Railroad memorial statue finds new home at train depot
"Generations," the bronze statue that was once displayed in Depot Park is now at its final location, the north side of the depot building. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
Executive Director of the Stumptown Historical Society, Jill Evans with Karl Schenk, President of the Board of the Historical Society and Alex Hassan, owner of the statue, sit with the newly placed bronze that honors railroaders. (Photo provided)
The life-size bronze statue depicts a railroad engineer, hands on knees with a slight bend in his back, listening to a young boy before him who is holding a model train engine in his hands.
John Pettis is the local artist who was commissioned to design and cast the piece over 25 years ago. For the past few years, the statue has been in the care of owner, Alex J. Hasson, a multigenerational railroader, who recently donated the work to the Stumptown Historical Society.
“This is still a railroad town. We still have the division headquarters here for the state of Montana. The Amtrak goes through our depot area twice a day and we put over 60,000 passengers on and off the trains from our little lobby,” said Jill Evans, Executive Director of the Stumptown Historical Society. “So to have this memorial talking about the generations of railroaders who dedicate their lives to the railroad, it's important to us and to the town.”
The sculpture was originally erected in Burlington Northern Credit Union Park, now known as Depot Park. After a few moves and a three-year stint in storage, the one-ton statue was recently placed in its now permanent location on the north side of the Whitefish Depot building.
When it was dedicated in September of 1998, organizers said the statue, titled “Generations,” memorialized fallen workers and their families, as well as the generations of railroaders who have dedicated their lives to this nation’s railroads.
“I’m just really grateful that this statue has ended up in our care and that we have this wonderful location for it,” said Evans. “It is now owned and maintained by the Historical Society in a place of honor in front of our iconic train station.”
Evans is planning a ceremony this fall to dedicate the statue, 25 years after the first dedication.
