steam days on the West Coast of NZ's South Island, 1950s

Tank engines hauling trains of coal and sawn timber long respresented typical scenes -- until 1969. For info and lots more pics get the book New Zealand 1950s steam in colour compiled from the Derek Cross collection.

meter-gauge trams in Halberstadt, Germany, 1981

 

This was of course in DDR days and the attractive half-timbered houses display communist maintenance.  

Today they look quite different.

See earlier post.

the Dresden Standseilbahn (funicular), Germany

This runs from Loschwitz to Weisser Hirsch and has similar design and dimsensions to the Wellington Cable car, which is 600 metres long with a 20% gradient and meter gauge.

Length: 547 m, maximum gradient 29%, 95 meters height difference, speed of 5 meters per second. It has two tunnels and a bridge.

Design type: Suspension railway with Abt passing loop

Operator: Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG

The blurb: "Dresden's Funicular Railway has been carrying passengers from the Loschwitz district to the Weisser Hirsch area, which is higher up, since 1895. The funicular has been a protected monument since 1984. The railway has long been a major tourist attraction in Dresden.

"The picturesque scenery makes the ride on the funicular a very special experience. From the bottom of the Elbe slopes, the valley between Oberloschwitz and Weisser Hirsch is not really perceptible. It is only when the carriage emerges from the tunnel at the station in the valley that the scenic view over Dresden opens up.

It then passes by the Rothe Amsel, a mill (now the Leonhardi Museum) built in 1880 in the Old German style, and continues to the upper station. From the upper station, too, you can go walking through the pretty villas district and the Dresden Heath forest."

1934 Voisin C25 Aérodyne

 Lots more pics and info

old gas station in Turkey, Texas, on Route 66

With a 1950s Flxible Clipper bus. (Google Earth)

'I like to read a real printed book in my coffee breaks'

poster advertising scenic trips on the Wanganui River, NZ, 1930s-1940s

 Only occasional steam excursion trips will get you to Wanganui by train now, but regular boat trips still happen.

cars on Broadway at 9th street, L.A., 1956

Present day scene

1952 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe

 

More pics

2 NZR Ec class on the Lyttelton line, February 1929

This 10 km line was New Zealand's second to be electrified. Two of the five electric locomotives were photographed for the Weekly News on the occasion of the inauguration of the new system between Christchurch and the Port of Lyttelton on 21 February 1929. For lots more see the book Railway Electrification in Australia and New Zealand.