buses on Nevsky Prospect, Leningrad, 1930s

The main street of what is now St Petersburg, see earlier posts.

the French Line's 'Normandie' poster, circa 1936

This ship entered service in 1935, see earlier post.

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, California

This impressive system, officially called an aerial tramway, but usually referred to in the English speaking world as a gondola or aerial cableway, was opened in 1963 after nearly 3 decades of planning.  The pic shows a cabin reaching the Mountain Station at 8,516 ft (2,596 metres) elevation.

A history and technical information is on this official webpage

tram in Oriental Bay, Wellington, circa 1910

A different scene to the earlier post.  For heaps more, see the books Wellington: a Capital century and Wellington Transport Memories

'those trains behind me inspired me to read this transpress nz book'

Kobe trams, Japan, circa 1920

One notes the two trolley poles.  A bit of info on the system here

Holland America Line poster, 1920s

early Utrecht electric trams, Netherlands

Horse trams started running on 3'6" gauge in Utrecht on 29 April 1879 . On 27 October 1904 the Gemeentetram (community tram) Utrecht (GTU) was established which bought out the horse tram, converted the track to standard gauge and electrified it with 600 Volts DC. The last regular trams in Utrecht ran on 2 May 1949 . But, after an absence of 34 years, on 17 December 1983 the Utrecht Light Rail system began operation.

Mexico City trolley bus, a bus from 1946

As the system didn't start until 1951 this must have been bought second-hand.

military train in Fribourg, Switzerland, 1930s

With the soldiers riding in automotrice 415.

an overview of the CSX intermodal terminal of Northwest Ohio

A video published last week.  This intermodal facility covers 500 acres (200 hectares) and can handle 2 million containers a year.

1957 Austin A35 pickup

One last photo from the Great British Car Rally in Wellington last week. This tiny model only lasted two years and this was one of only 475 produced.  Given its minuscule carrying capacity this is hardly surprising.

Engine: 948 cc, output 34 hp at 4,750 rpm
Maximum torque: 50lb/ft (67.8 Nm) at 2,000 rpm
Length 11ft 4.4ins (3.465 metres)
Width 4ft 7.1ins (1.4 metres)
Height 4ft 11.3in (1.455 metres)
Wheelbase 6ft 7.5in (2.02 metres)
Track - front 3ft 9.2in (1.15 metres) ; rear - 3ft 8.8in (1.14 metres)

Hamersley & Robe River railway ALCo's, Western Australia

This standard gauge mining railway, now known as Pilbara Rail, transports all iron ore mined in the Hamersley Ranges of northern Western Australia to the ports at either Dampier or Cape Lambert near Wickham. The trains are operated on an American scale. In this pic a pair of ALCo Century 628 diesel-electric locos are seen on a train to Dampier in the early 1970s. This model was one of the last built by ALCo, a Co-Co type with 2,750 hp (2,051 kW) output of which 186 were built between December 1963 and December 1968.  One is preserved at Seven Mile Yard in Dampier

'I like to read a book at the beach'

101 years after the first 'Titanic' went to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean come plans for 'Titanic II'

And a straight replica at that, apart from modern technological refinements. One hopes too that this one will have more lifeboats...

The cost has been estimated at more than US$200 million, but for Australian mining mogul Clive Palmer that is a drop in the ocean...

NZ Herald article and vid

transport around Custom House Quay, Wellington, circa 1920

Another photo considered for but not used in the books Wellington: a Capital Century and Wellington Transport Memories.  For details of what is in this, see those books.

Java Night Limited, Indonesia, 1930s

 
Available info on this train is scant but it would have traveled between Jakarta and Surabaya on the 3'6" gauge track.  Before 1949 Indonesia was a Dutch colony, usually referred to as the Dutch East Indies.  Prints of this poster are available commercially.

1955 Chrysler Flight Sweep concept car

Soviet Class AA20-1 of 1934 - a 4-14-4

A one-off Soviet attempt at steam superpower which was a complete disaster. Some info about it on this webpage

a brave way to transport whiskey

 
It would only take one tailgating driver behind you and a sudden blockage ahead of you... An advert with an Isetta from 1958.

1933 Pierce Silver Arrow

After having collected over 80 car models in 1:18 scale over the years, we decided that we had run out of space to display them all and could make one last addition, so chose the model of this 12 cylinder car redolent of the Art Deco era.

pics of the real thing

Renault trunk art

Some people have fertile imaginations... (from a viral e-mail)

Burns, Philp travel poster, Egypt, 1930s

'we like to come into the park and read books'

1923 Pierce Arrow limousine

more Tinakori Road 1900s

Further to the previous post, here is another view from the same era with Molesworth Street running towards the central city in the centre.  All the houses on the east side of Tinakori Road between Molesworth and Hawkestone Streets disappeared in the motorway construction and about thirds of those between Hawkestone Street and Hill Street.  Other houses (for example, some in Hawkestone Street including the Marist Thorndon school, all of Hawkestone Crescent, and a few in Molesworth Street and Hill Street) disappeared too.

transferring freight from the highways onto the railways

One of the most significant figures in the US Class 1 railroad statistics posted a couple of weeks ago was the growth in intermodal traffic - between 2009 and 2011 this increased by an aggregate 2 million carloads; a big reduction in congestion on the highways.  In this commercial CSX states that one of their freight trains carries what 280 trucks do.

Wellington 1900s

More of general than transport interest this one as it shows the harbour (east) side of Tinakori Road in the foreground, which was demolished for the foothills motorway of the 1960s, including one of the Katherine Mansfield houses in the centre right.

One of the questions we tried to answer but without success for the book Wellington: a Capital Century was how many houses in Thorndon in total were demolished to make way for for the motorway.  However, a 'ball park' figure is 100.  For more, see that book.

Transilien tram train, France

Blurring the distinction between light and heavy rail still further? A First Day Cover from 2004.

the Jensen Interceptor version 2

The Jensen Interceptor (which revived a name used earlier) was a GT class car hand-built at the Jensen Motors factory in West Bromwich near Birmingham, England from 1966 until the company went belly-up in 1976.  Jensen used a Chrysler V8 engine for it, initially 6276 cc (383 c.i.), increased in 1971 to 7212 cc (440 c.i.), which was about as big as engines in American cars got.  Length was 15'6" (4.7 metres).

There's nothing subtle about the inferences here, although as well as GT wheels you would need a dwelling and attire to match.  Hiring all that for a fling may get expensive :-)

Great Northern Railway 0-6-0 saddle tank

Although a relatively small engine, the photographer's below track standpoint still manages to make it look impressive.  A saddle tank means that the water tank went over the top as well as along the sides of the boiler to maximise heat capture from it, but had the disadvantage of reducing visibility from the cab.  These were built by Sharp Stewart between 1897 and 1909. GNR became part of LNER in the 1923 'grouping'.  The engine shown, J52 No. 68846 (GNR No. 1247), has been preserved in the National Collection.

at the drive-in movie, 1950s

As an integral part of LA car culture, the drive-in movie developed there and spread to the rest of the country - and overseas including Australia.  As we noted in the book Celluloid Dreams, however, it never happened in NZ.

Usually they featured B movies and often for attendees, watching the movie was secondary to having a 'pash' with your companion inside the car :-)

1935 Chrysler De Luxe

'I like to read a book in a nature setting even at night'

traffic on the chain bridge, Budapest, 1930s

View looking east from inside the road tunnel.  One notes the traffic is driving on the left.

John Deere X720 tractor

Seen in Avon, Colorado (Geoff Churchman pic)

Mt Eden and a tram, Auckland, 1900s

For more, see earlier posts and our books.


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