Sunday, January 30, 2022

Imperial Airways poster, 1926

In those days Baghdad and Karachi weren't destinations you would think twice about, although the means of conveyance shown might not inspire much confidence.

vehicles in Warsaw, Poland, 1939, colorized

Trams, cars and carts. Obviously this was just before WW2 began. Some of these scenes were soon consigned to history because of the amount of destruction during 1939-1944.

a Chinese peasant transports his new missile back to his house?

1976 Lincoln Continental


cars in a California town, late 1940s

 

1937 Mercedes 540K cabriolet

Illinois Central electric multiple unit


"These multiple-unit cars were built by Pullman Car & Manufacturing in 1926 when IC's Chicago suburban service was electrified. New bi-level equipment replaced them in the early 1970s." (railarchive.net) See more on thetrolleydodger.com

'a real book is much better than a little screen'

Kovrov Station, Russia, a century ago




This is about 150 km east of Moscow on the MoscowNizhny Novgorod railway line which was opened in 1862. A new building was completed in 2003.

Friday, January 28, 2022

1967 Sunbeam Tiger Mark II Roadster

Grotta lighthouse near Reykjavik, Iceland


"There has been a lighthouse at Grótta since 1897, and the one currently standing dates back to 1947. It was connected to the electric grid in 1956 and has remained more or less unchanged since." (Google Earth)

Thursday, January 27, 2022

when you need a vehicle hoist but don't have one for DIY

Wellington 'Fiducia' type tram trundles up Pirie Street, 1961

With the tram tunnel to Hataitai in the background, subsequently used by buses.  For lots more, see the book Wellington Transport Memories. (David Galt pic)

Curtiss C-46F Commando


Seen in Colombia. According to airliners.net "This aircraft crashed into a hillside near Villavicencio on 9 May 1995."

Monday, January 24, 2022

1938 Packard Super Eight soft top

Pacific Electric trolleys at the North Hollywood station, greater L.A., August 1952


Pacific Electric streetcars no. 5150 and 5132 stopped at North Hollywood Station, at 11275 Chandler Boulevard,  on the Van Nuys line in the San Fernando Valley. People are seen walking near the station, which says "Southern Pacific - Pacific Electric Station" across the top. The signs on the front of the streetcars say "Los Angeles."

In 2017 the station reopened as a commuter café, see here and the Google Maps walkaround here

'would you like to read a good real book?'

cars in Burbank, greater L.A., early 1950s

A used-car lot and an oldtimer Oldsmobile approaching the camera.

1959 DeSoto 2-door hardtop

 
With Rock Hudson?

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Restoration of NSW locomotive 4916 complete

 

"1960s diesel locomotive 4916 has received a full overhaul by Transport Heritage NSW’s workshop team. The project included body corrosion repairs, engine tone up, electrical systems overhaul and new draw gear . . . as well as a stunning repaint of both the interior and exterior. 

"4916 was originally built by Clyde Engineering and entered service with the NSW railways in 1964. The 49 class were originally introduced to haul trains on branch lines in the far western regions of NSW, including the long section of railway to Broken Hill.

"Delivered in several batches, 4916 represents the last group of the class to enter service. 4916 will help support THNSW’s future heritage train operations.

"Congratulations to our workshop team on a brilliant job!" (THNSW pic)

1979 Leyland National bus

This was fitted with an 11-litre diesel engine.

Southern Pacific Dash 9-44CW's - numbers 8101 and 8110

thieving from containers moved by rail in L.A. has become a huge problem



A section of the Union Pacific train tracks in downtown Los Angeles has been littered with thousands of shredded boxes and packages stolen from cargo containers that stop in the area to unload.

On Saturday, railroad tracks in Lincoln Heights were trashed with a blizzard of torn plastic wrappers, cardboard boxes and paper packaging attesting to a wave of rail car thievery that officials say has been rising in recent months. The images have generated national attention and revealed tension among rail operators, government officials and authorities over what can be done to reduce the thefts.

L.A. Times story

Saturday, January 15, 2022

PCC car in Mexico City

No other info. Most of these in Mexico were second hand from American cities.

Parisian steam tram promo art


Possibly pre-1900.

painting of the 1902 Paris – Vienna car race on the Arlberg Pass

By Peter Helck (17 June 1893 -- 22 April 1988), an American illustrator who specialized in depicting racing cars. 

Road racing appears to have been born in France where the first important contests were run from Paris to other cities and were called Les Grandes Epreuves (The Big Trials). 

The first one was from Paris to Berlin and was a grueling 687-mile dash. This race held during 1901 was won by Henri Fournier in his 60-h.p. Mors, a French car in which he was also victorious within the previous Paris-Bordeaux Race. This second event, the Paris to Vienna race held in 1902, was perhaps one the toughest of all early races and has become a legendary event because of this stage over the mountain pass. 

This painting depicts Baron Pierre de Caters descending from the Arlberg Pass portion of the event, which started with a hard 6000-foot climb up a wagon road crossed by car-smashing drainage ditches. On the trip up and down the other side, racers had to avoid the vertical rock slabs which were used to keep out of control wagons from plunging over the steep sides. There were more than a dozen accidents on the descent caused by burned-out brakes, leaving the racers no other means of slowing down other than crashing into the inner wall of the pass. 

De Caters later in the race ended up breaking a wheel in a shunt with Louis Renault, whose brother Marcel went on to win the event. De Caters and his Mors did manage to come in some four hours later after dealing with the wheel, finishing in the eighteen positions. 

The car has survived and is in The Collier Collection in Florida. Other outstanding Helck art is featured on The Old Motor courtesy of the Helck family. 

1960 Mercedes-Benz 180