an ÖBB 1099 class electric with a passenger train on the Saugraben Viaduct of the Mariazellerbahn, Austria

The viaduct with its stone pillars spans 113 meters and stands 37 meters high, making it the largest and highest on the line. 

The 760 mm gauge (2'6") 91 km long mountain line from St Pölten was opened over 1898-1907 and electrified in 1911. Originally designated as the NÖLB Series E, the 16 electric locomotives were manufactured by Krauß & Co. in Linz (mechanical components) and Siemens-Schuckert-Werke (electrical equipment) for the Niederösterreichische Landesbahnen. Designated as Serie 1099 after 1945 they remained for over a century, being retired officially in 2013.

Specifications: C-C type, 49 tonnes, 10.9 meters long over buffers, 50 km/h maximum speed, power output: 320 kW or 429 hp (continuous) / 420 kW or 563 hp (one hour), overhead system: 6.5 kV AC, 25 Hz.

Pic from 1962.

1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen model

The real thing is widely recognized as the world's first gasoline-powered automobile. As is obvious, it featured a single front wheel for steering with a tiller lever and two larger wheels at the rear and was powered by a rear-mounted, single-cylinder four-stroke engine.

This 1:12 scale model is available commercially.

Cab Ride Ventimiglia - Cuneo (Tenda Railway) Italy, France

This is one of the more impressive mountain lines in Europe which crosses the Italy-France border twice. See earlier posts.

FS ETR 220, 1960

The ETR 220 (for Elettro Treno Rapido 220) was a further development of the ETR 200 introduced in 1936 and withdrawn from revenue service in 1997. They are considered the first high-speed trains by some railway historians.

The first example was built by Società Italiana Ernesto Breda, (now AnsaldoBreda), in 1936, an articulated and traction-distributed train with three cars on four bogies, two of which were Jacobs bogies, had a single T 62-R-100 motor, while the others—at the front and rear—were provided with two similar motors each.

They were equipped with air conditioning and had only first-class seats.

On 20 July 1939 unit 212 obtained the railway speed record, between Bologna and Milan, running (on the average speed for the whole run) between Florence and Milan at 165 km/h (103 mph), and also improving the absolute top speed record up to 203 km/h (126 mph) in the stretch from Pontenure to Piacenza.

A total of 18 3-car sets were built and 2 had to be scrapped due to wartime damage, In the early 1960s, the remaining sixteen units were converted to ETR 220/230/240 by adding a fourth car and making other improvements. They remained in service until the early 1980s, and were later used for charter trains until the 1990s.

1992 Cadillac Sedan deVille

 More pics

a Rock Island RS-3 Alco with passenger cars exits Chicago's La Salle Street station in 1958

A total of 1,418 Alco RS-3 diesel-electrics were produced between May 1950 and August 1956 by Alco and its Canadian subsidiary, the Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). Of these 35 were delivered to the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad between 1950 and 1951.

Rock Island operated from 1852 to 1980.

An HO scale model by Atlas.

'I love to feel a good real book in my hands'

cars in the 600 number block of Beverly Drive, L.A., 1950s

This is where they filmed the opening scene from The Beverly Hillbillies TV show of the 1960s. The car looks like a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker or Windsor. (Vintage Los Angeles FB)

cars on Rue Soufflot, Paris, 1950s

With the Panthéon at the end. Vehicles include a Citroën Type H Van which is the gray corrugated steel commercial van driving in the foreground on the right; a Simca Aronde which is the light green/mint-colored sedan driving in the middle of the street. a Peugeot 203 which is the red and black two-tone sedan parked/driving on the far left side, a Citroën Traction Avant and a Renault 4CV.  The original pic had a lot of coal grime on the buildings which we have cleaned off digitally.

The scene today

1957 Maserati Race Transporter Type Fiat 642 RN2 Bartoletti model

A detailed 1:18 scale model by CMC.

1936 Fiat 500 A Topolino

More pics

1975 Dodge Monaco

 

1970 Dodge Monaco

cars outside the Gare d'Orsay, Paris, 1950s

On the bank of the Seine river out of sight to the left, It is nowadays an art museum, see earlier posts.

el coche motor 'Flecha del Sur' Chile, 1941

The Flecha del Sur (Arrow of the South), a high-speed diesel-electric train set used in Chile between 1940 and the 1960s, here photographed by Hart Preston for LIFE magazine in 1941 at the La Unión station.
These railcars were manufactured in Germany by MAN and were inspired by the German "Fliegende Hamburger" design. The train featured a distinct aerodynamic Art Deco design with a shovel nose and connected Santiago and Puerto Montt in approximately 17 hours.

See earlier posts.

Penang Hill railway, Malaysia

The funicular car travels from the base station up to Penang Hill, reaching an altitude of 830 meters (2,723 ft). It is known for being the only funicular railway system in South East Asia and has been in operation since 1923. See earlier posts.

'I try to interest my students in reading good real books'

New Zealand's "Capital Connection" passenger train from Palmerston North to Wellington stops at Waikanae on a winter morning

Fiat railcars in Algeria, early 1970s

 

Intrduced from 1970, rated at 780 hp each, seen on a viaduct of the line from El Guerrah to Biskra close to Biskra.

coal train on the meter gauge Chemin de Fer de la Mure, France, 1952

For info see earlier posts and here

late 19th century British railway station art

Artist unknown, available commercially.

cars on Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France 1950s

The former Hotel Ruhl was located at 1 Promenade des Anglais, opposite the beach and waterfront. The original Belle Époque luxury hotel was demolished in 1970. Today, the Le Méridien Nice hotel stands on the site.

