factory city of Enschede, Netherlands, postcard, early 20th century

With a little steam goods train in the foreground.  Obviously this was before the days when people became concerned about air pollution.

stuntman descends from an airship to a train, Netherlands, early 20th century

narrow gauge at Faxe Ladeplads, Denmark

One of the few if not the only narrow gauge line in Denmark was the Faxe Jernbane, a private railway company which established the line from Stubberup to Faxe Ladeplads in 1864 for transport of limestone from the quarry to the port. The 6.5 km long stretch became part of the Østbanen in 1977.  Limestone trains ended in 1982.  At this point the dual gauge track (standard gauge for the passenger trains) became monogauge.

Krauss steam locomotives were delivered with a gauge of 785 mm (2'7") but around 1970 the company ordered 2 diesel locomotives from Schöma with a desired track gauge of 791 mm.  Maybe because of wear on the rails?  Use of the steam locos ended in October 1973.

Faxe is also the base of the Faxe brewery, little known outside Denmark.

Several more pics here

Rotterdam tram, 1971

Early morning from the look of it; an early 1960s Renault 4 parked on the left.  See earlier posts.

freight train along the street, Erie, Pennsylvania

And full heavy metal vibration stuff, too. A Conrail train (now Norfolk Southern) with a GE C-40-8W on the point.

Soviet raftsmen art, 1961

In what as known as the 'Socialist Realism' style. By Nikolai Andronov, born 1929.

DC-6 of TEAL in Fiji, 1950s

This was known as the hibiscus service from Auckland (a then 5-hour flight, now 3 hours on a jet) because passengers were given the flowers shown when they got off in Nadi (Nandi). The guy with the tunic was presumably a real policeman or soldier.

For more, see the book The Aircraft of Air New Zealand and affiliates since 1940 by Paul Sheehan.

Rolls Royce ad art, late 1940s

Maybe a suggestion of gold plating.

'I like reading a book from my collection'

1954 Oldsmobile Super 88

1977 Triumph Dolomite 1850HL

traffic in Queen Street, Masterton, May 1913

from the library: 'Objets du train à collectioner'

This French book on railway collectibles from 2000 was the inspiration for our book New Zealand Railway Memorabilia.  It had 128 color pages full of pictures of items such as clocks, signs, carriage fittings, plaques, uniforms, paraphernalia like telephones, ticket machines, lamps, signals, models, and of course publicity materials like posters, pamphlets and postcards.

With a country the size of France the range of potential contents is much bigger than with NZ, but we still had no difficulty filling the 80 A4 pages in our book.

Al-Jazeera documentary on Egyptian conscripts reignites media war with Qatar

Everyone knows that the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel doesn't like Israel, but it doesn't like Egypt much either.

Egypt's relations with Qatar severely deteriorated following the army’s ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi from power in July 2013, which followed mass protests against his rule. Qatar has repeatedly denounced Morsi’s removal.

Qatar in turn is accused of funding Islamic extremism -- an example described here

Al Jazeera has broadcast a trailer of a documentary entitled “Conscripts” that tells the story of Egyptian youth getting ready to serve out their compulsory military service. Following this several Egyptian news outlets attacked Qatar for “insulting the Egyptian Armed Forces”.

Story

buses outside Chelyabinsk railway station, Russia, circa 1970

This station was opened in 1965. A postcard pic of the predecessor station from 1892 is below.

to England aboard a hen-fish advertisement, 1980

Obviously an SNCF advertisement for Sealink ferries and hovercraft (aéroglisseurs).

1948 AFC Brill IC-4 bus model

cars in Damascus, Syria, 1950s

And a minibus.  The Avenue de Beyrouth according to the caption.

1976 Dodge KT900 truck

Standard Oil poster, circa 1930

Obviously for German-speaking parts of Europe: "From the calibrated liter bottle"

Dutch airshow poster, 1927?

It will be no earlier than 1927 as following the International Radiotelegraph Conference in Washington DC that year, Dutch registration was changed from H to PH.

trams in Hastings Street, Napier, 1920s

The trams and nearly all these buildings finished with the February 1931 earthquake.  See earlier posts and our books.

1974 Chrysler Valiant Regal (Australia)

'I like reading a good book'

steam locos at the Mora la Nueva depot, Spain, 1966

SNCF advertisement, June 1939

buses in Tokyo, 1960

No info. The one on the right may be a Hino.

Fred Flintstone's car?

unusual parking place

train time at Temuka, late 1900s

North of Timaru. This was the second station, designed like the present Dunedin station by George Troup and was built in 1906.  However, unlike Dunedin station, this no longer exists.

It looks like an A class on the train at the platform while they look like double deck cattle cars on the right.  Was the wall in the front shielding a view of the loo entrance doors?

1955 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 model

A 1:18 model by Greenlight of the one which featured in The Godfather (1972), although it was one of several cars used in that movie and didn't have a major role.  Nevertheless, cars used by gangsters, real or movie, have a certain fascination.  It costs about $50 in the US.

US State Department issues a travel alert for all of Europe; Morocco, Egypt and Jordan considered safe

There are parts of Egypt, however, mainly Sinai and the Western Desert, where armed Islamic militants hide from security forces; a check first with Egyptian authorities is recommended.

According to the statement released by US State department, “Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL the U.S. gov't acronym for ISIS or Da'esh), al-Qaeda, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events. While extremists have carried out attacks in Belgium, France, Germany, and Turkey in the past year, the Department remains concerned about the potential for attacks throughout Europe. If you are traveling between countries in Europe, please check the website of the U.S. Embassy or consulate in your destination city for any recent security messages.”

Website

Victorian Railways N class 2-8-2

An example of the 83-member class is seen here with a goods train at Bendigo station, with its impressive semaphore signal gantries, in 1964.

"The N class was a branch line steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1925 to 1966. A development of the successful K class 2-8-0, it was the first VR locomotive class designed for possible conversion from 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) to 4 ft 81⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge."

Full article

Egyptian archaeologists unearth a residential city from 5,316 B.C. in upper Egypt

The head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, Mahmoud Afify, announced that the cemetery and city were discovered just 400 meters south of the Temple of Seti the First in Abydos.

According to Afify, the city and cemetery likely belonged to senior officials who were responsible for building royal tombs, as the archaeologists found a number of tools that indicate that the residential city was largely responsible for supplying the labor force required to build royal tombs.

Full article

1965 Commer flatbed truck

Swiss Dining Car Company poster, 1909

The Schweiz-Speisewagen-Gesellschaft (Swiss Dining Car Company) had been formed in 1903 and in its centenary year of 2003 changed its name to Elvetino. Article

NAC commemorative anniversary postcards

A set of six issued in 2007 to mark the 60th anniversary of the creation of the National Airways Corporation, showing its iconic aircraft models.  For info, see the book The Aircraft of Air New Zealand and affiliates since 1940

motoring graphic, Switzerland, 1906

1957 Ford pickup graphic

RMV Scillonian (1956)

This, the second ship to carry the name, was a passenger ferry built for the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company in 1955 by John I. Thornycroft & Company of Woolston, Southampton.

Scillonian (2) was 208 ft (63.4 metres) long, 921 gross tons and was powered by two Rustion diesels which gave a speed of 15.5 knots. She carried 500 passengers and 14 crew.

More info and pics