'what's better than a good real book and a big cup of coffee?'

narrow gauge military steam train, Poland, interwar years

Converted automobile bodies for the upper ranks, more basic for the lower ranks from the look of it.

No other details.

peasant versus train race, Yugoslavia, circa 1937

The caption says that after mocking the oldest railway in the country, an employee challenged the peasant, named Yoyin Milovich, to run faster than the train between Bar and Sutorman. Milovich accepted. And Milovich won.

That loco looks a fairly old one so maybe the outcome is believable. Published in the French magazine Le Pelerin.   The area is today in Montenegro.

Dutch car sleeper train poster, 1965

To Avignon (France), Milan, Salzburg and Villach (Austria).

1930 Panhard Levassor 6DS Berline

1964 Saviem S45 GT bus

motorhead sentiment

poster for the centenary of the Santiago--Valparaiso railway, Chile, 1963

 

1947 Citroen 15

trams in Vienna (Wien) between ca. 1905 and 1915, colorized

 

1946 Austin A16

1934 Ford Model BB Stake truck

Baldwin steam tram matchbox cover art, Australia

1941 Chevrolet 5 passenger coupe

SNCF 40100 class at Bruxelles Midi with TEE train 'L'Oiseau Bleu' in 1979

The SNCF CC 40100 was a French class of quad-voltage 4,340 kW (5,820 hp) electric locomotives intended for high-performance passenger services on the Trans Europ Express (TEE) routes of the 1960s and 1970s. 

This non-stop international working required them to support the electrical systems of several networks. They are significant for combining three innovations in locomotive design: quad-voltage working, three-axle monomotor bogies and the new 'Nez Cassé' body style of French locomotives.

It was a class of 10 units built in 1964 (first batch of 4), and 1969–1970.

Power output (continuous rating) was :

(40101-3) 3,670 kW (4,920 hp)
(40104-10) 4,480 kW (6,010 hp)

Final withdrawal was in 1996, 3 are preserved.

More

"Of course: it's a real book, not a little screen"

 

Nevada Northern museum railway 2-8-0 now restored and running

Locomotive 81 was ordered from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1916. It was constructed in March 1917 for mixed service to haul both freight and passenger trains on the Nevada Northern railway and delivered to the Nevada Northern Railway the following month. It operated here until 1958 when it was retired. For thirty years it sat outside at the White Pine Public Museum with ore hauling buddy locomotive 93.

Official website

Southern Electric, England, multiple unit art

A Southern Electric train on a Portsmouth to London Waterloo service shown approaching Farncombe Station in 1960. A fabulous artwork by Philip D. Hawkins.

Info on Southern Railway electric sets

1949 Mercury coupe

1949 Ford Prefect 10

An advert for Australia.

1947 Delahaye 135 MS Coupe

1931 Packard Deluxe Eight Sport Phaeton

London trams and trolleybuses, 1950s

South Australian Railways cape gauge 2-6-0 from 1876

 

A total 8 of these U class were built by Beyer, Peacock and Company and were the first to work the SAR narrow gauge lines. Of these 4 were later rebuilt but none were preserved.

More

cape gauge ore train from Broken Hill arrives at Port Pirie, Australia, circa 1951

A South Australian Railways T class 4-8-0 provides the power -- info here

From the State Library of South Australia:

"Charles Rasp's discovery of silver ore at Broken Hill in 1883 eclipsed many smaller finds found in the region from 1875 and led to the formation of BHP. When the New South Wales government refused to build a railway to Broken Hill to bring supplies in and take the ore out, the South Australian government obliged: for a short time there were arguments over which port should be used, but by a narrow vote in Parliament, the die was cast for Port Pirie. The railway line to the New South Wales border was laid by June 1887; this connected with the private Silverton Tramway Company. With the railway line open everything for and from Broken Hill went through Port Pirie -- timber for the mines, coal and mining gear and outwards the ore and processed minerals. Smelters were built at Port Pirie and the face of the town changed rapidly -- it became an industrial town as well as a port.

"In 1889 11,000 tons of coke was sent in six months from Port Pirie to Broken Hill; 4 million superfeet of timber was handled; 11,244 tons of silver-lead bullion was despatched and BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd) paid £69,000 for railway cartage and labour."

Southern Pacific SD-45R heads a train in Soledad Canyon, California, 1980s

 

SNCF skier train poster 1938

"Good voyage, good snow"

1947 Delahaye 135 M cabriolet

'when taking a break from driving I like to read a real book'

Dutch steam trams in the 1920s, colorized

 

A.E.C. Mammoth Major MKIII truck art

Depicted circa 1960 on the A2, painting by by Mike Jeffries - more

 

Flying with the KLM from Amsterdam to Paris in 1929, colorized

 

"Fly with the KLM with a Fokker F.VII aircraft from Amsterdam to Paris in 1929. No long check-in times, no conveyer belts, no gates, no luggage claim areas, no queues, no removal of belts and shoes, no jumbo's, but instead just a simple step ladder to board the plane with your suitcase in your hand to join the other half-a-dozen passengers. Aircraft in those times were noisy, cold, choppy and could only fly at low altitude because of the lack of a pressure cabin. Seats were made of wicker and the only entertainment was the stewardess trying to serve coffee while attempting to keep her balance..."

