In today's post, 9th July 2018, I am showing two photographs of jigsaws, each featuring a railway poster. The original artwork in both was by Terence Cuneo, two of many railway paintings used by British Railways in this way; many of them by Cuneo.
Cuneo’s first for BR
was produced c1947 (ready for 1948) titled Giants
Refreshed. Another fine Cuneo poster c1951 was Forging Ahead, included in the Falcon 500-piece jigsaw Old
Advertisements – Transportation, a composite of railway posters and advertisements. Other Cuneo posters for BR
include Royal Border Bridge (1946), Talyllyn
Railway, (1960’s) and Clapham
Junction (1962). From foundation in 1948, British Railways (BR) commissioned a large number of posters. Some posters from Cuneo originals, when appearing at auctions, have realised thousands of pounds.
Scotland For Your Holidays, is a Cuneo poster from 1952. It has been reproduced as a 1000-piece jigsaw by This England Publishing Ltd., as part of The Railway Poster Collection. Oddly, the poster features a Scottish icon - The Forth Railway Bridge, spanning the Firth of Forth. To paint this picture Cuneo was perched on a girder, battered by 50mph gales though wearing many layers of clothing, and frozen to the bone. He survived this ordeal and later, converted his sketches into this marvellous painting. The express train is headed by Gresley 'A4' class 4-6-2 No.60031 Golden Plover. The horizontal direction of the exhaust is evidence of the gales.
The Royal Albert Bridge Saltash is another superb Cuneo poster from 1959, produced for the Western Region of BR. This poster has also been reproduced as a jigsaw by This England as part of the same series. The poster was produced to commemorate the Centenary of the famous Brunel-built bridge. Cuneo tried engine cab rides and bridge walks before finding the ideal spot for his painting. A 'Castle' class 4-6-0 locomotive is depicted heading a passenger service over the single line bridge. 