Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Rare Books
Rare Books
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
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Rare Books
Includes (selected items): photographs; book: "Our GM Scrapbook, from the pages of Trains." (1971); "Diesel, The Modern Power" by Ralph A. Richardson. History and operation of Diesel engines of all sizes. (1942); "General Motors Diesels In Review, 1934 -- 1944. 10th Anniversary of Diesel Road Power on American Railroad" (1944).
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Rare Books
Three books: 1) "Midwest Florida Sunliners" by R. Lyle Key Jr. Historical overview and brief descriptions of passenger trains that ran between Midwestern cities (Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Grand Rapids, Detroit) and Florida. (160 p., 1979); 2) "Diesel Rail Traction, an illustrated history of diesel locomotives, rail-cars, and trains." by W.J.K. Davies (Almark Publications, U.K. (104 p., 1973); 3) "Great Rail Trips of the World" by Charles & Babette Jacobs. Reviews many named train routes in several regions (146 p., 1988).
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Rare Books
Reports by Coverdale & Colpitts, consulting engineers: 1) "Report On High-Speed Trains Chicago-Twin Cities, June and July, 1935." ; 2) "Report On Streamline, Light-Weight, High-Speed Passenger Trains, June 30, 1938." Conclusion: "... a large proportion of the traffic on these trains has been newly created or retrieved from the highways." The facts show "great popularity and high degree of financial success" of these trains (June, 1938); 3) "Report On Streamline, Light-Weight, High-Speed Passenger Trains" (publications of 1939, 1940, 1950).
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Rare Books
Two books: "Diesel Locomotive Rosters, The Railroad Magazine Series." Compiled by Sy Reich (technical editor of Railroad Magazine). Lists of Diesel engines owned by "almost all the large roads and hundreds of short lines." (1973?); and "Car Names, Numbers and Consists." A roster of streamlined and lightweight passenger and "certain groups" of heavyweight cars rebuilt for streamlined trains. Brief sections on Train of Tomorrow, Aerotrain, Talgo, and Train X. Some floor plans. (New York, Wayner Publications, 1972).
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Rare Books
This collection of railroad ephemera, photographs, prints and posters concerns only streamliner trains--the wind-resistant, "streamlined" designs first appearing on major U.S. railroads in 1934 and peaking in the glamour years of the American streamliner, late 1930s to 1955. The sleek, fast trains were promoted for their speed, luxury and comfort compared to older, heavyweight steam locomotives. The bulk of the collection is composed of passenger brochures, with especially extensive files on Union Pacific; Southern Pacific; New York Central; Chicago, Burlington and Quincy ("the Burlington"); and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe ("the Santa Fe") railroads. There are also many materials on Amtrak (formed in 1971), and foreign railroads, particularly in Canada, Europe and Japan. Besides brochures, other printed materials include: manufacturer's pamphlets, employee newsletters, press releases, blueprints of railcars, copies of U.S. Patent Office design applications, menus, lounge car stationery, baggage stickers and other items. The photographs are mostly railroad-issued 8 x 10-inch prints showing train exteriors and richly designed dining cars, lounge cars, sleeping cabins and domed observation cars. There are also many high-quality small-format photographs made by Leslie Merrill and other amateur photographers, 1938 to 1960s. The prints and posters mostly consist of promotions for U.S. railroads, with several notable pre-World War II posters for European railroads. An important section of the collection covers early streamlining experiments of the late-19th century: Samuel R. Calthrop's "air-resisting" train of 1865; Frederick U. Adams's "Windsplitter" of 1893; Joe V. Meigs' "Meigs Elevated Railway" monorail in 1880s Boston; and William Riley McKeen Jr.'s aerodynamic McKeen Motor Car of the 1900s. In addition to railroad history, other topics of social and cultural historical interest are: Depictions of African Americans and Native Americans in mass-marketed train travel brochures. There are many examples that reflect American cultural and class stereotypes in the early- to mid-20th century. History of food and drink: See numerous dining car and beverage menus (not always noted in container list). History of advertising, graphic design and typography represented in 20th-century railroad print advertising.
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Rare Books
Includes train(s): Libertyliners. Includes (selected items): photographs; contains materials on Electroliner trains of the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad; the Philadelphia Suburban took over their operation when CNS&M shut down on January 20, 1963.
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