Let's Go to the Blue Ridge Mountains

The pioneering South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, Southern's earliest predecessor line and one of the first railroads in the United States, was chartered in December 1827 and ran the nation's first regularly scheduled steam-powered passenger train – the wood-burning Best Friend of Charleston – over a six-mile section out of Charleston, South Carolina, on December 25, 1830. Next week I will blog about a post card in my collection that is a picture of a replica of the Best Friend of Charleston. This post card is a picture of a train (no. 11) on its way from here to there on the Southern Railway. The Southern Railway was a US class 1 railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894.

It was placed under control of the Norfolk Southern Corporation, along with the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W), in 1982, and was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway in 1990. This train on the post card is passing through the Blue Ridge Mountains. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southernmost portion in Georgia, then ending northward in Pennsylvania.

I am thinking that it is passing through the state of North Carolina. I base this on the information below that I found on the internet:

Items summarized here:
• "The Warm Springs, Madison County, Western North Carolina," by Howerton, W.H. and Klein, M.C.
• "Asheville--the Ideal Autumn and Winter Resort City," by Southern Railway (U.S.). Passenger Traffic Department
• "Autumn and Winter in the Land of the Sky," by Southern Railway (U.S.). Passenger Traffic Department
Dated from approximately 1880 to 1915, the documents summarized here advertise the beauty and appeal of western North Carolina, which has historically supported a significant tourism industry. Scholar Richard D. Starnes notes that North Carolina, like other Southern states, "offered the scenic landscapes and moderate climate Gilded Age visitors demanded, and entrepreneurs emerged to provide these tourists with accommodations, entertainment, and good southern hospitality". Tourism in western North Carolina flourished in the early nineteenth century, writes scholar Karl A. Campbell in his review of Richard D. Starnes's Creating the Land of the Sky: Tourism and Society in Western North Carolina. Before the Civil War, "the Asheville area already had a reputation as a travel destination," but it was after the War that the area's "healing springs and reputation for a healthy climate, combined with new railroad construction" helped tourism in western North Carolina truly blossom.

The post card is from the White Border Era (1915 - 1930). It was printed by Curt Otto Teich's company for the publisher Southern Post Card Company of Asheville, North Carolina. This would also back up the thought above about the picture being from North Carolina. Here is a close-up of the logo for the publisher:

The publisher has a different post card number (B-266) than the printer. Knowing the printer's number (A-37902) we can know the year that our post card was printed.

There is a chart of the numbers the company used and what year they were printed. The list tells us that numbers A-32236 to A-45599 were printed in 1913. This is just before the beginning of the White Border Era. Curt Teich was quite the innovator so this makes sense to me.

Mount Lowe or Mount Tamalpais?

The next card that came in while I was focused on Pikes Peak is this one from California. I have already written much about Mt. Lowe in previous blogs. I am still fascinated by it. To think that I lived for 14 years below it and the old track scar on the mountains and never knew it... The picture on the front of this card is very similar to several others in my post card collection. The wording of the title on the card is one thing that makes it different from the others. You might be able to notice that the trees in the picture are mostly branches, with very few leaves. I have 5 other post cards with that same picture; they have different words on the front. But, it isn't only the differences on the front that intrigue me.

The back has a lot of content that I want to share with you now. First, I could tell immediately that this post card was printed by Edward H. Mitchell. He has made a unique mark in post card history. He was very prolific in printing the number of post cards that he did. Also, he owned or partly owned so many other post card printing businesses besides his own. I do know that he was born on April 27th in 1867 (his estate included over 3.5 million post cards) in San Francisco, California; he married a fellow San Franciscan in 1891 and he died on October 24th of 1932. He stopped printing post cards in about 1928 when his interests in oil became more important to him. Like the back of this post card, most of the Edward H. Mitchell post cards in my collection have a brownish tinge to the back. The print up the left-hand side of the card is usually the same font and size. It tells us that the post card is made in America by Edw. Mitchell at San Francisco.

This post card was printed by the Edward H. Mitchell company for the Mt. Lowe enterprises. For those who are familiar with the history of the development of Mt. Lowe, you will see by what is in the middle of the scroll that this post card was printed toward the end of the development. It has a picture of the fireplace from the Inn. You can also see that the post mark is from a post office at the top of the mountain.

I love the read the messages on the backs of the post cards. This one absolutely fascinated me. We have just recently blogged about Mt. Tamalpais in northern California; and, when I read this one I see that the author is comparing the trip up and the Inn at the top of Mt. Tamalpais to the trip up and the Inn at the top of Mt. Lowe. In the very hard for me to read script it says in the second and third lines, "not as good a trip as Mt. Tamalpais."

I have been to Mt. Tamalpais and to the San Gabriel mountains around Los Angeles. The views alone would favor Mt. Tamalpais, but there is much more to "Mount Tam" than just the view. I suggest that you do your own research and see which one you would prefer.

