Ministers Island New Brunswick - When you hear the three digits 007, you probably think of espionage, top secret gadgets, and buxom blondes.
 
But if you visit Ministers Island's 007, you'll come away thinking more about Thomas the Tank Engine.
 
William Van Horne's 1887 painting ".007", based on a short story by Rudyard Kipling, is on exhibit at Van Horne's Ministers Island mansion, named Covenhoven, its first public showing since 1933.
 

Covenhoven named after his father in 1891 - Date? Photographer?

Michael Meagher, manager of marketing and events at Van Horne Estate on Ministers Island, said debuting the piece on the island, where Van Horne maintained a residence, makes sense.
 
"He was an art lover, he was a prolific painter, and he was a prolific collector. In fact, he had the largest private art collection in Canada prior to World War I," said Meagher.
 
The painting combines the stories of two heavyweights in their respective fields.
 
Van Horne is most famous for overseeing the construction of Canada's first intercontinental railway.
 
Kipling was a Nobel Prize winning writer, best known for his poem "If" and novel "The Jungle Book".
 
The painting is connected to Kipling's 1897 short story ".007", that reads like a Victorian take on Thomas the Tank Engine, where anthropomorphized locomotives lead a young train through a difficult first day on the job.
 
The year the story was published Kipling was travelling through Canada on train, and Van Horne, an accomplished artist, painted ".007" as a tribute to the story and Kipling.
 
"When Kipling returned back to Montreal to see Van Horne, Van Horne, as a thank you, showed him this new painting called ".007", which depicted the final scene in the story," said Meagher.
 
After Van Horne showed his painting to Kipling, it had a relatively boring century.
 
It hung on a wall at the Van Horne estate in Montreal until the structure was set to be demolished.
 
".007 has spent the last number of years in a crate and unseen by anybody," said Meagher.
 
The painting is one of several on tour as part of an exhibit titled "From the Last Spike to Art Connoisseur: A Journey with Sir William Cornelius Van Horne."
 
"It's amazing. It is as if it's come directly off of the easel from the painter," said Meagher.
 
"What also makes it notable, despite the fact that Van Horne was the train guy, ".007" is the only painting he ever painted that actually depicts a railroad scene."
 
It will be on display at Ministers Island until 30 Sep 2024.
 
Author unknown.