a rocky ledge built on the banks of the River Spean.
As the train departs from Fort William, and the steam evaporates, passengers are treated to glorious views of Ben Nevis. The majestic presence of the mist covered and often snow-capped peak and majestic presence, of the highest mountain in the British Isles, looming over Monessie Gorge, adds to the picturesque beauty of the scene depicted in the poster.
When this By Rail to The Highlands poster was created steam trains such as the Royal Scot symbolised the pinnacle of the Golden Age of Trains, representing the epitome of luxury during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Today, Cuneo’s artwork evokes and captures an era of elegance, grace, and timeless allure and a sense of romance, glamour, and nostalgia for a bygone era
This vintage railway poster By Rail to The Highlands may be one of the artist’s lesser-known works, yet, it exudes an undeniable charm and remains an incredibly impressive piece in the artist’s portfolio.
Terence Cuneo Posters
Terence Cuneo was born in London to artists Cyrus Cincinato Cuneo and Nell Marion Tenison. Following his education at Sutton Valence School in Kent, Chelsea Polytechnic, and the renowned Slade School of Art he emerged as a distinguished painter.
Initially, he honed his skills as an illustrator, contributing to magazines, books, and periodicals. During World War II, he served in the Royal Engineers, undertaking commissions for the War Artists’ Advisory Committee, illustrating tank and aircraft factories, and creating anti-Nazi drawings for the Foreign Office. His military paintings and illustrations caught the eye of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).
In 1940, the railway company commissioned a series of artworks. Surprisingly, for an artist later celebrated for his railway paintings, showcasing locomotives, trains, bustling stations, intricate railway junctions, bridges, and signal boxes, his inaugural railway poster featured no trains whatsoever! Instead, his Essex Travel by Rail poster featured the picturesque Little Hallingbury Water Mill in its tranquil setting near the banks of the River Stort. It was a great beginning, the start of a long-term collaboration with railway companies and a love for the railways that continued throughout his illustrious career.
It’s hard to single out just a few of his railway posters to highlight, but some of our favourites include the 1948 Clear Road Ahead poster which depicts the hard, hot work and effort of the engine driver and his fireman on the footplate of the Monmouth Castle locomotive. We also love his An Engine is Wheeled poster featuring a 2-6-4 engine with its body hanging from a crane in the rafters of the workshop.
The early 1950s depiction of a Gresley A4 Class Pacific steam locomotive crossing the world-famous Forth Bridge in his Scotland for your Holidays poster is just superb. Knowing that Cuneo was perched on a girder high above the track and withstood gales of over 50mph to sketch this scene only adds to our admiration for the artist. We also love the moment he captured one of Sir Nigel Gresley’s LNER Class V2 2-6-2 locomotives on his Royal Border Bridge poster,
We could go on forever, but we’re going to limit ourselves to highlighting just five. For our final choice, we are going to select Cuneo’s On Early Shift poster. It is one of the artist’s most famous prints and offers a view from inside the Greenwood Signal Box at New Barnet with an A4 Pacific steam locomotive hurtling towards it.
Cuneo’s career reached new heights when he was appointed the official artist for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952. The sixteen Ceremonial artworks catapulted his name to the art world.
From 1954 onwards, Cuneo famously incorporated a subtle element into his works: a small mouse, rendered in both lifelike and cartoonish styles. This unique addition became his signature after 1956, adding an intriguing layer for art enthusiasts who delighted in spotting these mice within his paintings, even in portraits of famous personalities.
Cuneo’s artwork found wide-ranging applications, gracing book jackets, model railway catalogues, posters, jigsaws, and even Royal Mail postage stamps.
To honour his lasting impact, the Terence Cuneo Memorial Trust, founded in March 2002, took the initiative to commission a bronze memorial statue of the artist, standing at 1.5 times life-size. Crafted by Philip Jackson, this statue was initially displayed prominently in the main concourse of London’s Waterloo station. Subsequently, it found a new home at Brompton Barracks, Chatham, serving as an enduring tribute to this extraordinary artist.
To honor his enduring legacy, the Terence Cuneo Memorial Trust, commissioned a 1.5 times life-size bronze memorial statue of the artist. Created by Philip Jackson, the statue once stood prominently in Waterloo Station’s main concourse in London. It has since been relocated to Brompton Barracks, Chatham, serving as a permanent tribute to the remarkable artist.
Flying Scotsman Railway Posters
The Flying Scotsman passenger train service began in 1862 as the Special Scotch Express. The Flying Scotsman train was officially named in 1923 after the passenger service from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley on the East Coast mainline. Its unmissable green livery, record-breaking achievements, and iconic railway posters soon made the train extremely popular with the British public.
The Flying Scotsman continues to be a symbol of British engineering and a beloved piece of railway history, captivating enthusiasts and tourists worldwide. This famous train has left its mark in various forms of media, gracing the pages of books, the screens of films, and even adorning coins, postage stamps, and jigsaw puzzles. Its iconic presence extends to everyday items like cups, mugs, and coasters, making it a beloved symbol that permeates both history and popular culture.
Vintage posters featuring the Flying Scotsman are especially popular among collectors due to their rarity and nostalgic appeal. These posters capture the essence of the train and are highly valued by those who appreciate history and art. The posters are a testament to its enduring legacy, the Flying Scotsman continues to inspire and captivate generations, becoming a cherished symbol of the golden age of rail travel.
Some of our favorite Flying Scotsman posters include an anonymous poster for the LNER who in conjunction with the Cunard shipping line produced a poster to encourage transatlantic travel from America and Canada to the British shores and onto the Continent. The Cunard LNER poster depicts the famous train waiting patiently on Liverpool docks while its passengers disembark from the RMS Aquitania.
Another well-known and popular poster was produced in 1932 by the British artist A.R. Thomson. The Take Me By Flying Scotsman poster depicts a small child standing on a railway platform looking up at a train driver in his cab. The poster mimics Southern Railways ‘Early Holiday poster‘ by Charles Brown. However, the size of the child compared to the locomotive, and the train driver needing to use a megaphone to communicate with the child, seems to be a playful way to show that LNER trains were bigger and faster than Southern’s.
Leo Marfurt‘s 1928 Flying Scotsman poster is an Art Deco classic that barely features the famous locomotive or train. Instead, the bright and contemporary graphic, almost abstract design depicts a large crowd of passengers leaving the platform having alighted the train whilst others wait patiently to board. The image accompanies the message that the train leaves Kings Cross station in London at 10 a.m. every weekday.
For our final highlight, we have chosen a series of posters that were created to celebrate the Flying Scotsman turning 100 years old. Each of the twenty Centenary posters marks one of the mainline centenary runs that took place between March and December 2023. The runs include East Lancashire, Royal Duchy, Keighley and Worth Valley, Cardiff Express, the Cheshireman, the Portsmouth Flyer, the Salisbury Express, the East Coast Mainline, and the Highland Express.
We currently list over 200 vintage railway posters in our collection with new ones introduced on a regular basis. More than a dozen of these include superb reproduction prints and original Flying Scotsman posters. Take a trip over there and see where the journey takes you!