A Post Card of a Picture of a Post Card

This is an interesting twist on post card publishing. It is a picture of a post card printed on a post card. The original post card is from the Linen Era, perfected by Curt Otto Teich. In fact, the original post card was printed by Curt's company. In the bottom, right-hand corner the numbered code

tells us that this was printed in 1938 as a Linen Post Card. The 8A informs us that it was printed in the 1930s (the A) and the 8 specifies that it was 1938. The H in the H395 is the clue that this is a Linen post card, known by Curt Teich's company as the "Art Colortone Method".
This post card (not the original) was printed by Applewood Books in Beford, Massachusetts. When I look up Applwood Books on the internet, it says that they are now in Carlisle (about 65 miles north).

From Wikipedia about the train on the front of the post card: The Crusader was a streamlined express train that ran on a 90.3-mile (145.3 km) route from Philadelphia's Reading Terminal to Jersey City's Communipaw Terminal, with a ferry connection to Lower Manhattan. The Reading Railroad provided this service in partnership with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), in which it was the majority owner of capital stock. Trains operated over CNJ tracks for the 30 miles from Jersey City to Bound Brook and over the Reading System for the 60 miles from Bound Brook to Philadelphia. The train was first operated by the Reading Company as the railroad's premier express. A contest was held to find a name for the new train, offering a $250 (US) cash prize to the winner. The Crusader, the entry of Mr. P. W. Silzer of Plainfield, New Jersey, won the prize, selected by a committee of 29 railroad officials from among 6,086 suggestions. The Crusader '​s first regular run was on December 13, 1937.

Three Related Post Cards (3 of 3)

In the blogs of the last two weeks, I mentioned that as I looked at three post cards I noticed that the writing on the back looked very similar. Sure enough, the post cards are being sent to Miss Reba Van. They were all written on the same journey, by the same author, to the same person. This is about the third, and final, post card in that series.
As the Union Pacific Railroad headed east from Omaha, Nebraska the track laying crews made their way almost straight west across Nebraska and Wyoming then entered into Utah. In Utah they made a southern turn and traveled toward Ogden, Utah on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. To get there they had to lay track through the Echo and Weber (pronounced Weeber) Canyons. Weber Canyon is in the Wasatch Mountain Range. The 40 mile long river is fed by 13 tributaries as it flows west toward the Great Salt Lake.

The Union Pacific built tunnels and bridges through Echo Canyon first; track-laying progressed rapidly down Echo Canyon to Echo City, reaching there on January 15, 1869. Within a week, tracks reached the site of a large tree, 90 feet tall, that happened to be exactly 1,000 miles from Omaha (the corporate seat of the Union Pacific), and soon a sign was hung from the tree clearly stating that fact. The tree was in the middle of a gorge between Henefer in the Upper Weber Valley and Devil's Slide, a unique geological formation of twin limestone ridges running vertically from the canyon floor. Along with the Thousand Mile Tree, Devil's Slide immediately became a sight to be seen by all passing trains.

Three miles west of Devil's Slide, two tunnels designated No.3 and No. 4, were completed, allowing tracks to progress further west through Round Valley to Morgan. Like the delays at Tunnel No. 2, delays at tunnels 3 and 4 forced the construction of short and temporary runaround tracks to speed the progress of track laying, including a curved wooden trestle at Tunnel No. 3 that is said to have followed the course of the river around the tunnel. Quoting Charles Edgar Ames in his excellent 1969 history of the construction of UP's transcontinental line:
"Tunnels 3 and 4 were only three-quarters of a mile apart in the narrowest part of the steep, rock-filled gorge of Weber Canyon, 3 miles west of Devil's Slide. Work was begun in September. Tunnel 3 was 508 feet long on a 3-1/2 degree curve, while Tunnel 4 was 297 feet long on a 4 degree curve. Both were cut through sharp spurs of black limestone and dark blue quartzite. The use of newly invented nitroglycerine greatly expedited the work. Number 4 was finished in January, but longer Number 3 not until April. So, for a few months, trains had to creep dangerously around sharp curves at the edge of the turbulent river."

The view of the completed Tunnel No. 3 and its adjacent bridge over the Weber River was so dramatic that numerous stereographic and hand colored postcards were generated that showed the wooden bridge crossing the Weber River, and the tracks plunging under the rocky crags above the tunnel portal. After the completion ceremony at Promontory, and throughout the following spring and summer, UP construction crews returned to the tunnel sites and various bridge sites to complete the permanent structures and timber linings.

This post card is from the Divided Back Era (1907 - 1915). The number on this post card is A-9090 It was posted from Blue Canyon, California on January 6, 1911. The message is explaining to the reader that the trip through the Sierra Nevada's was beautiful in the height of winter. The post card was published by Barkalow Brothers from Omaha, Nebraska. Hmmmmm.... that is where the Union Pacific Railroad Company is headquartered. I wonder if there is a connection to the picture on the front. Maybe this description will help us to know the answer to that: It is taken from the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York

The Barkalow Brothers, Sidney D. Barkalow and Derrick V. Barkalow, arrived in Omaha from Ohio in 1856. BARKALOW BROS., news agents Union Pacific Rail Road, firm composed of D. V. and S. D. Barkalow, commenced business in 1865. D. V. B. of above firm was born in Warren County, Ohio, February, 1843. In 1856 he removed with his parents to Omaha, Neb. Learned printing and telegraphy, and about 1862 was engaged as operator on the overland telegraph line. S. D. Barkalow of above firm was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1844; removed to Omaha Neb., with his parents in 1856. At the age of fifteen years he commenced clerking, and at seventeen started in business for himself in book and stationery firm of Barkalow Bros.

