Tapolcza

Tapolcza is a small town in Hungary.  As of the last census, it had 17,598 residents.  I was able to translate Palyaudvar as railway station, but the hand writing on the back is just too small and indistinct to be translated by someone who doesn't actually speak Hungarian.  I also need help with the postmark.  I think it's from August 10, 1916, but again, the design isn't something I'm familiar with.  It could also be from 1910.

If it is from 1916, this postcard would have been mailed right in the middle of World War 1.  Budapest would not have been the capitol of Hungary, it would have been a city in Austria-Hungary, a country that wouldn't survive the war.

I Like Trains

I love rail travel. I love trains, streetcars, and subways. I love steam, diesel and electric. I hope the state of California builds the high speed route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. This photo is by train enthusiast Elwin K. Heath. Written on the back, "Canadian National 6019, Class U-1b 4-82, Montreal 1933." For a brief mention of Heath and lots of other great train photographs go to www.railarchive.net/randomsteam/cnr3367.htm

Lady Hobos

Yes, I know. They're not actually hobos. The Erie Railroad was chartered in 1832 as the New York & Erie Railroad to build a line from New York City to Dunkirk, NY, on Lake Erie. Construction began in 1836 and finally reached Lake Erie in 1851. The line would change it's name to the New York, Erie and Western Railroad as it built lines that would eventually reach as far west as Chicago. In 1895 it, once again, was renamed as the Lake Erie Railroad. In 1960 it merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad and became the Erie & Lackawanna Railroad. So we can know that this picture was taken after 1895. Hey, it's something. More info can be found on the often unreliable Wikipedia.

Mauch Chunk

In 1953, the towns of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk merged, purchased the body of athlete Jim Thorpe from his widow, built a tomb, and changed their name to Jim Thorpe in hopes of attracting tourists. Before that, Mauch Chunk's claim to fame was it's gravity railroad. Built in 1827 to move coal 8.7 miles from the mines at Summit Hill to the coal chutes at Mauch Chunk, the railway used mules to haul the cars to the top of Pisgah Mountain and then used gravity to get back down the mountain. In 1846 a second track was laid and steam winches replaced mules for the uphill. It didn't take long for the coal company to realize that people were willing to pay to take the round trip on the gravity railroad. (The technology used by the gravity railroad is the same used by roller coasters.) The four hour ride to the top and the thirty minute downhill became a major American tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the route couldn't survive the great depression. Foreclosed, the only purchaser to show an interest was a scrapper who purchased the system, tore it up for the value of the rails. This card predates the divided back style that allowed for messages. It's addressed to "Miss Grace Book, No 58 fifth st., Bloomsburg, Pa." Postmarked, "MAUCH CHUNK 1905." The rest of the info is obscured. Printer, "H.C. Leighton Co., Portland, Me., Manufacturers of Postal Cards. Made in Germany. No 1130."

The 1931 Polytechnic Tour to Grindelwald, Switzerland 6

I love to hike and backpack, and when I go off into the mountains or across the desert, I prefer not to see other people. And while I've run into some interesting ruins, I also would rather not see man made structures. When I look at old photos, I like to see people, things, and buildings, so I'm happy to get past the scenery of the last two posts. The pictures of the trains are of the Jungfraubahn, a narrow gauge, cog railway with only five stations, Kleine Scheidegg, Eigergletschen, Eigernordwand, Eismeer, and Jungfraujoch, the highest railroad station in Europe. Construction started in 1912, and was finished in 1924. In 1931 a research station and observatory opened at Jungfraujoch. Perhaps that's why the Polytechnic faculty decided to vacation in Switzerland. Look at the second separate image. It's Eve, of course, but who is the man? My guess is that her companion, Jim, handed the camera to a fellow tourist and asked for a snap.

