Featured 8"x10" NY Central RR print, "Artist's Edition", signed

Here's another oddity I unearthed in my attic today.



My late father-in-law was a train engineer. Except for a few years in the Army during WWII, he worked for New York Central/Conrail for 50+ years.

This 8x10 print used to hang in his kitchen. It was framed in a wooden "dime store" type frame with a corrugated cardboard backing. I took it out of the frame today.

It is printed on a shiny, sort of heavy paper (like a sturdy magazine cover, perhaps) with the words THE MAGIC TOUCH appearing on the back. (Was that a 3M product?)

I imagine the train is the famous 20th Century Limited and that the picture itself is pre-1967. Beyond that, I don't know much about it.

The signature at the bottom right is done in ball point ink and appears to be "real". It seems to read ROBERT something, but I'm not sure:

I also have no idea what the scribbled part at the end is all about(?) 51? 57?

This is the back side of the paper:


Does anyone have any ideas or insight about this one?

Thanks very much!

 

Robert West.
https://www.trainz.com/collections/robert-west

 

Well, THANK YOU, ANUND! I really appreciate it!

Further checking shows that West "has been drawing and painting trains since the age of 2. In 1973, he decided to make railroad illustrating a profession."

I guess that means that this one was later than the pre-1967 date I had thought? (I still haven't found another copy, but I'm sure they're out there!)

 

looks like a palette and brushes...

 

Ooo, Komo, maybe you're right! I'll have to find some more of his sigs and see if that's something he routinely does!