'this is fantastic being amid so many real books'

1950s Commer 3/4 ton van promo

The van was based on the Hillman Minx saloon car and evolved alongside it, with various Mark designations from III to VIIIB.

More brochure pics

Canadian National class GR-12f diesel yard switchers

Above is an HO scale model sold by Brass Trains -- more pics and details

The GR-12f was a specific class designation within the broader SW1200RS family.  Info

Two units with a caboose in 1974, location not stated.

1941 Mercedes-Benz 230 Limousine A

More pics and info

1929 Chevrolet Roadster

(Chevrolet Enthusiasts Club of NZ)

An NZR A class 4-6-2 type with a passenger train on the Catlins River Branch, 1955

A photo taken by Jack Creber on 29 November 1955. The branch closed in 1971. For lots more see the book New Zealand 1950s Steam in Colour, still available.

1962-1963 Marklin catalog

With an iconic V200 class (later 220) diesel hydraulic on the cover. Five prototypes of the V 200 were built by Krauss-Maffei in 1953-1954. Full production began in 1956, with 61 engines being built by Krauss-Maffei and 20 by MaK.

Streamlined steam lcocomotive on Soviet centennial railway poster, 1938

This features locomotive IS20-16 with streamline casing at the locomotive factory in Voroshilovgrad in 1937. It was the Soviet steam locomotive-champion with maximum speed of 155 km/h (96 mph). The IS 20 used the same cylinders and boilers as the FD series locomotives. However the IS steam locomotive had a 2-8-4 wheel arrangement instead of 2-10-2.

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1989 Buick Riviera

More info and pics

VR Class Sm2 electric multiple unit

A total of fifty Sm2 units were built between 1975 and 1981 by Valmet in Tampere. Since the withdrawal of the older Sm1 units, the Sm2 units are the oldest multiple units in use in Finland.

All Sm2 units were completely renovated between 2002 and 2011. Only the bodywork and the technics remained mostly untouched. Many of the changes are visible to the passengers, including a different type of seat and modern toilets. Between 2018 and 2024, all remaining operational units were refreshed, with new moquette and a new livery consisting of a white bodyside with a green lower band, except for units 90 and 91, which remains in their vintage red livery.

The two-car sets (powered car plus driving trailer) can seat 200 passengers, have a power output of 4x155 kW = 620 kW or 830 hp and a maximum speed of 120 kmh.

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'I like to read a real good book, not a little screen'

in Hanoi, Vietnam, you can have a train with your café snack

It's hard to imagine this being allowed in first world countries! See earlier posts.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/D5NMjjpgRVQ73WVs5

NZ 'Kingston Flyer' steam train, 1970s postcard

This shows one of the two AB class 4-6-2 type engines used on the line for this tourist service between Lumsden and Kingston from 1971 to 1979 and later from Fairlight to Kingston.  

See our books for lots more.

BR West Country poster featuring a steam passenger train

It looks like a GWR 4000 Class 10-wheeler is depicted.

Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns Ltd advertisement with an NZR Ew loco,1955

See our books for lots more.

Soviet T class steam locomotive with passenger cars graphic, 1930

 The T class were both 0-6-0 and 2-6-0 type, this looks like one of the latter.

single motor Junkers F13fe used in Japan art

This was first registered in Japan as J-BALG in May 1928 to Teikoku Kaibo Gikai. Re-registered to Nippon Kaiji Kentei Kyokai (NKKK).  It was written off (damaged beyond repair) when it crashed in Japan in March 1934 in unknown circumstances.

Preserved 2-8-0 locomotive from 1923 operating in Connecticut

Locomotive No. 97 operates at the Valley Railroad in Essex, Connecticut. It's a 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type locomotive, built in 1923 by the American Locomotive Company's Cooke Works. Originally destined for Cuba, it was instead sold to the Birmingham and Southeastern Railroad in Alabama. It was later acquired for tourist service, renumbered 97, and has been operating in Connecticut since the early 1970s.

1946 Cadillac Series 62

1972 Porsche 914/4

1970 Lincoln Continental Mark III

More pics

'I like to look at good real books in the library, not little screens'

 

British Railways EM1 class Bo+Bo type locomotive postcard

Probably from the early 1950s. The Manchester–Sheffield–Wath electric railway was an electrification scheme on British railways and the route featured long ascents on both sides of the Pennines. The 1.5 kV class with a one-hour power rating of 1,868 hp were built as a series from 1950-1953 and was designed for use on the noute. 

See earlier posts.

1973 Datsun 710 hardtop promo pic

A left hand drive car so it's not taken in Japan or Britain.

