Carl Ahrens painted this oil while at Roycroft in East Aurora, NY, likely around 1900 or early 1901. Hubbard demanded this painting and several others as payment for a loan he had made to Carl. Carl argued that the frames alone were worth the $200 he owed. Both parties threatened a lawsuit. Eventually, they agreed that Hubbard would take possession of this painting and one other and in return Hubbard would provide Carl with one upright piano in good working order.
The painting hung in the dining room of the Roycroft Inn for many years, at least into the late 1930's. One of Carl's granddaughters has seen this painting in person. She described the painting as follows: "As you looked at it you became aware of a steam engine hurtling at you out of the dark, but the canvas was almost totally filled with the hypmotizing light from the train's headlight." When she returned to Roycroft with her daughter the painting had disappeared. The Roycroft Inn has changed hands quite a few times, and maybe someone along the way kept the painting.
Robert Ahrens told his daughter that when Carl painted this picture he became so engrossed in his work that he would not hear oncoming trains, and had to be physically removed from the tracks.
This painting is mentioned by name in my upcoming book The Painter of Trees.
The Midnight Express