Category Archives: Uncategorized

Here is the famous photograph of the meeting of east and west on the US transcontinental railway in 1869. The picture marks the completion of the first overground route across the US. Rebecca Solnit (2003) identifies this moment as a … Continue reading →

Hollywood actress, Hedy Lamarr, steps off the train.

The sound of the distant freight-train passing in the night is a powerful and emotive element in US popular culture. There are some beautiful sound recordings, here http://uphs.org/the-streamliner/streamliner-extra/hancock-long-bell-3-chime-whistle-recordings/ I especially like the less-than-perfect recordings that are corrupted by echo and … Continue reading →

Here is a beautiful concertina illustrated book by Golden Cosmos for Nobrow Press (2016). Pictures from It’s Nice That. Lovely.

Funny, I don’t think this works as well as the photo I posted earlier. I like the silos though.

Lovelt cab-side sign writing. Holding its own against the machine…

Here is a terrific detail of the 844s enormous driving wheels…just like a Charles Sheeler. Lovely.

Here is a terrific photo of UP844 against a background of blue skies and gigantic trackside agri-engineering. Lovely.

The Union Pacific engine 844 was the last steam loco built in the USA. The engine has been preserved. I like this info-graphic about the loco; although it should be a little more Klutsis… The machine isn’t the biggest loco; … Continue reading →

I found this wonderful photo of the new style containerised freight train for British Rail, circa 1965. You get a great sense of modernity, against the grimy and broken background. Containerisation provides, literally, the building blocks of the global economy. … Continue reading →