1834 Bodmin & Wadebridge Second Class Carriage

Info

Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo poster for trains to a Turin expo

This is obviously a French version.  The company was established in 1885 and ceased in 1905; this poster is probably from the late 1890s.

'I love a long good real book'

Toronto suburban bus, 1923

 According to the info on the print, this was made by the Fifth Avenue Coach Company.

US gasoline prices in 1972

According to the US inflation calculator, 23 cents in 1972 would be $1.73 now.  These figures are for US gallons: to get liters, divide by 3.8

Southern Pacific 4-8-2 class MT-4

 A total 71 of these were built by different builders in 1923.  More info

This one is available as an Athearn HO scale model:-

'Mariposa' of the Matson Line departs Auckland, 1959

 For lots more, see the book NZ Maritime Images: the Golden Years by Emmanuel Makarios.

1939 Leyland Cub rear-engined bus

from the London Bus Museum website

The rear-engined Leyland CR-type Cubs

During the 1930s, London Transport (LT) was at the forefront of bus innovation in the UK and its engineers worked with their counterparts at AEC and Leyland pursuing, in particular, the re-siting of the engine in efforts to increase passenger-carrying capacity. These collaborations had resulted in the development of the experimental (and successful) AEC Q-type, with a side-mounted engine (see the Museum's Q-type), and the Leyland TF with its underfloor power unit.

LT had already purchased batches of conventional, front-engined Leyland Cubs but, by 1939, needing further small-capacity buses to replace older types and, having trialed a prototype rear-engined CR in 1938, it took the plunge and ordered 48 more of the revolutionary type.

The CR's engine was mounted longitudinally on the rear of the chassis and power was transmitted through a forward gearbox and back to a de Dion rear axle. The 20-seat bodies featured a sliding door behind the front axle. The buses entered service in both red (Central Area) and green (Country Area) versions but the outbreak of war, and the consequent reduced need for small-capacity buses, meant that they were under-used from the start. They were also fairly unreliable, being subject to over-heating problems and other issues arising from somewhat quirky designs. Keeping them on the road was not a priority in wartime conditions and all of them had been placed in store by 1942.

Even after the War, there was little use for the CRs as their passenger capacity was too small to justify their use in most cases. However, the extreme shortage of serviceable buses meant that they could not be wasted and, somewhat incredibly, some were brought out of storage in 1946 to help out with rush-hour services in central London, working with conductors on board. When this work ceased in 1949, some of them went to the Country Area to work one-person operated services where they lasted until 1953. All were withdrawn and disposed of by 1954, one going to the LT historic collection, from which it was later sold on, and the rest going to dealers, mainly for scrap although a few were exported to Cyprus for further use.

Read the rest with more pics

1937 Mercedes Benz cabriolet

'Saturday shopping' featuring a 1960 Bedford C5Z21 YYS174 bus art

With a mid-1960s fashions feel. (puzzlefactory.com)