1938 Fiat 500 Topolino

Milwaukee Road viaduct over Washington Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1940s

The elevated structure carried trains toward the historic Milwaukee Depot, which still stands today. Advertising is for the Milwaukee Road's name trains "The Hiawatha" and "The Olympian."

'Panoramique' automotrice and trailer at Clelles-Mens, France, 1963

See earlier posts.

1994 Mazda MX-5 Miata

'I'm looking forward to this good real book when I get home'

1937 Nord Air Express poster featuring a Dewoitine D.332 trimotor

Info on the aircraft

Info on Nord Air Express

the Brünigbahn, Switzerland, 1961

The 74 km (46 mile) meter gauge Brünigbahn links Luzern with Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland. The line runs via Alpnachstad, Giswil, Meiringen and Brienz, and passes over the Brünig Pass, using sections of rack railway to overcome the gradients, but with most of the line operated by normal adhesion.

The line was opened in stages between 1888 and 1916, and was, between 1903 and 2004, the only narrow gauge line of the Swiss Federal Railways. It was electrified in 1941 and 1942, using the standard Swiss mainline 15 kV  16.7 Hz AC from overhead.

For the newly electrified line, Deh 4/6 class locomotives were built in the early 1940s, one of them in the pic above. These were Bo'2'Bo' type.  More info.

Today the line forms part, along with the Luzern–Stans–Engelberg line, of the Zentralbahn company.

1934 advertising poster for Imperial Airways of the UK

Designed by artist Verney Lionel Danby Danvers (1895–1973), the poster features a Handley Page "Heracles" aircraft.  See earlier posts.

'Courier Sud' art showing two vintage aircraft, 1920s

It depicts 2 Latécoère 25 biplanes flying over a desert landscape with camels below, inspired by the pioneering Aéropostale mail service route along the north African coast.  

Article on the aircraft

time-lapse video of a DB V200 from 1953 restoration

The desccription: "The legendary 1953 Krauss-Maffei V200 helped revolutionize European rail travel with an engineering masterpiece far ahead of its time.  One of its most fascinating features? It was powered by two V12 diesel engines, working together through a hydraulic transmission to deliver incredible performance for the 1950s. The prototype V200 introduced a new era of fast, reliable diesel locomotives and became an icon of German railway engineering. In this restoration, you'll watch this forgotten classic transform from a rust-covered relic into a stunning machine once again. Every stage is captured—from rust removal and metal repair to paint, detailing, and the unforgettable final reveal."

1961 Borgward Isabella S2

French Indochina poster 1931

Featuring a Liore et Olivier H.198 flying over the Mekong River on which there is a junk. This plane was built in 1929 and used by Air-Asie /Saigon then Cie Air Orient /Saigon.

Info

replica Ford Model T van, Lisbon, Portugal

This is apparently all-electric and used here to advertise a CD-Cassette shop.

the 'Black Pearl' replica pirate ship, Thessaloniki, Greece

This was inspired by the movie series Pirates of the Carribean with Johnny Depp as Pirate Jack Sparrow.  It is technically free for a short trip but spending on expensive drinks is required.

None of us has done it, but it looks like fun.  Lots of info on the official website

'would you like to help me select a good real book?

Santa Fe GE B40-8 (Dash 8-40B)

This was built in June 1988, seen at Cosnino, Arizona in 1990. Santa Fe bought 40 of the 151 built, all transferred to BNSF.  They are a 4-axle (Bo-Bo) type with a GE 7FDL16 prime mover rated at 4,000 hp or 3,000 kW.

An Atlas HO scale model of the class.

fancy police cars in Dubai

The car on the left is a Lamborghini Aventador, a mid-engine V12 supercar capable of speeds up to 217 mph (349 km/h). The car on the right is a Ferrari FF, a distinctive V12-powered, all-wheel-drive shooting brake grand tourer. (Instagram pic)

Western Australia's 'Australind' train returns with locally built DMUs

Transwa’s Australind passenger service has restarted following the delivery of the first of four Alstom diesel multiple-units ordered for the 167 km route between Perth and Bunbury.

The 1067 mm gauge DMUs have been built by Alstom at its Bellevue site in on the outskirts of Perth under a A$54m contract awarded as part of a wider A$1.3 billion order which also included the supply and maintenance of C Series EMUs for use on the city’s suburban routes. The DMUs and EMUs are from Alstom’s X’trapolis family, part of its Adessia portfolio.

‘The ongoing investment and partnership of the West Australian government has been critical to restoring not just the Perth to Bunbury service, but the continuity of local rail manufacturing, the local supply chain and high skilled jobs in the state’, said Guillaume Tritter, Managing Director of Alstom Australia & New Zealand.

Trains have been replaced by road coaches since 2023. The phased reintroduction of train services began on June 29, with one return train a day running on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday and taking 2½ h each way.

Services will be ramped up as the rest of the DMUs enter traffic by the end of the year.

Read and see more

1980 Pontiac Bonneville