Cape to Cairo

The Cape to Cairo Railway was the vision of Cecil Rhodes. The last 700 miles from the southern to Sudan into Uganda have never been completed. Rhodesia was renamed Zimbabwe after the fall of it's white rule government. Printed on the back of the card

"575 (17023) Lat. 17 S., Long. 26 E. CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY, RHODESIA, AFRICA Africa is indeed the Dark Continent if enlightenment comes with railways. It has very few railroads and, outside the Cape to Cairo branches, these are short. Until 1867 the whole continent had only 40 miles of track.

But European countries wished to tap the natural riches of central Africa. To do this railroads were needed to carry the raw materials to the coast. In the hope of striking through the heart of the continent the Cape to Cairo Railway was planned. The Cape means Cape Town at the Cape of Good Hope. Locate. Cairo is a large city in Egypt, on the Nile, and not far from the Mediterranean Sea. Locate Cairo.

The railroad as planned would follow the general course of the Nile into the Lake Victoria country. It would then go near Lake Tanganyika into Northeast Rhodesia and so on southwest to Cape Town. From Cape Town to Northeast Rhodesia 2,000 miles of the road is built. From Cairo to 100 miles south of Khartum some 1,500 more miles are built. This leaves a gap of 1600 miles yet to do. On a map of Africa dot the route of the Cape to Cairo Railway.

The view here shows the railway near the Zambesi River, just below the Victoria Falls. The bridge is 650 feet long, and is said to be the highest in the world-420 feet above the water. The building is the home of a guard who takes fares from foot passengers who cross the bridge-a shilling per person. How much is a shilling? Study the picture of the bridge. Observe the depth of the gorge through which the Zambesi flows. Notice the plants.

Copyright by The Keystone View Company.

The bridge shown is still in use and a color, aerial shot of the bridge showing Victoria Falls can be seen at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria5.jpg Click on stereoview in the labels section to bring up other stereoview cards as well as more info on The Keystone View Company, the largest stereoview card company in the world.

Old California 3

This is the third and last part of the old California estate collection. Again, this one seems to be a travel collection. There is a lot of emphasis on the ocean. The navel officer is the only picture in this group that is labeled, "P.S. himself." Post script or the initials of the person, and is he a friend of the photographer or the man himself? I've noted before that I love the mystery of old photos, and trying to make some sense of them, but other than service aboard a ship that was armed, there isn't much to learn here. All the harbor shots are more focused on commerce with an emphasis on tugs and harbor transport. Note that behind the steam launch photo, the masts of a sailing ship can be seen; the four masts of a clipper. The paddle wheeler is almost certainly on the Sacramento River, one of the few rivers in California that had commercial boat traffic. The shot from the beach has a flotilla of war ships. The Great White Fleet? The railroad picture is of a crane of the S.P.L.A.& S.L Railroad. That's the San Pedro, Los Angeles, & Salt Lake Railroad, whose main line connected the harbor at San Pedro, now part of Los Angeles to Salt Lake City in Utah. The company no longer exists, but the rail line built by the company is still used. The main visitor's center for the Mojave National Preserve in Kelso, California was a station for the line. While it operated under different names, the S.P.L.A.& S L. name was only used from 1901 to 1916. The antelope picture only made it because of my no editing policy. If a location had been written on the back I might have been able to find out when the last animal died there or if a few still survive, but no location, no research. The twenty mule team shot is interesting. The famous borax wagon teams carrying the mineral from Death Valley to the rail head at Mojave, California only operated from 1883 to 1889 and had two box wagons and a water tank. Same idea for the wagon depicted, but a different set-up. And the flood picture, my guess is the Sacramento delta.

Trains

Not all of my old photos are of people. This is another one of the images that, when I was working in a photo lab, I made copy negs and prints from. The original is an old albumen print, very likely from the late 19th century through the early 20th, and probably made from a glass negative. I 'd love to know where the photographer was standing. The image makes me think that this may have been a professionally made, commissioned image. I imagine that the camera was not a small, hand held one, but one mounted on a tripod. It's difficult to take a quick snap and then step out of the way of an oncoming train with one of those.

Railroad Men

I don't know where this was taken, but it looks like the rail line that crosses the Sierras between Truckee and Sacramento.