Marion Kramer - Southern Pacific Roundhouse Oakland California - Oil on Canvas

Torn down in 1960, the Southern Pacific roundhouse, while it stood, was a testament to the power and reach of the railroads, and, with its demolition, ultimately, of their decline. This is a lovely work of outsider art, which we love for its power and honesty and intense engagement with its subject. We love its dense geometry and the play of the bricks' deep red. Signed Marion Kramer. Unframed, measures 39 1/2" x 29 1/2", freshly cleaned and varnished. And, because we're train geeks: The engine roundhouse was the central focus of the West Oakland railroad yards and shops and provided jobs to generations of area residents.  Steam locomotives were fairly individualized, custom-built machines, with few standardized parts.  They required, consequently, the attention of master mechanics and custom parts fabrication by skilled machinists to keep them running.  A roundhouse allowed locomotives to be driven onto a turntable and rotated, so that they could be run out on radial tracks into multi