Jack Savitsky’s Train in Coal Town depicts a coal-fired passenger train traveling between Pottsville and Silver Creek, two well-known coal towns in Pennsylvania. Behind the smoky plume of the locomotive stand a blue-gray coal breaker and eight mill houses—the very houses that make up the painting's border. Savitsky conveys the routine sameness of the company town through his use of repetitive decorative elements. However, the lively colors and cheerful rural setting also reflect an energetic spirit within the miner community.
A strikingly similar work of Savitksy's is currently on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (1986.65.137). Pen and crayon on postcard, signed, 1982.
