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New York Central Railroad Company
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New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company
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Includes train(s): The Daniel Webster. Includes (selected items): press kit for the "New Haven Railroad's 'Daniel Webster'" (train introduced in 1956).
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New York Central Railroad Company
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Includes (selected items): brochure. "The Commodore Vanderbilt.... World's First Streamlined High Powered Steam Locomotive." 4075 horsepower. Hudson type. Named for founder of New York City (1934).
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New York Central Railroad Company
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Includes (selected items): 60 train travel brochures--mostly aimed to business associations, service clubs, war veterans groups, and professional associations (1936-1941).
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Southern Pacific Railroad Company
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Includes train(s): Daylight; Sunset Limited; Lark. Includes (selected items): press kit: "Last Run of the Lark, April 7-8, 1968. 58 years of service between San Francisco and Los Angeles.'"
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New York Central Railroad Company
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Includes train(s): Southwestern Limited; The Pacemaker; The Detroiter; The New England States; The Forest City; James Whitcomb Riley.
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Maine Central Railroad Company - New York Central Railroad Company
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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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