Tweetsie Railroad Reid Originals

A fan named Austin reached out to enquire about a Gil Reid original he had recently seen during a visit to Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, NC. Chris Robbins, President of Tweetsie Railroad got in touch with us and shared photographs of two ’56 Gil Reid originals that they have as well as the following stories:

The first painting shows the ET&WNC Railroad #12 locomotive (which is still in operation here at Tweetsie Railroad). My uncle, Grover C. Robbins Jr., purchased locomotive #12 in 1955, and opened Tweetsie Railroad in 1957. This painting shows the locomotive at Linville Gap sometime between 1918 and 1940, with Grandfather Mountain in the background. The location of this scene is very recognizable today from busy NC Highway 105, which closely follows the original route of the ET&WNC. This painting has been in possession of the Robbins family since the 1950’s; I remember, as a child, seeing it in Grover’s office.

I acquired the other watercolor original (below) just a few weeks ago [Aug 2021]. A longtime family friend and business associate of Grover C. Robbins Jr. had passed away, and the painting was given to us by his family. This person had actually bought Grover’s summer home in the mid 1960’s and the painting probably came with the house. Since both works are dated 1956, I’m guessing that Grover had a personal contact with Gil Reid and acquired both paintings at roughly the same time. This particular painting is what I would call a “mashup”, and depicts a hybrid #12 in an imaginary location. The locomotive is depicted partly how it appeared during a brief life at the Shenandoah Central Railroad in Harrisonburg, VA (1953-54) with Confederate battle flags and “12 TWEETSIE” shown on the locomotive cab . . . and partly in it’s original “ET&WNC” livery on the tender.

You may find more on the Wikipedia article “East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad” and this article entitled “Tweetsie Comes Home“.

Thank you so very much Austin and Chris Robbins for bringing these stories to the rest of the Gil Reid fans!