Wednesday, November 30, 2016

factory city of Enschede, Netherlands, postcard, early 20th century


With a little steam goods train in the foreground.  Obviously this was before the days when people became concerned about air pollution.

stuntman descends from an airship to a train, Netherlands, early 20th century


narrow gauge at Faxe Ladeplads, Denmark


One of the few if not the only narrow gauge line in Denmark was the Faxe Jernbane, a private railway company which established the line from Stubberup to Faxe Ladeplads in 1864 for transport of limestone from the quarry to the port. The 6.5 km long stretch became part of the Østbanen in 1977.  Limestone trains ended in 1982.  At this point the dual gauge track (standard gauge for the passenger trains) became monogauge.

Krauss steam locomotives were delivered with a gauge of 785 mm (2'7") but around 1970 the company ordered 2 diesel locomotives from Schöma with a desired track gauge of 791 mm.  Maybe because of wear on the rails?  Use of the steam locos ended in October 1973.

Faxe is also the base of the Faxe brewery, little known outside Denmark.

Several more pics here

Rotterdam tram, 1971


Early morning from the look of it; an early 1960s Renault 4 parked on the left.  See earlier posts.

freight train along the street, Erie, Pennsylvania


And full heavy metal vibration stuff, too. A Conrail train (now Norfolk Southern) with a GE C-40-8W on the point.

Soviet raftsmen art, 1961


In what as known as the 'Socialist Realism' style. By Nikolai Andronov, born 1929.

DC-6 of TEAL in Fiji, 1950s


This was known as the hibiscus service from Auckland (a then 5-hour flight, now 3 hours on a jet) because passengers were given the flowers shown when they got off in Nadi (Nandi). The guy with the tunic was presumably a real policeman or soldier.

For more, see the book The Aircraft of Air New Zealand and affiliates since 1940 by Paul Sheehan.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Rolls Royce ad art, late 1940s


Maybe a suggestion of gold plating.

'I like reading a book from my collection'


1954 Oldsmobile Super 88


1977 Triumph Dolomite 1850HL


traffic in Queen Street, Masterton, May 1913


from the library: 'Objets du train à collectioner'


This French book on railway collectibles from 2000 was the inspiration for our book New Zealand Railway Memorabilia.  It had 128 color pages full of pictures of items such as clocks, signs, carriage fittings, plaques, uniforms, paraphernalia like telephones, ticket machines, lamps, signals, models, and of course publicity materials like posters, pamphlets and postcards.

With a country the size of France the range of potential contents is much bigger than with NZ, but we still had no difficulty filling the 80 A4 pages in our book.


Monday, November 28, 2016

Al-Jazeera documentary on Egyptian conscripts reignites media war with Qatar


Everyone knows that the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel doesn't like Israel, but it doesn't like Egypt much either.

Egypt's relations with Qatar severely deteriorated following the army’s ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood's Morsi from power in July 2013, which followed mass protests against his rule. Qatar has repeatedly denounced Morsi’s removal.

Qatar in turn is accused of funding Islamic extremism -- an example described here

Al Jazeera has broadcast a trailer of a documentary entitled “Conscripts” that tells the story of Egyptian youth getting ready to serve out their compulsory military service. Following this several Egyptian news outlets attacked Qatar for “insulting the Egyptian Armed Forces”.

Story

buses outside Chelyabinsk railway station, Russia, circa 1970


This station was opened in 1965. A postcard pic of the predecessor station from 1892 is below.


to England aboard a hen-fish advertisement, 1980


Obviously an SNCF advertisement for Sealink ferries and hovercraft (aéroglisseurs).

Friday, November 25, 2016

1955 Cadillac Fleetwood 60 model


A 1:18 model by Greenlight of the one which featured in The Godfather (1972), although it was one of several cars used in that movie and didn't have a major role.  Nevertheless, cars used by gangsters, real or movie, have a certain fascination.  It costs about $50 in the US.

US State Department issues a travel alert for all of Europe; Morocco, Egypt and Jordan considered safe


There are parts of Egypt, however, mainly Sinai and the Western Desert, where armed Islamic militants hide from security forces; a check first with Egyptian authorities is recommended.

According to the statement released by US State department, “Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL the U.S. gov't acronym for ISIS or Da'esh), al-Qaeda, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events. While extremists have carried out attacks in Belgium, France, Germany, and Turkey in the past year, the Department remains concerned about the potential for attacks throughout Europe. If you are traveling between countries in Europe, please check the website of the U.S. Embassy or consulate in your destination city for any recent security messages.”

Victorian Railways N class 2-8-2


An example of the 83-member class is seen here with a goods train at Bendigo station, with its impressive semaphore signal gantries, in 1964.

"The N class was a branch line steam locomotive that ran on Victorian Railways from 1925 to 1966. A development of the successful K class 2-8-0, it was the first VR locomotive class designed for possible conversion from 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) to 4 ft 81⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge."

Egyptian archaeologists unearth a residential city from 5,316 B.C. in upper Egypt


The head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector, Mahmoud Afify, announced that the cemetery and city were discovered just 400 meters south of the Temple of Seti the First in Abydos.

According to Afify, the city and cemetery likely belonged to senior officials who were responsible for building royal tombs, as the archaeologists found a number of tools that indicate that the residential city was largely responsible for supplying the labor force required to build royal tombs.

1965 Commer flatbed truck


Swiss Dining Car Company poster, 1909


The Schweiz-Speisewagen-Gesellschaft (Swiss Dining Car Company) had been formed in 1903 and in its centenary year of 2003 changed its name to Elvetino. Article

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

RMV Scillonian (1956)


This, the second ship to carry the name, was a passenger ferry built for the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company in 1955 by John I. Thornycroft & Company of Woolston, Southampton.

Scillonian (2) was 208 ft (63.4 metres) long, 921 gross tons and was powered by two Rustion diesels which gave a speed of 15.5 knots. She carried 500 passengers and 14 crew.

More info and pics