Santa Fe 4-unit lashup with a freight train westbound at Joliet, Illinois, 1975

With an SD45-2 (these had a 20-cylinder prime mover that produced 3600 hp) on the point westbound near the tower at Joliet. The train pictured may be the famed Super-C, a hot TOFC train that ran between Chicago and the west coast. The Santa Fe ran parallel to the GM&O at this spot; the train would cross the Rock Island within seconds.

(Pic by Richard Koenig; taken 20 September 1975 via Qstation)

traffic in New York 1950

1979 Ferrari 400i Automatic

Info and more pics

watching enginemen service an NZR 4-8-4, K907

Colorized. No date or location but probably 1930s in Wellington.  See our books for more.

RC model of a Super Constellation Lockheed L-1049

 See earlier posts on the real aircraft, regarded as one of the most attractive designs ever.

Canadian Pacific passenger train poster, 1970

Taken at Windy Point, Jasper, Alberta.

NSB El 11 electric locomotive with a passenger train

A colorized publicity pic. No date or location, but probably when new in the 1950s and we think it's north of Hamar.  See earlier post.

'big books on paper are much better than little screens'

1975 Hyundai Pony

The first and second generation Hyundai Pony (1975-1990), ancestor of the i30, was the first Hyundai exported outside the borders of its country of origin, South Korea. The first generation was marketed until 1982 and the second from that year until 1990.

With a design that was not very oriental and to a certain extent "known", its raison d'être was that, in addition to development engineers and personnel of British origin -- mainly from British Leyland, where the one who was hired as development director of the Pony came from -- its design was the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign.

Presented at the 1974 Turin Motor Show as a five-door hatchback version, a year later it would also be marketed as a sedan - although visually it looked like a hatchback, it had a small door for the trunk, an element that would open next to the rear glass by 1981 and disappear as a sedan.

1973 Saab 99L 4-Speed

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NZR steam goods train to the Wairarapa, 1920s(?)

This is on the old alignment nor far from the Maymorn station at Mangaroa Station in the Mangaroa Valley. The house in the foreground, on the left, was the house for the station master. The opening of the Rimutaka Tunnel in 1955 involved realignment of the railway in this area. See earlier posts and our books for lots more. (Colorized pic from the collection of Brian Edward Spearpoint, 1925-2013)

1977 Mazda Capella

More pics

Danish royal yacht HDMY 'Dannebrog'

His Danish Majesty's Yacht is named after the national flag of Denmark, the Dannebrog, and is both an official and private residence for members of the Danish royal family during their travels, particularly in Danish waters and around Europe.  The ship was launched in 1931 and has been in service since then, making it one of the oldest active royal yachts in the world.

Length: 78.43 m (257 ft 4 in); Breadth: 10.4 m (34 ft 1 in); Draft 3.62 m (11 ft 11 in).

Propulsion: 2 × B&W Alpha Diesel engines, type 6T23L-KVO, 870 hp (640 kW)[1] each
3 × Scania diesels, type DI12 62M 326 hp (240 kW)[1] each

Crew: 9 officers & 43 men of the Royal Danish Navy

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1967 Chevrolet Yenko Super Camaro.

One of only 54 made.

Debuting 26 September 1966, the 1967 Chevy Camaro was Chevrolet’s response to the wildly successful Ford Mustang. The Camaro differed from the Mustang with a more streamlined appearance, front partial frame for improved ride quality and to minimize and isolate noise. A rear unibody design helped save space and reduce production costs. However, it took several steps to change a regular Chevy Camaro into a Yenko Super Camaro.

For those who were in the know, they could opt to spec the Chevy Camaro with a Central Office Production Order, or COPO, package. Most COPO cars were special-purpose vehicles, such as ambulances, police cruisers, or taxi cabs that had to be built for the job they would fulfill. Cop cars and taxis take lots of abuse, while ambulances and the like must be constructed differently than regular passenger cars. For a Chevy Camaro fan, few things are as stirring as a COPO car that came with the L72 427 cubic-inch Mark IV Big Block mill. The L72 came with 11.0:1 compression, forged aluminum pistons connected to a forged steel crank, an radical solid-lifter cam, rectangular port heads, a high-rise intake manifold, and a big Holley 800CFM four-barrel carb, all combined to crank out 450 horsepower. The COPO order was necessary as GM had an internal rule that kept mid-size passenger car engine displacement under 400 cubic inches.

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1928 Lincoln Spring Tourer

L.M.S. 4-6-0 Class 5MT Black 5

"Full Steam Ahead" by Trevor Mitchell. available as a print commercially

 A total 842 of these were built between 1934 and 1951, of which 18 are preserved.

More on the Hattons website

1939 Cadillacs ad

'I prefer to spend money on real books than on clothes'

1953 Plymouth Cranbrook

 
With a Savoy station wagon in the background.