586 - Melissa Gordon - Great Trains of the Great Plains

From billboard painter to embroidery designer to full-time muralist, Mel Gordon has built a career in large-scale art. A lifelong artist with a foundation in drawing, she brings Mandan’s railroad history to life in her mural Great Trains of the Great Plains in the Mandan Art Alley.

Mandan was built on the railroad. At one point, Mandan was larger than Bismarck because it had the depot and the rail lines running through it. I wanted to create a tribute to the trains that moved through this community. Every locomotive you see in my Great Trains of the Great Plains mural represents a real model that once chugged through Mandan. I spent time at the local railroad museum researching and visiting with the employees there. They were incredibly helpful in making sure the history was right.

The mural rises vertically, almost like a timeline stacked up the wall. At the very top is the “Yellowstone”, one of the earliest major locomotives to run in the United States, and one that made many trips through Mandan. Beneath it are classic steam engines, followed by a distinctive mid-century passenger and postal car with an art-deco, atomic age look. At the base is another powerful steamer, painted from a low angle, so it feels large and commanding. A railroad crossbuck marked “1879” honors Mandan’s founding year. You’ll also see the old railroad bridge. I included it as an homage. It’s such a recognizable part of the landscape, and with its removal, I wanted it represented here.

The colors are drawn from Burlington Northern, reds, oranges, and yellows. Against the dark background, they’re bold and vivid, especially on a shaded wall. Once the full-color rendering was approved, I projected the line drawing onto the building and worked from that guide. Originally, the design was horizontal, but the wall I received was very vertical, so I rearranged the trains to fit the space.

Each mural I create begins with learning the history of a place and listening to the stories that matter to the people who live there. I’m grateful for the support of these communities and for the opportunity to create work that reflects and preserves local history. If you’d like to see more, there are several murals nearby you can visit, including the Heritage Art Tunnel in Bismarck, the Goddesses at Glance, and the Sitting Bull mural at the Bismarck Art Alley.