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."

Tamalpais Scenic Railway

The engine pictured on the front of this card is a Shay.

A Class B Shay engine had 3 cylinders, which you can clearly see on the side of this engine and two trucks. It is one of 1,480 Class B Shay engines built between 1878 and 1945. They were built by a company that changed names three times before it finally became the Lima Locomotive Works, Inc. in March of 1916. This particular engine was known as Number 646 by the Lima Locomotive and Machine Company as it was known in 1901. This locomotive was finished on April 15, 1901. The three cylinders were 10 inches in diameter with a 10 inch stroke. The wheel diameter was only 28 inches. It ran on coal, of which it could carry almost 2 tons, and it could hold 1238 gallons of water. It weighed 61,810 pounds when it came off the assembly floor. It worked at the Tamalpais Scenic Railway as Engine #3 until 1915. It changed ownership 6 more times before it was sold for scrap on October 10, 1929.

During its time a trip on the Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railroad was a favorite city getaway for San Franciscans. The railway was an immediate success when it opened for business in 1896 and was dubbed by locals as the “Crookedest Railroad in the World” because of its 281 curves in just over eight miles of track. At the Mill Valley train depot this Shay steam engine’s whistle signaled the beginning of the train ride to the top of Mount Tamalpais. Passengers breathed the fresh mountain air from open cars as the train climbed to an elevation of 2,500 feet at a speed of 10 miles per hour. At the summit people marveled at views of the entire San Francisco Bay Area. Locomotives were positioned on the downhill end of the train and pushed the passenger cars uphill, allowing for unobstructed vistas. Watching the engines push from below was an added spectacle for riders, who could see the train’s gears and engineer at work. Ridership declined in later years. By 1920, automobiles could drive to the mountain summit on twisty roads. A fire on Mount Tamalpais in 1929 left many of the rail ties damaged or destroyed. Rail managers lost hope for profitability and abandoned reconstruction efforts. The last train traveled up the mountain on October 31, 1929. Tracks were pulled up in 1930, signaling the end of travel to Muir Woods on the Mount Tamalpais Scenic Railway.

This post card was published by M. Rieder from Los Angeles, California. It is number 4002 in their series of post cards. It was printed in Germany (so, again, before the beginning of World War One - see last week's post). This card is postmarked June 18, 1909 so we know how old it is.

The writer is telling the receiver of the post card that he is receiving $2.50 per day for 8 hours of work per day. "Easy Money", he writes.