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Rare Books

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit, San Francisco Bay Area)


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    II. Subject files (streamliner-related)

    Rare Books

    This series contains: Manufacturer's brochures; industry reports; train rosters; lists; streamliner train books; magazines and journals; excursion and special train tours; early "streamline" train experiments of the 19th century; monorails; high-speed and interurban trains; and a file on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit system). Date ranges are not inclusive; the range shows the earliest identified date and the latest identified date within that section.

    646607

  • Transit, San Francisco Bay

    Transit, San Francisco Bay

    Manuscripts

    The ferry Transit sits in water of San Francisco Bay.

    mssJL JLP 330

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    Early "streamline" inventions - Joe V. Meigs - Meigs Elevated Railway

    Rare Books

    Joseph "Joe" V. Meigs of Lowell, Massachusetts submitted an application in 1884 to patent a steam-powered, "post-supported" elevated monorail train intended for rapid transit use in Boston. Materials include: U.S. Patent Office report. Joe V. Meigs. "Railway" drawings and specifications (18 p., 1885); "General (George) Stark's Report, Meigs Elevated Railway, Eighteenth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Railroad Commissioners." (1887); "A Condensed Review of Rapid Transit and the Meigs Elevated Railway, Prepared For The Legislature of 1888" by the Meigs Co. (1888); "Rapid Transit Made Plain; Interrogations propounded by a Member of the Legislature to Capt. Joe V. Meigs, And By Him Answered." Testimony with drawings (1894); prospectus titled "Complements of Meigs Elevated Railway Construction Co...." Inside, "An Account of Progress." (1886); "Memorandum of the visit to Boston of the Committee on Railroads... of the City of Philadelphia.... to inspect... the Meigs [Railway]." (1887); printed report by H. Haupt, Consulting Engineer. On back: Printed request by Meigs for information on legality of his design and Judge Thomas Russell's reply (1883); copy photographs of the Meigs railway and demonstration site in East Cambridge, Mass.; clippings, ordinances from 1880s newspapers (from a scrapbook once owned by Meigs).

    646607

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    Interurban rail projects; High speed train proposals and experiments, miscellaneous

    Rare Books

    Includes (selected items): photographs; brochures and clippings pertaining to early rapid transit systems, high speed trains and train manufacturers. Includes 1933 report: "High Speed Railway Service: Its Problems and Perplexities." (by Southern and Southwestern Railway Club, Atlanta, Georgia).

    646607

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    BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)

    Rare Books

    This collection consists of railroad photographs, ephemera and publications, 1829-2010, with the bulk of material from the early- to mid-20th century. The focus is chiefly locomotives and trains (steam and diesel) of major railroads and interurban electric railways of the United States and Canada. Also represented in the collection are smaller shortline and narrow-gauge railroads; other foreign railroads; streetcars (or trolleys); and burgeoning light rail and subway systems. Most of the ephemera is printed material produced by railroad companies for promotional and business purposes, such as annual reports, brochures, route maps and guides, timetables, tickets, dining menus, stationery, stock certificates, bond coupons and other items. There are also many city and state tourist guidebooks describing sights along rail routes or promoting land available for farming, mining or home-building across the United States. Also included are items produced for or by railroad employees, such as instruction and safety manuals, train orders, freight bills and in-house newsletters. Railroad industry publications, statistics and reports can be found in the American Association of Railroads files, which are part of Donald Duke's subject files on railroad-related topics. Throughout the ephemera files are newspaper and journal clippings, often from scarce small press and trade publications such as The Railway and Engineering Review, The Railroad Gazette, The Santa Fe Magazine, The Western Railroader, Railway Age and others. In addition to railroad history, other topics of social and cultural historical interest in the ephemera 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. Selected files are noted in the container list. Occupational safety and health: See railroad worker safety manuals and accident prevention literature in ephemera files. History of food and drink: See numerous dining and beverage menus throughout Railroads and Foreign Railroads ephemera files (not always noted in container list). History of graphic design and typography: See examples of early- and mid- 20th century popular styles in printed ephemera throughout collection. Photographs and negatives: The photographs depict locomotives, freight and passenger trains, logging railroads, electric interurbans and streetcars across the United States. This was primarily a publishers file of ready-for-press photographs, which are almost all 8 x 10-inch black-and-white prints, made approximately 1950s-1980s. The photographs were made chiefly by various amateur train photographers, including Donald Duke, but most are uncredited. There are some copy prints (photographs of other photographs), and a few original photographs from the late 19th-early 20th century. Some photographs have locations and dates written on the back, but many are unidentified other than the name of the railroad. There are a few files on Ward Kimball (1914-2002), one of the original animators for Walt Disney Studios and an avid rail enthusiast. There are some photographs, biographical materials, and a file on his personal backyard narrow-gauge steam railroad, Grizzly Flats Railroad, in San Gabriel, California.

    645950

  • Image not available

    BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)

    Rare Books

    This collection consists of railroad photographs, ephemera and publications, 1829-2010, with the bulk of material from the early- to mid-20th century. The focus is chiefly locomotives and trains (steam and diesel) of major railroads and interurban electric railways of the United States and Canada. Also represented in the collection are smaller shortline and narrow-gauge railroads; other foreign railroads; streetcars (or trolleys); and burgeoning light rail and subway systems. Most of the ephemera is printed material produced by railroad companies for promotional and business purposes, such as annual reports, brochures, route maps and guides, timetables, tickets, dining menus, stationery, stock certificates, bond coupons and other items. There are also many city and state tourist guidebooks describing sights along rail routes or promoting land available for farming, mining or home-building across the United States. Also included are items produced for or by railroad employees, such as instruction and safety manuals, train orders, freight bills and in-house newsletters. Railroad industry publications, statistics and reports can be found in the American Association of Railroads files, which are part of Donald Duke's subject files on railroad-related topics. Throughout the ephemera files are newspaper and journal clippings, often from scarce small press and trade publications such as The Railway and Engineering Review, The Railroad Gazette, The Santa Fe Magazine, The Western Railroader, Railway Age and others. In addition to railroad history, other topics of social and cultural historical interest in the ephemera 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. Selected files are noted in the container list. Occupational safety and health: See railroad worker safety manuals and accident prevention literature in ephemera files. History of food and drink: See numerous dining and beverage menus throughout Railroads and Foreign Railroads ephemera files (not always noted in container list). History of graphic design and typography: See examples of early- and mid- 20th century popular styles in printed ephemera throughout collection. Photographs and negatives: The photographs depict locomotives, freight and passenger trains, logging railroads, electric interurbans and streetcars across the United States. This was primarily a publishers file of ready-for-press photographs, which are almost all 8 x 10-inch black-and-white prints, made approximately 1950s-1980s. The photographs were made chiefly by various amateur train photographers, including Donald Duke, but most are uncredited. There are some copy prints (photographs of other photographs), and a few original photographs from the late 19th-early 20th century. Some photographs have locations and dates written on the back, but many are unidentified other than the name of the railroad. There are a few files on Ward Kimball (1914-2002), one of the original animators for Walt Disney Studios and an avid rail enthusiast. There are some photographs, biographical materials, and a file on his personal backyard narrow-gauge steam railroad, Grizzly Flats Railroad, in San Gabriel, California.

    645950