Rare Books
Amtrak; Los Angeles interurban commuter trains (Metro Rail, Metrolink)
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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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Amtrak
Rare Books
Includes train(s): Broadway Limited; Mexico Adventour; North Coast Hiawatha; Starlight; others.
646607
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Amtrak
Rare Books
Includes (selected items): leaflets. "Dining Service" and "Dining Across America." Explains changes in food service: Congress eliminated $30 million in food service costs in 1982 and another $30 million in 1983.
646607
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Amtrak
Rare Books
Includes (selected items): brochure. "Amtrak, The First Five Years. A Special Anniversary Report To The Public, May 1, 1976." In newsletter format. Map, photos, information about equipment purchases, purchase of 621 miles NE Corridor from ConRail.
646607
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Early "streamline" inventions; Monorails; U.S. Design patents; Interurban rail projects
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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