Benjamin J. Dedek (1896-1973)

General Motors Electro-Motive Prototype

Circa 1940-1945.

This rare and important promotional painting for the General Motors ELECTRO-MOTIVE DIVISION portrays what in the end turns out to be an imaginary locomotive since, to the best of our knowledge, no General Motors E or F locomotive ever had number boards on the top of the cab as shown here. Nor did any F unit, which this represents (due to the four-wheel trucks) ever have a crease in the nose. ENMD did use the color scheme shown in this drawing for a demonstrator model of the F3 locomotive in 1945. The top half of the locomotive was painted medium blue while the bottom half was painted light blue. The GM on the nose was red while the wings surrounding it and the words 'Electro Motive' on the side were yellow. The first F unit, the FT, had four closely spaced portholes; this shows three with the possibility of a fourth but they are not closely spaced enough. Then came the F2, of which only a few were built, and the F3. The F2 and early F3s had three portholes that were spaced further apart, so this could be a proposal for the F2 or F3. The first FT was a demonstrator locomotive that was olive green with two large yellow stripes that merged on the nose in a V shape, with the letters GM fitting into the V. The nose of this locomotive has a much more elaborate GM surrounded by wings. The lower, lighter color goes around the side, dipping for the running lights and portholes, a design feature not found on most actual locomotives. It is an imaginative design but the location of the number boards would make them hard to see by people on the ground so it is no wonder that no locomotive like this was ever built.

This original silvery grisaille watercolor illustration with skillfully rendered airbrush highlights on HI-ART artist's illustration board is signed lower left front by Ben Dedek, head of the General Motors Electro-Motive Division styling department during the early days of the Silver Age of the streamliner era. It seems very unlikely that this important prototypical painting was ever reproduced as a lithographic print widely published by GM like so many of the color compositions that depicted examples in service. This is almost certainly the only record of this important design.

Provenance: The Fred Roniger Estate Collection.

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Very good original untouched condition. There are no issues of major scratches, losses, repairs, in-painting or touch-up. The front displays light soiling around the edges up to 2 inches in and the corners show wear, bumps and losses.