66 Years Today

The title at the bottom of this post card drives me crazy. I have several that say something like "entrance to the Spiral Tunnel", as if there is only one tunnel. There are two Spiral Tunnels, one right after the other in the same area of the Rockies. The problem is that the "Lower Spiral Tunnel" is much easier to see from the road and to access for dramatic pictures.

As you can see, this train is going over a tunnel entrance from which it will soon be emerging. I have a couple of modern post cards in which the train is actually driving over itself. This particular train is westbound, so it has already gone through the "Upper Spiral Tunnel" and passed under the Trans Canada Highway.

That is Mount Stephen in the background. It was named after the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, George Stephen. He is pretty famous because was the first Canadian to be elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom (as opposed to the Peerage of Great Britain). He was also one of the presidents of the Bank of Montreal. He is especially remembered for his philanthropy in the community.

The back of the post card contains a bit of uniqueness of history. The person on the three cent stamp is King George VI. He died on February 6, 1952. His daughter, Queen Elizabeth II was crowned queen until June 2, 1953. That means that, even though Elizabeth was the queen, her picture was not on the stamp used by Bill, the writer of the post card. The post card was mailed on June 28, 1952 - 66 years ago today - when a picture of the queen would normally have been on a stamp.

The post card was published by Gowan Sutton. They were a publisher of real photo and printed postcards of the Canadian West. Not only did they produce cards depicting large cities, they captured many hard to reach views within the Canadian Territories. Many of their cards were hand tinted in a simple manner striving for style rather than realism, which created cards in vastly differing quality. While the real photo cards were made in Canada their printed cards were made in England. This is a real photo card, so it was made in Canada.

The Georgetown Loop 102 Years Ago

The Georgetown Loop Railroad got its name from this:

In the upper right-hand corner of the map you can see how the train doubles back in the canyon in order to gain height or lower itself, depending on the direction of travel. The front of this post card illustrates the principle perfectly as two trains drop in elevation while they are on The Loop.

The Georgetown Loop is located in Clear Creek County just west of Denver in Colorado. Clear Creek County was one of the original 17 counties created by the Colorado legislature on 1 November 1861, and is one of only two counties (along with Gilpin) to have persisted with its original boundaries unchanged. It was named after Clear Creek, which runs down from the continental divide through the county. Idaho Springs was originally designated the county seat, but the county government was moved to Georgetown in 1867. Clear Creek itself is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 66 miles (106 km) long,[2] in north central Colorado in the United States. The creek flows through Clear Creek Canyon in the Rocky Mountains directly west of Denver, descending through a long gorge to emerge on the Colorado Eastern Plains where it joins the South Platte. Clear Creek is unusual in that it is a stream named "creek" fed by a stream named "river". Fall River empties into Clear Creek along I-70 west of Idaho Springs, Colorado.

The words on the back of the post card include this sentence: "From the High Bridge of the Loop six pieces of track can be seen apparently detached, and the tourist realizes something of the marvel of engineering skill over which he has ridden."
The post card was published by the H.H. Tammen Company, a novelty dealer and important publisher of national view-cards and Western themes in continuous tone and halftone lithography. Their logo does not appear on all their cards but other graphic elements often remain the same. H. H. Tammen (1856-1924) Harry Heye Tammen was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 6, 1856, the son of a German immigrant pharmacist. He attended Knapps Academy in Baltimore, then worked in Philadelphia before moving to Denver in 1880. With his partner Charles A. Stuart he worked as a Denver bartender in 1880, and in 1881 they established the firm of H.H. Tammen & Co. (which in 1896 became the H.H. Tammen Curio Co., with partners Carl Litzenberger and Joseph Cox) in Denver, Colorado. Deeply interested in the study of mineralogy, he published a promotional journal called Western Echoes magazine, "Devoted to Mineralogy, Natural History, Botany, &c. &c." Volume 1 number 1 is copyrighted 1882. In 1895 Tammen formed a partnership with F.G. Bonfils (whom he had met at the Chicago World's Fair) and they became co-owners and co-editors of the Denver Post. Their publishing business flourished, and Tammen's business successes made him a wealthy man. In 1917 Buffalo Bill Cody happened to die while in Denver, and Tammen (one of the city's biggest boosters) offered Cody's widow $10,000 if she would allow Cody to be buried in Denver; she accepted, and the ensuing funeral procession drew 50,000 people. He established the H.H. Tammen Trust in 1924, providing essential health care for children of families who cannot afford to pay. Tammen died July 19, 1924. The H.H. Tammen Curio Co. was in business until 1953, and possibly as late as 1962.