They became the exclusive distributors of printed materials, including postcards, for the Union Pacific Railroad. They won won their contract with the U.P. in 1865 and became the exclusive news agents on the trains and in the stations along the line. The Barkalow Brothers also published non railroad oriented view-cards that were often printed by Tom Jones. They eventually became suppliers of hotel gift shops and moved their business to Fort Myers, Florida.

Three Related Post Cards (2 of 3)

This is the second of three post cards sent to Miss Reba Vass in Cincinnati, Ohio. My last post had the first one and the next post will contain the third.

The front of this post card shows a steam locomotive passing Croydon, Utah while on the Union Pacific right of way. The train is called the Eastern Express. Unfortunately, I cannot find anywhere that there actually was a train on the Union Pacific called the Eastern Express. It really doesn't seem to matter, though, because the writer of the post card is headed west anyway!!

This is from Wikipedia: "Croydon is a small unincorporated community in northeastern Morgan County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden–Clearfield, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. Accessible from Interstate 84, it is home to Holcim's Devil's Slide Cement Plant and several hundred residents. Lost Creek runs through this small unincorporated town, just northeast of the Devil's Slide rock formation. Cattle and sheep ranches can be found throughout the valley and in the surrounding mountains. Croydon was also home to the annual Widowmaker snowmobile and motorcycle hillclimbing events for several years. Croydon was originally called Lost Creek, and under the latter name was founded in 1862. The present name is after Croydon, in England, the native land of a large share of the first settlers."

This is from http://utahrails.net/up/up-in-ut-1900-1996.phpMarch 1906
Union Portland Cement announced that it would build a plant at Croydon. (Salt Lake Mining Review, March 15, 1906, p. 30) Production began in June 1907. (Salt Lake Mining Review, June 30, 1907, p. 31) (Croydon was called Devil's Slide by the Union Pacific)

The post card was published by the Barkalow Brothers. The Barkalow Brothers, Sidney D. Barkalow and Derrick V. Barkalow, arrived in Omaha from Ohio in 1856. BARKALOW BROS., news agents U. P. R. R., firm composed of D. V. and S. D. Barkalow, commenced business in 1865.

D. V. B. of above firm was born in Warren County, Ohio, February, 1843. In 1856 he removed with his parents to Omaha, Neb. Learned printing and telegraphy, and about 1862 was engaged as operator on the overland telegraph line. He married in Cheyenne, W. T., May 24, 1876, to Miss Kate Whitehead. They have two children, Weltha M. and Robert V. Mr. B. is a member of the Pleasant Hours Club. S. D. Barkalow of above firm was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1844; removed to Omaha Neb., with his parents in 1856. At the age of fifteen years he commenced clerking, and at seventeen started in business for himself in book and stationery firm of Barkalow Bros. They became the exclusive distributors of printed materials, including postcards, for the Union Pacific Railroad. They won won their contract with the U.P. in 1865 and became the exclusive news agents on the trains and in the stations along the line. The Barkalow Brothers also published non railroad oriented view-cards that were often printed by Tom Jones. They eventually became suppliers of hotel gift shops and moved their business to Fort Myers, Florida. They have been known to cooperate with Williamson-Haffner Company in their publishing efforts.

Three Related Post Cards (1 of 3)

Preface: I am still cataloging the post cards that came in the mail while I was blogging about my Pikes Peak post cards. I looked at this card and thought that, for some reason, I should look at the next one, too. I realized immediately that the pictures seemed to be related. When I turned them over I saw that they were both from the Barkalow Brothers Publishing Company. (It is nice to know I am learning something as I blog about these post cards.) But, I also noticed that the writing on the back looked very similar. Sure enough, both post cards are being sent to Miss Reba Van. I let my curiosity get the best of me and I picked up the third card on the stack. It, too, was written on the same journey, by the same author, to the same person. These next three blogs will show you the three cards. This is the first of the series. It was mailed while they were traveling through Wyoming.

This post card shows the "San Francisco Overland Limited" leaving Cheyenne, Wyoming; it doesn't specify in which direction the train is headed. Overland is the title given to the first wagon train trails that headed west. When the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads built the first transcontinental railroad, it only seemed natural that the name would also refer to the train tracks. There have been several variations on the name: Overland Limited, San Francisco Overland Limited, the Overland Flyer, the Overland Route being the most common. If it is leaving Wyoming with only one locomotive at the head, it must be headed to the flat plains of Nebraska.

Looking at the back of the card, I notice that it is from the Divided Back Era and the post mark confirms this. It was mailed on January 6, 1911. This is interesting because it was the first card written to Reba. The name of the location at the top left says Wyoming. On the next card it will say Nevada and the third card says they are in Sacramento, California. These post cards are also related to each other because they were all published by the Barkalow Brothers Publishing Co. I will write a bit about the company in the final of these three blog posts. The number of the card, found at the bottom middle of this back, is A-9092. You can wait to see what the other two cards are numbered. I will keep you hanging in anticipation.

