moving cane and bamboo by small barges in Java, Indonesia, art

Probably for school use. Indonesia is the world's largest producer and supplier of rattan cane, accounting for approximately 70% to 80% of the global commercial rattan supply. Sugar cane is also widely grown in Indonesia.

NZR B306 at Reefton with a works train on the West Coast, 1950s

The B class was a 4-8-0 type of which 10 were built between 1899 and 1903. It looks like the engine crew are engaged in cleaning out the tubes, which involves this process:

* The crew opens the firebox door to access the boiler tubes.
* The fireman turns on the draft blower to create strong suction through the boiler.
* Sand, compressed air, or specialized lances are introduced into the firebox.
* The draft pulls the cleaner violently through the tubes, knocking off hard carbon.
* The loosened debris is safely blown out of the smokestack.

For lots more get the book New Zealand Railways 1950s steam in colour

tram and trailer in Danzig (Gdansk), Poland, late 1970s

Even by communist standards the apparantly pre-WW2 buildings clearly suffered from advanced neglect.

This looks to be the scene now

On one of the buildings of the row is this facade with German lettering from before 1945:

Fisherman's Walk Cliff Lift, Bournemouth, England

 

The world's shortest funicular railway was opened in 1935 and transports beachgoers a huge 128 feet (39 meters) with a vertical height change of 91 feet (28 meters) from clifftop to shore.

More pics and info

trams, buses and cars on Most Poniatowskiego, Warsaw, Poland in 1966

A pic that seems to have been taken from one of the ornamental towers of the bridge.

Location on Google streetview

trams and other traffic in Aleje Niepodległości, Warsaw, Poland 1978

From a magazine cover of the time.

an SNCF 231 type steamer with a passenger train between Paris-Nord and Calais-Maritime in 1957

A type 231 is a 4-6-2 Pacific type in English classification.

the New York 3rd Avenue El at Chatham Square, 1955

The stumps of the lower level City Hall spur—which started at Park Row and connected to Chatham Square—can be seen. This was permanently closed to passenger service at the end of 1953 and demolished in 1955, obviously before the time of this pic. The dismantling and removal project to fully clear the 3rd Avenue El from Manhattan's cityscape was completed in February 1956.

'when I get home I like to relax with a good real book'

a Wellington trolley bus from 1958

Built by British United Traction RETB/1 (chassis) and Metro Cammell Weymann (body).  For lots more get the books Wellington: a Capital century and Wellington Transport Memories.