Vol. 18 No. 7  July/August, 1988 Make Tomorrow Happen Former Trainman Smiles Easily as Railway paintings Earn Acclaim With palate and brushes in hand, David Stein proudly displays one of his most recent works entitled "The Pride of Canada - The Canadian 1955".     It's easy to prompt a smile from 33-year-old David Stein these days.   The former Toronto Division employee is devoting his life to what he dearly loves... painting the railway. And his talent with the brush and canvas is beginning to earn him much acclaim.   His paintings of trains and equipment in picturesque settings decorate boardrooms and offices across Canada.   His most recent work, a colourful painting of Train "5511" coming through the Spiral Tunnel at Yoho, B.C., is currently on display in a Yorkville, Ontario, art gallery. Another, "The Pride of Canada", commemorates the famous "Canadian" passenger train and is available as a limited edition print.   SELF-TAUGHT   David was born in Goose Bay, Newfoundland, but he spent most of his youth in Saint John, New Brunswick. Times were extremely difficult then and his mother was forced to place her children in an orphanage because she was too poor to keep them. It was while at the orphanage until his mid-teens that David received encouragement and guidance in painting. For the most part, however, he is self-taught.   "I'm always busy, painting all the time", he told writer Dan Toner of the Telegraph-Journal newspaper in Saint John which published a half-page feature about the former trainman/switchman. The Canadian Press wire service also relayed the story to newspapers across the country.   "During my younger days I always had a keen interest in railways. At every opportunity, I would sneak away to the closest railway line... which was the CPR at the time", he said.   "I never realized I would end up painting (the railway) one day".   David fondly remembers the CP Rail crews that worked in and around Saint John when he was a teen.   KINDNESS   In particular, he recalls when, after leaving the orphanage at the age of 15 to rejoin his mother, he faced an eight kilometre hike to school in Lancaster, New Brunswick.   The family had no money for bus fare so he would get up at 6:30 a.m., walk down to the CP Rail yard and hitch a ride with the night train crew.   "I guess they felt sorry for me", David said. "I remember sitting around the pot belly stove in the caboose, talking to these men. Their kindness really affected me".   When vocational school didn't work out, David said he hung around Saint John for a while, then drifted across Canada.   DRIFTED   He worked briefly as a bit player in movies being filmed in Toronto, then worked later as a technician on other movie sets. He worked for about a year with CP Rail in toronto and briefly before that as a laborer with CN Rail.   It was while recuperating from an illness two years ago that David was encouraged to go into art full-time. Since then he has completed about 25 paintings.   The railway continues to be his subject, he said, adding "about half of my work is commissioned".   David's talent has also earned him the admiration of another railwayman, Cal Timms, director, service, with CP Rail's Intermodal Freight Systems in Toronto.   PRINT OFFER   Cal is also a rail fan and a collector. He encouraged David to produce a limited edition series of signed lithograph prints of his painting "The Pride of Canada - The Canadian". They've been selling well.   The painting shows the famous CPR passenger train, with its distinctive Beaver crest, winding its way through Morant's Curve in the Bow Valley of the Rockies in the dead of winter.   There are 150 numbered prints in the series which regularly sell for $150 each. David is offering them to CP Rail employees at a discount for $127.50 each plus $5.00 for postage and handling.   Anyone wishing to order a print can contact Cal Timms by writing to:  C.J. Timms 10-3115 New Street Burlington ON L7N 1M7.   Editor's Note:  Methinks it's 21 years too late to order!   This Canadian Pacific Railway News article is copyright 1988 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with their permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.