When Amtrak's iconic flipboard from Philadelphia's 30th Street Station first arrived at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, it looked out of place. It sat up against the stone wall on the far side of the museum.Â
It was nothing like what travelers remembered seeing, looking up at the massive board, flipping through arrival and departure times.Â
That's why Tom Henman was commissioned by the museum to make the background for the board feel more homey, since Strasburg is where the board will be for at least the next three years.Â
Henman, a local painter who specializes in decorative and faux painting, spent five days creating the fake travertine, but many more in his research.Â
He used layers of paint, applied in different ways, to transform a drywall base into an almost exact replica of the travertine that decks the walls at 30th Street Station.Â
The old board would be placed in an area focusing on terminals under a new exhibit titled, “Railroads Changed Our Lives Forever."
Philly flipboard gets homey look in Strasburg's Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania [photos]
The iconic flipboard, which told travelers their arrival and departure times for 48 years at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, is seen exactly as it was on the day it was removed from Philadelphia, on January 25, 2019. It was replaced with a digital board and will now be on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, for the next three years.
Painter Tom Henman pulls back the sheet covering the iconic flipboard that used to be housed at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. Henman was commissioned to create a faux travertine background for the board to be on, replicating 30th Street Station. Henman finished the 'travertine' on October 25, 2019, and the board is scheduled to be housed at theRailroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, for the next three years.
Tom Henman, a local faux painter, works on creating a fake travertine to house the iconic flipboard so it looks like it did at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Friday, October 25, 2019. The board was removed from Philadelphia in January 2019, where it helped navigate travelers for 48 years.
Tom Henman, a local faux painter, works on creating a fake travertine to house the iconic flipboard so it looks like it did at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Friday, October 25, 2019. The board was removed from Philadelphia in January 2019, where it helped navigate travelers for 48 years.
The iconic flipboard, which told travelers their arrival and departure times for 48 years at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, is seen exactly as it was on the day it was removed from Philadelphia, on January 25, 2019. It was replaced with a digital board and will now be on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, for the next three years.
The iconic flipboard, which told travelers their arrival and departure times for 48 years at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, is seen exactly as it was on the day it was removed from Philadelphia, on January 25, 2019. It was replaced with a digital board and will now be on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, for the next three years.
Tom Henman, a local faux painter, works on creating a fake travertine to house the iconic flipboard so it looks like it did at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Friday, October 25, 2019. The board was removed from Philadelphia in January 2019, where it helped navigate travelers for 48 years.
People pass by a train car exhibit at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, on Friday, October 25, 2019.
One of the many engines on display is seen at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, Friday, October. 25, 2019.
