Friday, January 31, 2014
Swedish train at the Brussels Exhibition, Belgium, 1935
Boston trolleys, 1910
tram runs past the Parnell Post Office, Auckland late 1900s
Up Parnell Rise then turn south, still uphill, for about a quarter mile. The yellow tram front was simply the tinter's guess.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
stamp featuring an NAC DC-3
If you wonder what aviation event could have happened in 1855, it was actually the year that the first postage stamps were issued in NZ. For heaps about NAC aircraft, see the book The Aircraft of Air NZ and affiliates since 1940.
Canadian National GE C40-8M
Mechanically identical to the Dash 8-40CW, the Dash 8-40CM was constructed only for Canadian railways. It is distinguished from the Dash 8-40CW by a full-width cowl body and the use of a Canada-specific nose and windshield configuration. The trucks (bogies) also differ - all are taken from retired Alco/Montreal Locomotive Works locomotives. Here a Dash 8-40CM is on the point of a stack train at Red Pass, BC.
Erie & Pittsburgh Railroad coal and iron docks at Erie, Pennsylvania
BNSF Railway General Electric C44-9W
NZ Prime Minister wants referendum on the national flag this year
It's clear that in both NZ and Australia the present very similar national flags are much disliked, although not everyone feels that way. Unlike in the U.S. and Canada where you see the national flags flying everywhere, very few are seen in A/NZ. Now John Key has proposed having a referendum on the issue in conjunction with the general election. NZ's national colours by default are black and silver and the most common flag you see is a silver fern on a black background, John Key's preference for the official flag. It seems to us the best option too, the Southern Cross could be retained for an Australia-New Zealand Confederation flag. stuff article and video
Canadian National 4-8-4
Seen near Hamilton, Ontario, in 1959, is a U-2-h class built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1944. It had 73 inch (1854 mm) driving wheels, 25.5 x 30 inch cylinders, a boiler pressure of 250 psi, and a weight of 400,300 lb (182 tonnes).
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
cars on Lambton Quay, Wellington, late 1950s
A couple of Morris Oxfords in the foreground and a Morris J type van further back. What is that flat bed truck on the left? Another photo considered for but not used in the book Wellington Transport Memories.
tram turns from the beach up the rise, Auckland, 1904
A new electric tram turns from Beach Road into Parnell Rise (or Gittos Street as it was then named), a view taken from Constitution Hill. In the medium distance is a bridge of the railway line to Newmarket.
'Stena Alegra' at Pencarrow
Joanna from Poland provides a foreground to the Stena Alegra--the replacement ferry for the Aratere--entering Wellington Harbour at Pencarrow in the distance. The ferry is likewise from Poland having provided ferry service to Sweden. The first week in Wellington to Picton service wasn't auspicious when she broke down in Wellington Harbour, article. (Geoff Churchman pic)
Convair 580
One of the members of the CV-240 family, which was introduced in 1947. The 580 variants were converted from Convair CV-340 (Allison Prop-Jet Convair 340) or CV-440 aircraft with two Allison 501 D13D/H turboprop engines with four-blade propellers, in place of piston engines with three-blade propellers, an enlarged vertical fin and modified horizontal stabilizers.
This example is seen in Air Chathams livery which provides flights to the Chatham Islands from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. (planespotters.net)
cars in Broadway, Palmerston North, 1950s
An Austin A40 in front, a Vauxhall Velox on the right, maybe a Leyland bus further back.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Katy Flyer of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway
Hauled by locomotive 440, a 2-8-0 type built by Schenectady in 1901, more data on this webpage.
The last two of the MKT initials gave the name 'Katy'. According to this webpage, "In 1896, the Missouri Kansas & Texas Railroad announced the inauguration of the Katy Flyer, with service between St. Louis, Mo., and southwest Texas. By 1905, “The Fast Train to St. Louis” raced between Galveston, Texas, and St. Louis in about 37 hours.
board a bus, breathe easy
A public service advertisement produced in India but obviously relevant everywhere.
sailing ships in Port Cooper, NZ, 1855
If you haven't heard of Port Cooper, it was the first name for Lyttelton. For more, see our books.
Blaupunkt car audio adverts
It certainly looks like there would be plenty of sound produced; although...
Boeing and Westervelt seaplane in NZ, 1919
This was the first Boeing product dating from 1916 of which two were made. The two B & Ws were offered to the United States Navy but when the Navy did not buy them, they were sold to the New Zealand Flying School and became Boeing's first international sale. On 25 June 1919 the B&W set a New Zealand altitude record of 6,500 feet. The B & Ws were later used for express and airmail deliveries, making New Zealand's first official airmail flight on 16 December 1919 as depicted on this NZ Post First Day Cover (for a vending machine label!)
Monday, January 27, 2014
Vespa shape
The rear fender shape has a certain similarity to that of the 1950 Chevrolet...
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| lowridermagazine.com |
trams at the bottom of Queen Street, Auckland, 1919
This one a view in the opposite direction from the usual one, looking from the Waverley hotel towards the ferry building, which still exists. The other buildings are history.
ships on the Great Seal of the State of California
double-deck Fageol bus of the Los Angeles Motor Coach Company
A 1924 model, taken on 8th Street about where Hope Street intersects, looking northwest. (Metro archives)
the 'Rotorua', 1911-1940
An undated postcard, but probably not long after the ship was bought by the NZ Shipping Company in England in 1936 and renamed from Shropshire to Rotorua. The ship didn't serve the NZSC long - on 11 December 1940 en route from Lyttelton to Bristol, England, she was torpedoed by German U-boat U96 off St Kilda, Scotland, and sank.
Dimensions: 165.8 x 18.59 x 8.15 metres
Installed propulsion: Steam quadruple expansion engines rated at 1,264 hp, dual shaft
Speed: 14 knots