The Little Sister

I have blogged about a railroad barge (Feb 15, 2014) that took trains across the Mississippi River: The Mastodon.

This ferry boat took trains from one side of the Carquinez Straight, east of San Franciso, to other side; from Benicia to Martinez, California and back in less that 10 minutes. "The Solano" was named after one of the counties in California where it operated, the side of the straight in which Benicia sits. It worked toward the very end of the Transcontinental Railroad route; after the crossing it was a short trip to Oakland. At its building, it was the largest railroad barge in the world.

It was built in 1879 by the Central Pacific Railroad to get the trains across a water barrier that stood between Council Bluffs, Iowa and the end of the line. The axis of the slip on each side of the straits coincided nearly with the direction of the current, pointing on the Port Costa side up, and on the Benicia side down stream, so as to facilitate entering the slips. The distance across was one mile; the whole time consumed in transit was nine minutes, including starting and stopping.

It was a very large ship: Deck Length = 424 feet; Beam at center = 116 feet; Height at center = 18 feet 5 inches. The draft when empty was only five and a half feet; when loaded it was a whole six and half feet. The tonnage was listed at just over 3500 tonnes. The engines that worked the paddle wheels had a 5 ft diameter bore with a stroke of 11 feet. The paddle wheels themselves were 30 feet in diameter, 30 inches wide and they had 24 buckets each. There were 8 boilers on board. They were 7 feet in diameter by 28 feet long; they each contained 143 4 inch tubes so that there was almost 20,000 square feet of heating surface within the boilers. The whole combination generated 2,000 horse power.

By the time this picture was taken, the Southern Pacific had purchased the Central Pacific RR so the title on the card says that it is "S.P. Co.'s Ferryboat 'Solano'". It was the largest ferry boat in the world until its sister, the "Contra Costa" was built in 1914. Both ferries operated until 1930.

This card belongs to the Divided Back Era. It was published by the Pacific Novelty Co. of San Francisco and Los Angles. They printed many post cards that were duplicates of post cards published by Edward H. Mitchell. Mitchell was a partner with other photographers in this publishing company; then, at some point he bought the others out. A major publisher and printer of view-cards depicting California in halftone lithography. They produced cards in different styles, most of which were printed in Germany. They eventually sold off their own printing department to Herman Vogel who renamed it Quadricolor Press. Pacific Novelty went on to produce photochromes that were manufactured in the United States. The above paragraph was mostly taken from the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City's website.

Not just Canadian Rockies, “The Big Hill”

This week we are going to Canada. The title on the post card says, “C.P.R. Passenger Train, Canadian Rockies”.

Well, my experience tells me that this is not just the Canadian Rockies; this is a picture taken on “The Big Hill” just west of Calgary, Alberta on the CPR main line. This is part of the Canadian transcontinental railway. If you look in the bottom left corner of the post card you can see a rail that goes up hill to nowhere. This was one of several that the Canadian Pacific Railway built to stop runaway trains on “The Big Hill”.

In order to convince British Columbia that being a part of the newly formed Canada was a great idea, the politicians promised the citizens of British Columbia that a railroad would be built across the continent to connect them to the rest of Canada within 10 years if they joined. They voted to become the 6th province of Canada on July 20, 1871. On November 7, 1885, the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia. It was a little late, but the promise was fulfilled.

Part of the reason the train tracks were finished by 1881 is to be found in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. Kicking Horse Pass was the best the surveyors could find in which to lay tracks through the Rockies at a latitude close enough to the American border that they could send a message to the Americans that Canada is not for annexation.

The following paragraph is from the website:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/yoho/natcul/spirale-spiral.aspx

The steep grade in Kicking Horse Pass posed a serious challenge. Under government pressure to complete the railway, and given the engineering challenges that came along with the geography, Canadian Pacific was not in a position to carve a gradual descent. A solution was reached, which temporarily allowed a grade of 4.5%. The first train to attempt the hill in 1884 derailed, tragically killing three workers. In an effort to improve safety, three spur lines were created to divert such runaway trains on what became known as the “Big Hill”. Switches were left set for the spurs and were not reset to the main line until switchmen knew the oncoming train was in control. Descending the Big Hill was challenging, but uphill trains had their problems too. Extra locomotives were needed to push the trains up the hill, causing delays and requiring extra workers. Although the mountains were a complication for CP, they were an inspiration to the many tourists who started to arrive by train. In an effort to preserve the landscape and encourage tourism, CP prompted the creation of Mount Stephen Dominion Reserve in 1886. The park was renamed Yoho in 1901.

The post card is from the Divided Back Era (1907 – 1915).

It was printed and published by The Valentine & Sons Publishing Co. Ltd. This particular company was the Canadian office for Valentine’s of Dundee, Scotland. They published souvenir books, greeting cards and view-cards of Canadian scenery in sets numbered with a three digit prefix and a three digit suffix. This particular post card is numbered 107239; it is in the bottom right hand corner of the post card. These tinted halftone and collotype cards were printed in Great Britain. Valentine sold their Canadian branch in 1923.

Where Are We?

