Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Sky King art deco kid's tricycle, 1936


This was made by the Skyline Toy Corp of Hammond, Indiana. Dimensions 32" [813 mm] long by 26" [660 mm] tall.

tram in Lower Queen Street, Auckland, circa 1908

Arbon station in Switzerland, circa 1910


On the Bodensee or Lake Constance which is shared between Germany, Austria and Switzerland.  The station was opened in 1869, it doesn't look too much different today.

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Cab Ride Rome/Roma - Avezzano (Rome–Pescara Railway - Italy)

 

Red Star Line poster, pre-WW2

Perhaps the message is that a ship is a better way to travel from Anvers (Antwerp) to NYC than a rowboat?

1911 Daimler 6-23 Phaeton

'a cup of coffee and a good real book -- great!'


mv 'Starman Anglia' beached art


This was built at Swan Hunters yard on the Tyne in 1977 for Blue Star Line , one of several heavy lift vessels in the company. The oil painting by Wallace Trickett shows her purposely beached at low tide at Tierra del Fuego in South America to discharge cargo as shown. At high tide the ship floated off. The painting was commissioned from an officer present at the time.

The ship was broken up in 2006 -- details, specifications and more pics here

1971 Holden Sandman


"This 1971 Holden Sandman has been beautifully built from its predecessor into a stunning homage to the iconic Sandman’s of the 1970’s. Powering this is a beautiful 202 red engine that has more than enough grunt to take you on your next coastal adventure.

"The exterior has been really nicely done with new orange paint and the restored interior features houndstooth inlay. Satin black trims give it a tougher look and the Monaro wheels add a bit of Aussie sports car flavour. Inside the rear is beautifully restored with all new black roof lining and carpets."

More

1935 Hispano-Suiza K6 Vanvooren Coupé

 

Cab ride over the Dovre Line in Norway

 

Friday, June 23, 2023

NZR Fiat railcar heading south near Templeton, 1960s

See earlier posts and our books for info.

2016 Alfa Romeo Disco Volante Spyder

Exhited at the Geneva Motor Show that year, it was a resurrection of a model that originally appeared in a very limited edition in the 1950s.  More



Wellington's first trolleybus, 1924


Wellington’s first electric trolleybus, an AEC 602 run by the Wellington City Council, stands outside the Thorndon tram barn in 1924. The first trolley line ran the short distance from Thorndon to Kaiwharawhara until 1932 when it closed. 

For lots more, see the books Wellington: a Capital century and Wellington Transport Memories.

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

1938 Talbot-Lago T23 teardrop coupe

early helicopter attempt


"Jess Dixon (1886-1963) of Andalusia, Alabama got tired of being stuck in traffic, so he designed and built this flying vehicle in 1936. It was a combination of automobile, helicopter and motorcycle. It had two large lifting rotors in a single head revolving in opposite directions. It was powered by a 40 hp air-cooled engine. According to Dixon it was capable of a top speed of 100 mph. The vehicle was designed to allow for the transfer of engine power from the rotor blades to the wheels."

"In the above photo, Jess is at the controls of the developing flying machine. It appears that the machine is actually flying, but it was never developed by Dixon to the point that it could actually fly. At times, he would take ropes and tie it to the ground and the overhead blades would actually lift the machine. Initially, he had a big tail that was not enough to handle that torque, and that eventually brought about the tail fin motor.  Jess was not an impatient person, but he did want people to believe he could fly the “flying ginny,” as he often called it. This photo is actually retouched, as you can easily tell by the plain smooth background area. If you look closely, you can see the bricks supporting the axel on the copter.  Jess is also credited with building an early glider that was flown successfully from Dixon airport." (Kobel Feature Photos, Frankfort, Indiana)

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

train cab ride along Norway's scenic south railway

 Recorded 3 weeks ago.

South from Oslo then turning northwest.

