Rail Yard Studios: Making tracks in many homes

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In Park City this weekend many different artist gathered for the 43rd Kimball Arts Festival. One of the most unique booths was Rail Yard Studios.

Rail Yards Studios takes antique pieces of steel railroad and creates beautiful and original furniture and much more. Robert Hendrick came up with the initial idea for Rail Yard Studios. He is an industrial designer who owns a railroad construction and maintenance company. He said he would see rail pieces that were antique like Carnegie with so much history surrounding it, and that’s when he got the idea to make them into art.

“Everything we use is (at least) a century old,” Hendrick said.

Whereas the steel is antique the wood is “new” or, in other words, has not actually been used for tracks.

Hendrick presented this idea to his friend and now business partner Rob Humphreys. He told Humphreys he had a crazy idea, but Humphreys thought it was great. Together they made their vision become a reality and created Rail Yard Studios about 18 months ago. And in Hendrick’s words “it’s been crazy.” Humphreys said it has allowed them to be creative in a tangible way by dealing a lot with technology.

The process has been a learning experience. They said they are not very familiar with the art shows and fairs, but they have managed to attend 11 different venues across the country. This allows them to see what venues work for them and where their best consumers are.

Their pieces are fresh, unique ideas that seem to draw buyers in. They want their pieces to tell a story. An interesting and beautiful piece they referred to as the “Derailment Coffee Table” recreates the idea of a train track being derailed. They use woods of different types, sizes and angles.

They have shipped from coast to coast and have received requests across the globe.

For further information visit their website at railyardstudios.com.

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