This week we are going to a part of the United States that I don’t think I have blogged about yet. We are going to the very southwest tip of the state of Virginia. We are going into the Appalachian Mountains near the town of Duffield in Scott County. This post card is a picture of a train coming out of a tunnel. “Not unusual,” you say. “There are lots of tunnels on railroads in the United States.” You are correct; but, this tunnel was made by natural forces. No one had to use a blasting cap, dynamite, nitroglycerine or other explosives. No one had to risk a life to make this tunnel.

It was first written about by a Lt. Col. Stephen H. Long who explored the area and the tunnel in 1831. He later published an article in a geology journal in 1832.

The tunnel is more than 850 feet long and as tall as 100 feet high. It was carved through a limestone ridge over thousands of years. William Jennings Bryan, one of the lawyers involved in the “Scopes Monkey Trial”, a great orator, and the forty-first Secretary of State (under Woodrow Wilson) called it the "Eighth Wonder of the World."

A railroad was constructed through the natural tunnel in 1893. The first train, operated by the Virginia & Southwestern Railway Company, passed through the tunnel in the following year. In 1899, the tunnel line was purchased by the Tennessee & Carolina & Iron and Steel Company. In 1906 Southern Railway acquired the tracks and created a passenger line, the Natural Tunnel Line, which took the passengers through the tunnel. Today, the line is still in use but it is now run by Norfolk Southern and CSX and is only used to transport coal.

The size of the picture on the front of the post card should give you a hint about the age of the card. See last week's blog for a bigger hint. As I zoom in on the picture on the front of the card, you can see that the railroad built a platform onto which passengers could disembark and gawk at the natural wonder and beauty that surrounded them. This is similar to what the Union Pacific did on the trestle that crossed over the Great Salt Lake in Utah. I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago.

I don't know anything about the photographer, the printer or the publisher of this post card. I believe that it is probably related to this Drug Store:
Bunting’s, its past and present owners said, launched in the wake of the Civil War in 1869. A city directory from 1896 lists a “Bunting & Son” drugstore at 420 Main St. – which became State Street in the early 20th century. By this time, the business was already a local institution, as suggested by an ad that ran in 1903: J.H. Winston, a lawyer, was advertising his firm with no more specific address than “over Bunting’s Drug Store.”

The post card is from before March 1, 1907, known as the Undivided Back Era.

It is a very clear example of why they would name it the UNDIVIDED BACK era. There is no line down the middle of this post card!

Out of Date: the Author not the Post Card

This is a great example of how correspondence had to be written on a post card prior to March 1, 1907. The publisher of this post card, The Colorado News Company, had mercy on the potential customers and gave them room to write their messages on the borders. At the same time, the publisher was able to print a beautiful picture of St. Peter's Dome and a steam locomotive on the Cripple Creek Short Line.

On 13 April 1897 Lucian D. Ross, Thomas Burk, James L. Lindsay, W.T. Doubt and Kurnel R. Babbitt organized the Cripple Creek District Railway Company to operate a 6.25 mile standard gauge electric line between Cripple Creek and Victor. The Articles of Incorporation were amended 17 November 1899, at which time the line’s name was changed to Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway. An extension to Colorado Springs opened in April 1901. From 1897 to 1904 the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway remained under the control of local investors. After gaining control of the line through stock ownership in 1904, the Colorado & Southern directed operations until 1911. After the line lost money due to competition from the Florence and Cripple Creek Railway and the Midland Terminal Railway, the Colorado & Southern, in 1911, leased the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway to the Florence and Cripple Creek. In 1915 this lease was transferred to the Cripple Creek Central Railway, which also controlled the Midland Terminal Railway. By 1917 most rail traffic in the area was directed to the Midland Terminal Railway. The loss of the Bear Creek Bridge in May 1918 cut off all direct traffic from Colorado springs. The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway was declared bankrupt in 1919, at which time it went into receivership. All operations ceased in 1920 and the line was sold for scrap.

What is interesting to me about this post card is how the author used it. We can definitely date this post card to exactly March 9, 1909 because of the post mark on the back - we can even add 7:30 in the morning to the date. However, the appearance of the post card tells us that it had existed for two years prior to it being posted. Prior to March 1, 1907 this was the standard look of a post card: picture on the front and address only on the back. On March 1, 1907 people were able to add a message to the left side of a post card. So, the author could have easily written a message on the left and put the address on the right; instead, he or she followed the rules from two years prior. For some people, rules are rules and they are to be followed no matter what.

The publisher of the post card is The Colorado News Company; this was a publisher and distributor of printed items for The American News Company. Their offices were in Denver, Colorado.

The printer of the post card is The American News Company. This blurb is from the Metropolitan Post Card Club in New York City: "Founded by Sinclair Tousey in 1864 this firm became a major distributor of books, magazines, newspapers, comic books and postcards exclusively through their national network of more than 300 affiliated news agencies. Nearly all of their output was in view-cards and they mostly covered the New York, mid-Atlantic region. In addition to distributing postcards, they seem to have published some as well and worked as a middleman for many smaller publishers wishing to produce cards. Most of their cards were printed in Leipzig, Dresden and Berlin, Germany, but they switched to American and French printers during World War One. They often became the focus of litigation from trying to monopolize distribution of printed material in the United States. Their closure in 1957 led to great difficulties in distribution, putting many small publishers out of business as well."

