Zoom program: The Lost Railroad Art of Elizabeth Tone Summers

The Center’s August 11 Zoom presentation was a fascinating story about long-lost railroad artwork uncovered after forty years. Emily Mizokami, assistant archivist at the California State Railroad Museum (CSRM) Library and Archives, shares her recent discovery of original rail art by Elizabeth “Betty” Tone Summers. Mizokami found the artist’s pieces scattered amongst other records while contracted by the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society to archive the remaining uncatalogued pieces of the group’s collection in the CSRM vault.

Thanks to everyone who attended! The program was recorded and will be available on our YouTube page in September.

As a young woman in the 1940s, Betty Tone Summers dreamed of becoming an architect; however, that industry was not welcoming to women during that time. Tone Summers switched to sketching and painting what she loved: steam locomotives.

While selling her silk-screened Christmas cards door to door, she met the president of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS), Charles E. Fisher. After this meeting, she worked for 45 years as the art editor and lead artist for the society’s publication the Bulletin (rebranded Railroad History in 1972). She thrived in the male-dominated field and remains the only woman to create original art for the magazine’s cover.

In her presentation, Mizokami details how the works were discovered and later cataloged and made accessible. She also tells the story of Tone Summers’ life and legacy and provides insight into the artist’s style and lasting impact.

Tone Summers captured the final days of steam-powered trains in her artwork. Railfans and industry experts admired her sketches for their accurate details. Tone Summers carved out a lasting graphic arts career in New York City for decades. One of her paintings is housed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and her work is featured in multiple magazines, books, and even a record album.

This program was recorded and will be posted to the Center’s YouTube channel at @railphotoart.

Tone Summers’ original screenprint of Boston and Albany engine no. 400 west of Chestnut Hill Station, circa 1950. Credit: Railway & Locomotive Historical Society Graphic Materials Collection, MS 962, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, Calif.
Tone Summers’ pen and ink drawing depicting Boston and Maine “straight-backed” Pacific-style locomotive, #3649. Used as cover art for Railway & Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin no. 108, April 1963; Bulletin no. 109, Oct. 1963. Credit: Railway & Locomotive Historical Society Graphic Materials Collection, MS 962, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, Calif.
A young Elizabeth Tone Summers smiles while creating art in the early 1950s. Image credit: Queens Village photographers, Railroad Magazine courtesy White River Productions.

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