Trains made their way into art history with French Impressionism and the French Industrial Revolution. Edouard Manet and Gustave Caillebotte, among others, made many paintings of trains that became the primary influence of Geare’s “Train Series.” Other influences include Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, and Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. This painting, entitled “Till the Wheels Fall Off” depicts a contemporary Union Pacific cargo train seemingly coming apart as it travels across the canvas and the American landscape. This particular train was on its way east past Palm Springs from Los Angeles when Geare photographed it.