This artwork is one of the top 20 UK railway artworks voted for by the public as part of Railway 200.

There have been many artists paid to produce art for and of the railways in Britain. Terence Cuneo, son of artist Cyrus Cuneo, was one of the individuals who came up with the goods time and time again.

His commercial output was prolific in many subject areas (he found fame and acclaim in military art too, as well as royal portraiture) but significantly was a rare example of an artist especially keen on portraying railways – who then produced many railway-themed works for the railway. There are, after all, about 40 of his railway-related works listed on Art UK (of over 100 in total).

The Coronation Luncheon to Her Majesty Elizabeth II in the Guildhall, London, 12 June 1953

But his first commercial art for the railways was not intended to be such a thing. For it was an elegant depiction of an Essex water mill, perched above a river – without a railway in sight – and exhibited at the 1942 London Sketch Club Annual Exhibition, which was spotted by a railway public relations officer (PRO) for the LNER (which, at the time, ran most of the railways into Essex) and saw its potential as an image to encourage off-peak leisure travel to regional destinations.

1942, oil on canvas by Terence Tenison Cuneo (1907–1996)

This PRO clearly saw Cuneo had potential, for he was soon off on a commission to paint an image of that railway company's locomotives under overhaul, and then yet again on several commissions after that.

With the post-war nationalisation of the railways complete by 1948, Cuneo was again commissioned to paint a number of subjects – but always highly dynamic, and usually of steam locomotives – which at that time were still the main source of motive power on the railways.

Different regions of British Railways were keen to work with Cuneo, as his arresting images were hugely popular with the public, capturing some of the most technologically advanced steam-powered machines of the day. He truly did love the railway, and his attention to detail and joy at having the chance to paint these marvellous mechanical beasts in front of him is clear in every commission.

Giants Refreshed: Pacifics in the Doncaster Locomotive Works

There is life, movement and thrill in almost every one of his works: perhaps this comes from his boy-like enthusiasm for any engineering at work, maybe more than any pay cheque could ever force out of somebody else.

Elsewhere, Cuneo was commissioned to paint military, royal and industrial subjects – all delivered with great skill.

Back on the railways, the 1950s and 1960s were times of great change, maybe most markedly in the change from steam to diesel. On the Southern Region, effectively the same patch as the old Southern Railway company, most of the lines by this time were already electrified – but there was still a heavy contingent of steam power to be found. But British Railways were keen to show a modern image, and there are a series of Cuneo's works from the late 1950s onwards where it is clear that the desire is to show a cleaner, brighter, less oil-covered future.

One of the commissions, made by the Southern Region PRO Don Faulkner, was to cover this changeover. Several locations were considered, but the final place they rested at was Clapham Junction, the world's busiest railway junction at the time – just a few miles out of London Waterloo and where trains diverge to Waterloo, the South, South West and West of England from a bewildering number of tracks and platforms.

Here, electric commuter services mixed with boat trains bound for the Continent, expresses to Devon and freight for Southampton Docks. Sidings were full of shuffling shunting engines and goods wagons whilst other locomotives swapped on and off their trains, or readied for duty with crews clocking on. It was, obviously, a busy scene.

It is perhaps best explained in Cuneo's own words:

'I was positively awed and not a little bewildered. Here was a veritable Grand Canyon of railway impedimenta. A vast area of tracks, points and crossovers, signal gantries, bridges and station platforms and out of this tangled medley I had to pick a view which would display the Junction to best advantage.

'Here is the finished work, but remember, I was faced with a piece of virgin canvas, which meant that before I was in a position to start painting, miles of walking, assessing and rough sketching, all over the site, had to be undertaken. It was only towards the end of the day that, flat-footed and weary, I decided that the long signal gantry, which spanned thirteen tracks, might prove worth a visit. It certainly was! I knew instantly that I had found the spot. From up there I looked down on virtually all the tracks, giving a fine background interest with the lines swinging in graceful complementary curves to right and left against a misty summer evening sky.

'After a preliminary drawing I later took the 38" x 40" canvas up on to the gantry and painted a great deal of the subject on the spot. Trains came rattling past in constant procession, to left, to right and slap beneath the spot on which I stood.'

1968, bromide print photograph by Godfrey Argent (1937–2006)

If being perched high up on an open signal gantry with locomotives blasting away beneath him was not enough, his belief in accuracy was another thing to contend with. One of the reasons he is perhaps regarded as being one of the greatest railway artists of all time is because, as all railway people know, the railway is a very precise thing which relies on total accuracy and adherence to process in order to make it work correctly: and that is what Cuneo's paintings do too. They are not slapdash. They are believable.

To make sure this scene was believable, Cuneo sat with the signallers of Clapham Junction to make sure that the position of every locomotive, every signal aspect, every wagon and carriage was correct. They worked with him to make this utterly true.

Except, that it isn't true to form in one respect. Whilst British Railways wanted Cuneo to show the cutting edge modern railway, in creating this scene of the network at its brilliant, busy peak, he managed to fit in not just a few diesel and electrics, but seven of his beloved living, breathing, awe-inspiring steam animals.

Cuneo might have been 54 at the time he painted this, but its composition shows that there was still a five-year-old boy inside, chuffed to bits and utterly enthralled with a world that he was able to share widely, through his art.

Tim Dunn, writer

This content was funded by Railway 200

About Railway 200

Railway 200 is a cross-industry, UK Government-backed, partner-led celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway, commemorating the opening by George Stephenson of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the North East of England in 1825, a journey that changed the world forever. It explores the past, present and future of rail, and how it has shaped our lives and livelihoods. Numerous activities and events are planned throughout 2025, many of which are listed at www.railway200.co.uk