Written 110 Years Ago Today

Today's post card does not have a picture of any part of a train in it. Instead, there is an empty Santa Fe train track. I chose to collect this card because it is indicative of the type of terrain some of the trains in the Southwest United States had to traverse. A "bonus" feature is that it was near this canyon that the Battle of Glorietta Pass was fought during the Civil War. "Glorietta Pass and Apache Canyon are the site of the 1862 battle called "The Gettysburg of the West," when Union troops from nearby Fort Union, joined by volunteers from Colorado led by John Chivington, turned back a Confederate attempt to march north up the Rio Grande and capture the gold regions around Pikes Peak and Denver, Colorado." --- from http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/places/states/newmexico/nm_glorietta.htm The result of this battle was that New Mexico did not become a confederate territory.

This post card is an example of the 1915 - 1930 era post card called the "White Border" era.
In the bottom left of the post card is the numbering: H-1363. This indicates to me that this was a post card printed by Curt Otto Teich for Fred Harvey. This is quickly confirmed by looking in the upper right hand corner where it says, "Copyright by Fred Harvey". The Harvey House was an oasis of comfort and civilization along the railway routes of the Southwest. Entrepeneur Fred Harvey, dismayed by the often crude facilities he had seen at railway stops, endeavored to provide clean and welcoming lunchrooms, restaurants, and hotels as alternatives. His name became synonymous with quality accommodations -- an image fostered by clever and attractive advertising which drew in tourists from around the world. The Harvey House chain also offered tours to cultural, geological, and archeological attractions, further opening the Southwest to visitors. Harvey had close connections with the Santa Fe Railway, contracting to provide dining services along the line; this mutually beneficial association allowed Harvey to use the railroad for free shipment of supplies, while providing railway passengers with quality rest stops. --- from https://abqlibrary.org/c.php?g=19363&p=108880

The back of the post card also confirms that this is a Fred Harvey post card. The message was typed onto the post card; don't see that very often, although I do have a couple of them. The date on the back that was typed in says it was written 110 years ago today.

McKeen Motor Car

From the source of all knowledge worth knowing [Wikipeida] because the McKeen Motor Car Company website is under construction. www.mckeencar.com The McKeen Motor Car Company of Omaha, Nebraska, was a builder of internal combustion-engined railroad motor cars (railcars), constructing 152 between 1905–1917.[1] Founded by William McKeen, the Union Pacific Railroad's Superintendent of Motive Power and Machinery, the company was essentially an offshoot of the Union Pacific and the first cars were constructed by the UP before McKeen leased shop space in the UP's Omaha Shops in Omaha, Nebraska.

The UP had asked him to develop a way of running small passenger trains more economically, and McKeen produced a design that was ahead of its time. Unfortunately, internal combustion engine technology was not, and the McKeen cars never found a truly reliable powerplant. The vast majority of the cars produced were for E. H. Harriman's empire of lines (Union Pacific, Southern Pacific and others). Harriman's death in 1909 lost the company its major sponsor and investor, and Harriman's successors were less enthusiastic about the McKeen cars. Many McKeen cars ended up being re-engined with a variety of drive mechanisms — gasoline-mechanical, gasoline-electric, diesel-electric, or even steam power. Most, although not all, McKeen cars had the distinctive "wind-splitter" pointed aerodynamic front end and rounded tail. The porthole windows were also a McKeen trademark, adopted allegedly for strength after the 7th production car. A dropped central door, as pictured, was also present on the majority of the cars. Two lengths, 55 and 70 feet, were offered; either could be fitted out with a large mail and express area ahead of the center doors, a smaller mail/express area, or the car could be all seats for a maximum capacity of 64 or 105 respectively.
It is when I read the backs of postcards like this

that I wish that I could speak a multitude of languages. I would love to know what is being said, even if it only, "I'm OK; are you?" The post card was published by a company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska - just like the Union Pacific and the McKenn Motor Car Company. 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. The forgoing was found on the great website of the Metropolitan Post Card Club of New York http://www.metropostcard.com/index.html.