[6][page needed] However, the train and bridge, the solid elements of the painting, are barely hinted at, disappearing into the hazy and unreal atmosphere.

The mist rising from the water, the rain that veils the sky, and the steam from the locomotive are blurred and mixed, unifying the painting's colors.

[5] Turner frequently created an atmospheric tonality in his artistic creations by spreading the paint in short, broad brushstrokes from a filthy palette onto the canvas and gradually drawing forms out of his color ground.

[7][page needed] To illustrate the rain, he dabbed dirty putty on to the canvas with a trowel, whereas the sunshine scintillates out of thick, smeary chunks of chrome yellow.

[5] Additionally, Turner used cool tones of crimson lake to illustrate the shadows and, even though the fire in the steam-engine appears to be red, it is most likely painted with cobalt and pea-green.

The thrilling essence of speed was an innovative factor of life, with the power to alter our emotions of nature, while the steam of the locomotive provided a groundbreaking atmospheric scenery.

[9][page needed] Turner was not painting a factual view of the Great Western Railway, but rather an allegory of the powers of nature and technology.

[2] Others believe the animal is running in fear of the new machinery and Turner meant to hint at the danger of man's new technology destroying the sublime elements of nature.

[5][11][page needed] Some people interpret this painting as analogous to that of The Fighting Temeraire, since there seems to be a transition from the past towards the future as the train speeds towards us.