The logo used and the number of the post card (No. A 1210) tells us that this post card was printed in 1906. Again, from the Metropolitan Post Card Club of New York: "Excelsior - A German made card printed in collotype. It was the first series this firm printed and later marketed as their highest quality black & white card (most customers chose this type over their cheaper halftone cards). Almost all cards in this series are printed in black & white, but there are some later examples issued in monochromes of blue, green, and sepia as well as more rare cards that were printed in color and handcolored. Prefix A 1-4999 beginning in 1906" to 1908. There were 4999 post card printings in these two years. Number 1210 is 24% of the way from 1 to 4999. So using interpolation methods we can guess that this post card was printed in the later half of 1906.

A Little Confusion

The title on this post card say that it is a picture of the First Bridge in Ogden Canyon, Utah. Ogden is the town at which the Lucin Cut-off begins as the trains head west across the Great Salt Lake. It was included on the Transcontinental Railroad by the Union Pacific Railroad when it raced across the country to meet the Central Pacific Railroad just north of Ogden at Promontory Point. However, back to the title. It says that this picture is taken in Ogden Canyon. When I searched for Ogden Canyon on line, I found a route that goes from a reservoir of water down the hill to Ogden. There was no set of tracks anywhere to be seen.

I think that this is actually a bridge on the Transcontinental Railroad in Weber Canyon. (By the way, Weber is pronounced "Weeber" in case anyone asks. It was named after a trapper who hunted in the area.) The Union Pacific followed this canyon into Ogden as it built the railroad across the country. It built many bridges and tunnels in order to make the journey safe for the steam engines.

This post card is also published by Edward H. Mitchell. This makes three weeks in a row that an Edward H. Mitchell post card is in this blog. He was a very prolific publisher. BUT, I notice that the way his name is displayed on the back of the card is different from the previous two cards. Usually, his name is up the left hand side of the post card. On this one it is on the bottom left. He is listed as the publisher, too, not the printer.

Similar is not the Same.

The picture on the post card below is very similar to about 15 other post cards in my collection.

There is a train headed across the trestle that makes up the Lucin Cut-off. There is a beautiful sunrise in the east and a bit of a mountain top just poking its head over the Great Salt Lake.

This particular train looks like it is passing another train at Mid-point Station. As they constructed the trestle, they built little towns right on the trestle as a place for the crews to live. When the construction was finished they left one of the "towns" in place, double tracked the section and added signals. They called it the Mid-point Station and the train would stop so that the passengers could get out and see the sights. This particular train is on its way with three people on the observation platform of the final car. I have several post cards in my collection with this picture on the front.

I am still blogging about the group of post cards that came in while I was focused on Pikes Peak several sets of postings ago. I received this one a couple of weeks ago.

I chose this set of cards to blog about because the are similar but NOT EXACTLY like the other 15 post cards with the same picture on the front, so it is a new one in my collection. The picture is exactly the same, in fact the quality of this picture is better than the others. But what makes it different is the title.

I have scanned three of the other post cards with the same picture AND the same beginning to the same title. However, you can see that there is a slight variance among the titles. So, in my collection this constitutes a new post card. You can see that the top post card is written with a script font; the middle one is all caps and doesn't spell out Southern Pacific; the bottom one is all caps and does spell out Southern Pacific.

You can see from the scan of the back of the post card that it spent some time in a collection using the little triangles to hold it in place. The back of this card tells us that it, like the post card from last week is an Edward H. Mitchell production. In fact, all three post cards are from Edward H. Mitchell of San Francisco. They were just different print runs. All three of them are also from the Divided Back Era (1907 - 1915).

Chicago 1933 - 34

Continuing with the theme set by last week's blog entry....

As part of its program of experimentation with steam locomotive design in the 1930s, the Delaware & Hudson Railroad equipped two P-1 Pacific type engines, including No. 653 seen on the post card below, with the Caprotti poppet valve gear. As built in 1929 by the railroad's Colonie Shops, these 4-6-2s exerted 41,027 pounds of tractive effort, having 73-inch drivers, a boiler pressure of 260 p.s.i., and 22x28-inch cylinders. They weighed 300,000 pounds, and their wide firebox — designed to burn anthracite coal — had a grate area of 87 square feet. As rebuilt, No. 653 boasted a very high 325-pound boiler pressure, 3200 square feet of evaporative heating surface and 1500 square feet of super-heater surface.

The locomotive was displayed at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1934, as shown on this post card. She displays the clean lines and uncluttered appearance favored by Delaware & Hudson president Leonor F. Loree, who admired the British "look" in steam engines.

There is no mention of the printer or the publisher as such on the back of the post card, although I would assume that the A Century of Progress International Exposition is the publisher. One could probably purchase these post cards at the Exposition in Chicago.