South Australian Railways 750 class 2-8-2

They were all ex-VR N class.  This example, 752, is now preserved.  Info here

NYC's old Subway cars at the bottom of the Ocean

"There is nothing more satisfying than seeing the city's subway cars—stages of so many sigh-inducing commutes and a variety of other horrors—getting unceremoniously dumped into the vast, blue ocean. It's a place where they are free from manspreaders and the MTA—a place where they transform into something a little more useful, it turns out.

"As we know, once these old retired subway cars hit the ocean floor (all 18-tons of them), they begin their new life as artificial subway reefs, creating "a flourishing new habitat for varied sea life including sea bass, tuna, mackerel, flounder, blue mussels, sponges, barnacle, and coral, and improved marine environments in areas of the ocean floor that were once barren deserts." Think Barnacle Bike, but bigger.

"The subway reef program ran from August 2001 through April 2010, when the MTA "deployed more than 2,500 deaccessioned train cars to underwater locations off the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia." This included the carbon steel "Redbird" cars, and stainless steel "B-Division/Brightliner" cars, which were all refurbished into "cleaned shells " before being thrown overboard. This means they were stripped of motors, wheels, hydraulics, lighting, Freon from the air conditioning systems, seats, and windows."

Read the rest

Euston to Carlisle Express hauled by an 81 class locomotive circa 1961

The 81 class was an AC powered Bo-Bo type electric locomotive, of which 25 were built over 1959 to 1964. They formerly operated on the West Coast Main Line of the London Midland Region of British Rail. Originally designated AL1, it was the first type of AC electric locomotive to be delivered to British Railways. Output at the 1 hour rating was 4 × 920 hp (690 kW) = 3,680 hp and 3,388 hp continuous rating. All had been withdrawn by the end of 1991, one is preserved.

More

the Melbourne to Adelaide 'Overland' train seen in the Adelaide Hills

A postcard with no date - 1970s?  A pair of South Australian 930 class diesels provide the power, although they look to be in the same as the NSW livery of the time. They were normally seen in a red and silver scheme, as were the cars, see below.

'I can't get enough real books - much better than digital books'

'SS Catalina' passenger ship

Seen in 1955 in Avalon Bay on Catalina Island.  Also known as The Great White Steamer, this was a 1,766 grt, 301-foot (94-metre) steamship built in 1924 that provided passenger service on the 26-mile passage between Los Angeles and Santa Catalina Island from 1924 to 1975. According to the Steamship Historical Society of America, Catalina has carried more passengers than any other vessel anywhere. From August 25, 1942 until April 22, 1946 the ship served as the Army troop ferry U.S. Army FS-99 at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation transporting more than 800,000 troops and other military personnel between embarkation camps and the departure piers. After a period of service as a floating discothèque, the ship ran aground on a sandbar in Ensenada Harbor in 1997 and partially sank on the spot. It was scrapped in 2009.

More

the Falkirk Wheel on the Edinburgh--Glasgow canal, Scotland

 A notable engineering achievement.

1934 Duesenberg SJ Torpedo Convertible Victoria

"by Rollston. This Supercharged 8-cylinder, 320-horsepower legend was one of the most powerful motorcars in the world (at that time), capable of a top speed approaching 140 mph [225 km/h]"

1984 Daihatsu Cuore L60

1930 Cadillac V-16

 

model of a one-car English Electric unit used in the Wellington area

 A large-scale model of a double-ended motor car used, as shown on the side destination board, for the short Melling Line services after electrification in the mid-1950s.  This is now in the Te Papa collections. For lots more, see our books.

UK tram theme stamp booklet cover

 

1955 Setra S10 bus

Used by the Austrian traffic office.

Finnish rail travel poster, 1950

Mornington Cable Car line of Dunedin in 1957 before it closed

 

1924 Buick Model 24-34 Roadster

railroad tracks to the horizon

"Onward" by Phil Koch, location not stated, available commercially as a print.

steam train on the 215 metre long Červený most (Rothe Bridge), Bratislava

Early 20th century in the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, hence the German and Hungarian names. 

A recent aerial view is here

Western Australian Government Railways Ec class 4-6-2

A total of 20 Ec class engines were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, in the first half of 1901, and entered service with the WAGR later that year. The following year, Baldwin built the first of two batches of the C class, a lighter version of the Ec class.

Initially, the Ec class' main task was to haul heavy trains on the Eastern Goldfields Railway. Between 1920 and 1923, nine Ec class engines were lightened for use on the lightly laid Northam to Mullewa line, and reclassified as the Eca class.

All 20 were withdrawn between 1923 and 1925, with the frames, wheels, cabs and tenders married with new boilers, cylinders and valve gear at Midland Railway Workshops to become the L class. The costs of the rebuilds were recovered within four years through lower maintenance costs.

More