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A new exhibit at the Indiana State Museum shows the passion of a Monon Railroad worker from Delphi.
Leroy (Roy) Trobaugh (1878-1955) spent his entire adult life as an employee of the Monon Railroad in Delphi, Ind.
One fringe benefit of working for the railroad was the travel pass, which allowed employees to ride company trains free of charge. Special trip passes could also be obtained for free transportation on any railroad not owned by the employer.
In his free time, Trobaugh's passion for landscape painting took him to the Grand Canyon, the East Coast and to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. He painted Brown County's hills and hollows as well as the towns and fields near his home.
Despite his life-long dedication to painting, Roy Trobaugh never considered himself a professional artist. He occasionally gave paintings away to friends, public schools and libraries near Carroll County.
Trobaugh's public job as telegraph operator at the Monon station made him a well-known figure in the community. But all accounts describe him as a shy and retiring individual.
When Roy Trobaugh died Sept. 4, 1955, more than 450 oil paintings and sketches had accumulated in his studio. After a private sale in his former home, paintings not purchased were then hauled off to an auction at the Marott Hotel in Indianapolis on Feb. 12, 1956. In less than a day the sum total of one man's artistic life was scattered throughout the state and then largely forgotten.
"Leroy Trobaugh: The Paintings of a Railroad Worker" is the first opportunity for the public to view Trobaugh's works since his death.
Currently on display at the Indiana State Museum, 202 North Alabama Street in Indianapolis, the exhibit includes 37 oil paintings and watercolors borrowed from public and private collections in Indiana and will continue through June 3. Several of the paintings will then travel to a special show at the Delphi Public Library to help celebrate the community's annual Canal Days Festival over the Fourth of July weekend.
Rachel Perry, the assistant director of historic sites for DNR Division of Museums and Historic Sites, organized the exhibit.
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