Stoomvaart Maatschappij 'Nederland' poster, 1911

Featuring the SS Prinses Juliana (1910) -- detailed info

The Stoomvaart-Maatschappij 'Nederland' (SMN) was a Dutch shipping company based in Amsterdam that existed between 1870 and 1970 . In 1970 the SMN merged with some other Dutch shipping companies to form the Nederlandsche Scheepvaart Unie (NSU), known from 1977 as Nedlloyd . In common parlance, the shipping company was known as De 'Nederland' . The motto of the SMN was 'Semper Mare Navigandum' (the sea must always be navigated).

More

1972 Chrysler Charger (Australia)

With a 440 engine (Glen Lovegrove pic)

Sunday, June 18, 2023

early proposed funicular, Oriental Bay, Wellington

It's not clear where the two termini would have been, but the trajectory could be from where the Southern Walkway now starts on Oriental Parade to Roseneath above. This would only involve a length of about 150 metres. Another possibility is from about where the Rotunda was later built to the top of Mt Victoria, this would be a length of about 500 metres and a climb of about 200 metres.  It's the sort of thing that would have been readily built in Switzerland, but not in Wellington.

For lots more, see the books Wellington: a Capital Century and Wellington Transport Memories.

Aerovias Peruanas SA poster, circa 1936


Featuring a Ford 5-AT Tri-motor which were bought second-hand at that time -- see here.

1911 Daimler Phaeton

'I get lots of enjoyment from reading a good real book - try it'

a North Island Main Trunk train climbs out of Wellington, 1930s

Two steam locomotives climb the Ngaio Gorge in the early to mid 1930s. The first is an Ab class helper probably as far as Paekakariki, the rest will be heading to Auckland or Napier or New Plymouth. A 'Railway Travelling Post Office' is behind the second engine.  With the completion of the Tawa deviation in 1937, only suburban steam trains continued running up here, and after July 1938 they were electric multiple units.

For lots more see the books Wellington Transport Memories and Wellington: a Capital century.

1949 Talbot Lago T26 GS

Info

1969 Sunbeam Stiletto

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Isle of Man horse trams 19th century

 Stamps issued in 1976 to mark their centenary.

Qantas poster, late 1930s


A pale impression of a large flying boat is in the centre top banner while the main photo shows the interior of a plane with stewardesses attending and a family lounging--the two parents look out of windows while child plays at their feet.

"Qantas operated flying boats for around ten years from the late 1930s. The airline first operated a fleet of Empire flying boats and later on Catalinas. Those flying boats were unashamedly elitist and ludicrously expensive to fly on, but their origins were far more prosaic." -- more

1965 Vauxhall Viva

Southern Pacific 10-unit lash-up, 1989


With an SD45T-2R on the point. The fourth unit back is in the short lived yellow and red livery in anticipation of an SP merger with Santa Fe, but which the ICC blocked.

1964-1966 Ferrari 500 Superfast


Thursday, June 15, 2023

1930s Leyland Beaver 5.7 litre diesel engine truck

Art by Alan Spillet -- more

'it's great to feel a big real book with your fingers'

 

1971 AEC Swift


SMS369 entered service at the end of January 1971 at Merton garage, replacing RTs on route 200. In November 1977, DMSs replaced Swifts on both the 200 and 57. The vehicle was then sent to Aldenham for overhaul in December 1977 where it was one of the few Swifts to be recertified for a further 3 years service, despite a general rundown of the type. It emerged from Aldenham in a revised livery with yellow entrance doors and white roundels instead of red fleetnames and was then allocated to Edgware garage. It eventually became one of the last five Swifts (excluding the Red Arrow examples) still in normal service with London Transport.

Withdrawn in December 1980 after ten years service, it was sold for further use as a school bus. It wore a blue and grey colour scheme during its three years of school service but was repainted into later style LT livery by the next owner. After another ten years, it moved on to another owner, who restored the bus to its original style of LT livery, as it did when it first entered service in 1971. It arrived at the Museum in January 1997, and was eventually donated to the Museum in 1998.

(Londonbusmuseum.com)

1953 Flxible Clipper bus


Once used by Newmans Coach Lines?