A Century of Progress International Exposition was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Chicago. Its theme, as given in A Century of Progress Chicago International Exposition of 1933 Statement of its Plan and Purposes and of the Relation of States and Foreign Governments to Them (Chicago, 1933) was to "attempt to demonstrate to an international audience the nature and significance of scientific discoveries, the methods of achieving them, and the changes which their application has wrought in industry and in living conditions." This was done through exhibits that appealed to the public in general, often with miniaturized or replicated processes.

The fair was held on 427 acres (much of it landfill) on Lake Michigan, immediately south of Chicago's downtown area, from 12th Street to 39th Street (now Pershing Road). Today, Meigs Field and McCormick Place occupy this site. A Century of Progress officially opened on May 27, 1933 and closed on November 12 of that year. Although originally planned for the 1933, season only, it was extended for another year, reopening on May 26, 1934, and closing on October 31, 1934.

Let's Go Back to 1933

The Chicago World's Fair of 1933 - 34 featured a Travel & Transport Building. Outside the building they placed a 600-foot length of railroad track. On this track they placed three trains. You can see them in the picture on the front of the post card. The middle one, the feature of this post card published by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, was Number 3000. It was advertised at the time as the most powerful 4-6-4 wheeled locomotive in the world. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad purchased twelve Hudsons from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1930. These 4-6-4's were designated Class S-4 and assigned road numbers 3000 through 3011. The engines weighed 391,880 pounds; the engine and tender weighed 717,930 pounds. It held 15,000 gallons of water and 24 tons of fuel (either coal or oil). The drivers were 78 inches tall and the cylinders were 25 inches in diameter with a stroke of 28 inches.

To the fireman's side of the modern locomotive stood a little old "tea kettle" engine with elongated cow catcher and diamond smokestack--No. 35, the Pride of the Prairies in the early 1880's. It is a 4-4-0 Class A-2 engine. This locomotive was built by Chicago, Burlington & Quincy's Aurora Shops in 1892 as Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad 66, later renumbered for the same company as 666. It was again renumbered in 1904 as it entered service for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy system as Number 359. It was rebuilt in Denver in June 1932 for exhibition at the Century Of Progress (held in Chicago, Illinois during 1933-34) as Burlington & Missouri River Railroad 35. This is what this post card is commemorating.

The locomotive to the far left in the post card is from England. The original 6100 was the first of its class, built in 1927 by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow. It was named Royal Scot after the Royal Scots. In 1933, 6152 The King's Dragoon Guardsman and 6100 swapped identities permanently. 6152 had been built at Derby Works in 1930. The new Royal Scot was sent to the Century of Progress Exposition of 1933 and toured Canada and the United States with a train of typical LMS carriages.

It was given special commemorative plates that sit below its nameplates which read:

This locomotive with the Royal Scot train was exhibited at the Century of Progress
Exposition Chicago 1933, and made a tour of the Dominion of Canada and the United
States of America. The engine and train covered 11,194 miles over the railroads
of the North American continent and was inspected by 3,021,601 people.
W. Gilbertson - Driver T. Blackett - Fireman
J. Jackson - Fireman W.C. Woods - Fitter

The post card was published by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, commonly known as the Burlington Route.

110 Years Old Today

Today would have been my sister, Kathy's 60th birthday. She died last year. I would like to dedicate this special posting to her. Kathy: to your memory!!

This post is beginning with the back of the card – an unusual turn of events, I know!! But, this post card was mailed 110 years ago today, on September 23, 1904.

The post card itself is quite interesting. It was printed prior to March 1, 1907 so the address can only go on one side, while the picture and message go on the other side. It was published by the National Art Views Company out of New York City, New York. When I went onto the Metropolitan Postcard website to see what I could learn about this publisher,

I saw another card exactly like this one as the example they posted. I knew I had found the right publisher. Here is the information they had about the company: “An important early publisher of view-cards. There earliest cards were printed as tinted halftones and they sometimes had unusual decorative borders. Even though short lived they went on to publish a large number of more finely printed view-cards as in sepia and black & white, collotypes, some with hand coloring. These cards were printed in Germany. Purchased by the Rotograph Company in 1904 who reproduced most of their images under the Rotograph name.”

The hand-written message on this post card says, “This would be a fine place to jump off. Don’t you think?” Because it does not say who sent it I am hoping this is just a bad joke; not an invitation or a warning. It was sent from Columbus City, Indiana to Lancaster, Ohio – both a far distance from Philadelphia. It was posted at 8 PM in the evening and it was received at Lancaster by 3:30 PM the next afternoon (a distance of 235 miles).

The picture on the front of the card is of a street going through a tunnel while a train goes over the rock on the way to a bridge over the river. Here is what I have learned about The Tunnel, River Drive, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa. That is the Schuylkill River.

Public space was at the core of Philadelphia’s original city plan as envisioned by William Penn and Chief Surveyor Thomas Holme in their Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania in America, published in 1683. According to Holme, the intent of the original five squares: Rittenhouse (SW), Logan (NW), Franklin (NE), Washington (SE) and Penn (Center), were to be shared, common spaces. Essentially, these spaces were planned as part of Penn’s “Greene Countrie Towne,” the new type of city the founder envisioned which would include public open space. In practice, however, Penn’s vision for the original squares, representing a new type of urban open space plan, albeit on a small scale, would not be implemented for over a century. Instead, these spaces were used as grazing grounds for cattle, trash dumps, burial grounds and for public hangings.

