Lonestar Railway

The Great Northern Railroad was laid in 1871, and the original town of Spring, Texas quickly became an important railway hub at the center of the transportation revolution. The railway was instrumental in connected the sprawling Texas prairies with the burgeoning commercial centers of the North. We felt this would be the perfect meme to transport our members into the future of health.

Because of the city’s rich history with the railroad, we felt it natural to develop the fictional “Lonestar Railways” as our meme. This provided a rich palette to creatively retell the history of locomotive transportation in Texas, but with the always fresh Crossover style. We also adapted the finishings to meet railroad standards including boxcar siding, railroad ballet bars, and similar elements.

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CA LIMITED
This first-class train took travelers from Chicago-Kansas City and then onto California from 1892 to 1954. It was dubbed the “Finest Train West of Chicago” and gave passengers a luxury experience within its club-lounge, sleeping, and dining cars, and later the addition of barber, beautician, and clothing press cars. Famously, Walt Disney rode the California Limited in 1923, presumably to visit his brother Roy, who was living in a veteran’s hospital at the time.
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8-WHEELER SWITCHER
The 0-8-0 configuration was primarily used for assembling, disassembling, or moving railroad cars around—also known as “switching.” The wheel arrangement, which consisted of no leading wheels, eight driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels, was commonly used as a tender locomotive. Tenders are special rail vehicles hauled by steam locomotives that can hold large quantities of water and fuel to sustain longer trips.
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SUNSHINE SPECIAL
For over three decades, the Sunshine Special was the flagship locomotive of the Missouri Pacific Railroad, providing premium passenger train service for people traveling between St. Louis, Little Rock, and multiple cities in Texas. The namesake is forever linked with Baylor University’s “The Immortal Ten” which remembers the members of the basketball team who died January 22, 1927 when this train collided with their team bus.
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SANTA FE
The Atcheson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad commissioned Baldwin Locomotive Works to develop the “Santa Fe” 2-10-2 configuration in 1903. The 2-10-0 “decapod” models they had been running at the time had to be backed down a grade once it had climbed, because there was no way to turn it around. This was difficult to maneuver on tight tracks without a trailing truck and often resulted in dangerous and expensive derailments.
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PRAIRIE
The steam locomotives with a 2-6-2 wheel configuration were based on the Mogul design, which had a 2-6-0 arrangement. Popular in other parts of the world as a tank-style train, the 2-6-2 was first manufactured at the turn of the 20th Century. It was built to travel through the farms and fields of the midwest, hence its name, the “Prairie.” Hundreds of the Prairie trains were built, but they were eventually replaced by the much more powerful Consolidation design.
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NORTHERN
The Roaring 20s saw a huge increase in travel demands, and heavyweight cars were replacing the lighter equipment previously used. The American Locomotive Company’s symmetrical, streamlined 4-8-4 “Northern” developed as the pinnacle of steam power and technology at the time. Originally named after the Northern Pacific where it debuted, the beautiful and powerful train was called “Greenbriers” on the Chesapeake & Ohio, and “Westerns” on the Rio Grande & Western lines.
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NICKEL PLATE
This high-stepping, fourteen-wheeled locomotive stood just over 15 feet tall, weighed more than 400 tons, and could travel at speeds of over 70 miles an hour. They were considered to have superpower technology, a beefy aesthetic and charm, and the versatility to serve as a fast-freight and passenger engine. This engine type primarily operated for the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, whose route later became known as the “Nickel Plate” road.
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MOGUL
Locomotives with a 2-6-0 wheel arrangement (two leading wheels on one axle with six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and none behind) were referred to as Moguls. Widely built in the United States from the early 1860s through the 1920s, this configuration found uses throughout the world. A most notable 2-6-0 still used today is the “Lilly Belle,” which can be found circling around the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.
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MIKADO
The first 2-8-2 locomotive was built in 1884, and this wheel configuration allowed for an increased capacity for steam generation which delivered more power at higher speeds. These locomotives were built for Nippon Railway in Japan, and the design became known as “Mikado” (which was the English nickname for the Japanese Emperor at the time). The Mikado became the workhorse steam locomotive for the railroad industry just prior to the switch to diesel-electric technology.
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KATY FLYER
The Missouri, Kansas, and Texas railway was incorporated in 1870 in Junction City, Kansas. Early on, the MKT was referred to as the “K-T” which eventually evolved into “The Katy.” The Katy ran The Texas Special, Katy Limited, Katy Flyer, and Bluebonnet engines on their lines. In 1896, as a publicity stunt set up by William Crush, the Katy crashed two locomotives head-on in front of 40,000 spectators at a location that later became known as Crush, Texas.
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CONSOLIDATION
This train took its name from the 2-8-0 wheel arrangement it pioneered. Introduced in 1866, this type of locomotive was considered the ultimate heavy-freight hauler, and was known for moving slow but steady. In fact, the typical comment regarding this engine was "impressive loads at unimpressive speeds" but its versatility ensured its longevity. Used extensively in Australia, it was also put to work in New Zealand, South Africa, and throughout Europe.
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CA LIMITED
This first-class train took travelers from Chicago-Kansas City and then onto California from 1892 to 1954. It was dubbed the “Finest Train West of Chicago” and gave passengers a luxury experience within its club-lounge, sleeping, and dining cars, and later the addition of barber, beautician, and clothing press cars. Famously, Walt Disney rode the California Limited in 1923, presumably to visit his brother Roy, who was living in a veteran’s hospital at the time.
Spring-Stamps
ARTWORK OVERVIEW
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THEME OVERVIEW

The Health Center

As the Lonestar Railway concept developed, we chose to leverage natural photographic images of various train engines from that era against strong geometric shapes and vibrant colors. This proved to be a fascinating trip through the history of various designs, use cases, and performance variations of train engines used in Texas. Our favorite component of this project, of course, was the graffiti wall.

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