A new train mural is coming to Oil City.
Since Thursday, the familiar mural “I See a Train a Comin’” mounted on the side of State Street Furniture near Veterans Bridge in Oil City had been in the process of being removed.
The installation of a new train mural in the same spot is scheduled to be completed today.
Michael Allison, a muralist from the Altoona area whose panel work in Oil City includes the mural “Chief Cornplanter and the Oilmen,” was contacted to paint the new mural, Oil City Main Street Manager Kathy Bailey said.
Allison, along with his assistant Mark King, had the old mural taken down by Friday afternoon and began getting as much work done on installation of the new mural before nightfall, as a few of the panels were up in place.
His new mural will continue the train theme, featuring a steam locomotive with an early map of the Oil Creek Railroad in the background that shows where oil was transported to via the rail line from Titusville.
The old mural, which shows a train coming out of a tunnel, was replaced due to deterioration and warping of the panels, Bailey said.
Panels of “I See a Train a Comin,” which was installed in 2016, will be stored in the hope that they can be displayed in the future, Bailey said.