Bankruptcy and the quest for clean water were the two driving forces behind the creation of Fairmount Park. When Robert Morris, financier of the Revolutionary War, went bankrupt, his country farm and gardens were purchased by another businessman who created such lovely gardens, he charged admission. The property changed hands again only to suffer from yet another economic downturn.
In 1843, a shrewd city councilman pressed to purchase the property which was situated above the municipal water works. By purchasing the property and designating it as parkland, the city was able to end the industrial contamination of the river that had occurred downstream.
Over the next century, the city acquired additional lands and recruited landscape architects to develop a plan that would preserve the park’s natural features but maximize public accessibility and emphasize its lovely vistas.

Today, with more than 9,200 acres of rolling hills, gentle trails, relaxing waterfront and shaded woodlands, Fairmount Park keeps a wealth of natural landscapes within easy reach of all city residents.
You can take a stroll, head out for an afternoon of softball, organized frisbee or pier-side fishing, or just settle in for a family picnic. There are miles of trails for horseback riding, off-road cycling and deep-woods hiking, yet there are also tours of historic mansions, Japanese tea ceremonies and outdoor concerts. Three environmental centers, as well as a wildlife refuge treatment center, help bring the natural world to life for adults as well as children.
A Victorian-style trolley offers tours of the Colonial-era mansions that dot the landscape. Two outdoor concert venues feature some of the tops names in music. The world-famous Philadelphia Museum of Art sits at the headway of the Park and overlooks the row of Victorian-era boathouses that have become architectural landmarks.

I did some research as best as I could and came up with those railroad tracks belonging to the Pennsylvania Railroad when the picture was taken. However they originally belonged to the Camden & Amboy Railroad.
On February 1, 1867, the Camden &Amboy and the New Jersey RR were informally joined as the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Companies (UNJ). The Pennsylvania Railroad approved a lease of the UNJ on May 15, 1871, and the UNJ approved May 19. On May 18, 1872 the C&A, D&R Canal and NJRR were consolidated, forming the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company. The new company was split into two divisions: the New York Division consisted of the NJRR and the C&A Trenton Branch towards Philadelphia, while the Amboy Division was the original C&A main line.

Today the line belongs to CSX

Still on Mount Tamalpais

In my last blog I told you that the Mt. Tamalpais Scenic Railway was advertised as "the crookedest railroad in the world". Well here is some proof.

The words are not crooked because I scanned the card in a sloppy manner; it is the way the card was printed.

This post card isn't from the set of cards that I am filing away into my post card collection, which I purchased while blogging about Pikes Peak. This one comes from the collection itself. As I was filing away last week's post card, I saw this one tucked into its sleeve on page near where last week's post card now rests. I thought I should share it with you. I now have a total of twelve post cards about the Mt. Tamalpais Scenic Railway.

This one was published by the Pacific Novelty Company from San Francisco. This company was owned by the same Edward H Mitchell that owned the company that published last week's post card. Again from the Metropolitan Postcard Club: "This publishing company printed many postcards that were duplicates of postcards published by Edward Mitchell.

Mitchell was a partner with other photographers in this publishing company than at some point he bought the others out. A major publisher and printer of view-cards depicting California in halftone lithography. They produced cards in different styles, most of which were printed in Germany. They eventually sold off their own printing department to Herman Vogel who renamed it Quadricolor Press. Pacific Novelty went on to produce photochromes that were manufactured in the United States."

This post card was mailed on March 30, 1916 at 1 PM. It is from the Divided Back Era (1907 - 1915). The sender has written to a Miss Robison in New York to tell her that he or she is spending time at the top of the railway at the tavern. He or she also spent some time at the top of the mountain (where the sender has marked an X that you can see above under the word "near"). In two more years, this card will be 100 years old.

I would like to draw your attention to the cute train that was drawn onto the post card by the printer. It is in the lower left hand corner of the post card. It is very obvious to me as I look directly at the card that this locomotive and car were an addition. I hope you can see it, too.

Around the Curve

This is a view on one of the 281 curves that were one the Mt. Tamalpais Scenic Railway billed as "The crookedest railroad in the world." Those 281 curves were spread over only 8 miles of track. Tradition the railway was that the engine pushed the car up to the top of Mt. Tamalpais so that the customers could see the track, the scenery and any wildlife that may be on the way.

This post card was "Made in America by Edw. H. Mitchell at San Francisco". The following information is from the Metropolitan Postcard Club: "A major printer and publisher of view-cards depicting scenes throughout the American West. They also published a variety of other card types including large sets of flowers, exaggerations, and view-cards of Hawaii and the Philippines.

They temporarily moved to Clay Street when their Post Street office was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, but they later went on to set up a factory on Army Street. Even though they developed a number of their own unique techniques to print their cards like the Mitchell Photo-Chrome Process, many cards were also contracted out to other printers. Likewise they printed postcards for a number of other publishers. Their cards were printed in both the United States and in Germany. Over the years Mitchell bought out numerous small western competitors. Mitchell closed the postcard company in 1923 to concentrate on his oil interests."