Lmst

A century-old draft card, a railroad no one remembered, and handwriting that nearly fooled us. Thanks to some teamwork between genealogist and AI, we uncovered the true story of Harry Lee Williams's railroad career, from the Big Four to the New York Central. A fascinating reminder that even a scribble can carry history. https://jameshoward.us/2025/06/03/the-railroad-was-there-all-along

🛤️ #Genealogy #FamilyHistory #WWIRecords #RailroadHistory #BigFourRailroad

📷 The Opening Ceremony of the #Jerusalem Train Station (Paİestine), September 26, 1892 #RailroadHistory

🚉Explore Matjiesfontein’s historic train station! A cinematic tour to the iconic 1878 station & its museum. As the sun sets, we hand over to SPACE-FRIDAY: Photography webgal.nemethstarproductions.eu/index.php?/c... #Matjiesfontein #RailroadHistory #SpaceFriday #KarooDesert #TravelSouthAfrica #Train

✏️ Drawing of a Station in Hejaz Railway, Probably al-Ula (Near Medina in Arabia), 1908 #RailroadHistory

🚉 Underground Railway in Istanbul, 1875 "Connecting Galata to Pera, the Tünel covers a distance of 573 metres. It was the fourth underground railway ever built and is the second-oldest still in operation in the world." #RailroadHistory

📷 The Bridge at the 454th km of the Hejaz Railway, 1900s #Railroad #RailroadHistory #Train #Railway

📷 Railway Construction in Jaffa (Palestine), 1891 #Jaffa #Railroad #RailroadHistory

Here's a fun bit of #MovieHistory and #RailroadHistory: In the opening scene of the Our Gang short, Pigskin Palooka, Alfalfa arrives home by train. This scene was filmed at Palms Station, in #CulverCity, just a few blocks from the Hal Roach studio, on the line from downtown LA to Santa Monica.
Since this was such a convenient location, it was used in a couple of other Hal Roach productions, including #LaurelAndHardy's Berth Marks.
The station still exists, but has been moved to Heritage Square, an open-air museum in Los Angeles.
Decades later, a modern Palms station was built on the same site (more or less), for the #LAMTA's Expo light rail line.

the old Palms Station, at Heritage Square

Beebe and Clegg's private #railroad car "The Gold Coast" is on display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. They have an online exhibit about them here: https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/cCmepqV9DPQOi

So happy to learn about these out and proud, dapper boys!

#LGBTQHistory #RailroadHistory #RailroadHeritage

Exterior of "The Gold Coast" rail car, a dark green car, inside the railroad museum.

Another angle on the exterior of "The Gold Coast" rail car, a dark green car, inside the railroad museum.

View through the window into the lounge area of the rail car. It's adorned with a plush couch, curtains, and flowers on a table.

A plaque reads "Observation-Lounge. Outfitted with a week's provisions, a chef and porter, Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg traveled thousands of miles during the late 1940s aboard their private car The Gold Coast.

Plaque showing old photos of the gold coast car and the life magazine cover of Lucius Beebe. Plaque reads:

GEORGIA NORTHERN RAILWAY PRIVATE CAR NO. 100

The private car was the late nineteenth century's status symbol and a vehicle for the display of wealth, power, and prestige. "The Gold Coast" is styled after the elegant and opulent cars of that time.

The 100, like most private cars, changed ownership several times. It first appeared in official records in 1905 as a business car for the Central of Georgia Railway, and later saw service on three other southern railroads. Writers Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg purchased the car in 1948 and christened it "The Gold Coast." With the help of a Hollywood interior decorator, they transformed the car to its present appear- ance. Aboard "The Gold Coast," based in the Virginia & Truckee's Carson City yards, Beebe and Clegg wrote several books and entertained friends. In 1954 they presented the car to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.

Built: Central of Georgia Railway(?), ca. 1895 d
Length: 82'
Weight: 156,000 lbs.

Presented by Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Pacific Coast Chapter

I think more people should know the story of Lucius Beebe. He and his boyfriend Charles Clegg owned several luxurious private railway cars starting in the 40's. He was a journalist and noted fashionista who once appeared on the cover of Life magazine.
https://luciusmbeebe.wixsite.com/lucius-beebe/biography

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#LGBTQ #LGBTQHistory #RailroadHistory #RailroadHeritage

Cover of Life Magazine from January 16, 1939 with a photo of Lucius Beebe. Title: "Lucius Beebe sets a style." He has on a dapper outfit including a top hat, blazer, tie, and waistcoat with chain. His hands are gloved and he is holding a cigar.

Ever wonder what early transit in #Oakland looked like?

The Oakland Railroad Company was started by some familiar names: Shattuck, Alden, Delger, and others, and the leadership soon included Emery and Durant.

It started service in 1869, first to the city limits (then at 36th Street) and within a few years it went all the way up Telegraph to Berkeley and the University of California which had just moved from downtown Oakland.

The one horse power cars were slow, so later a "steam dummy" was added for the section from Temescal to Berkeley.

https://oaklandwiki.org/Oakland_Railroad_Company

#OaklandHistory #OaklandWiki #RailroadHistory

undated B&W photo of a horsecar of the Oakland Railroad Company. The conductor-driver is standing near the front, and a horse stands patiently

Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society #nkp765 prepares to pull an excursion train out of Angola, Indiana. #railroadhistory #history #steam

#OnThisDay Stuck in snow drift for 2 days https://medium.com/wombat-daily-news/march-22-1881-stuck-in-the-snow-b5540ffd4a32 #railroadhistory #news

A terrific resource for anyone researching #PullmanPorter ancestors, from the wonderful #Newberry #Genealogy Library in #Chicago:

"Teach with primary sources from the Newberry's collections. This FREE lesson plan teaches students about the #Pullman Company--one of the largest employers of #AfricanAmericans in the early 20th century--and the #porters who worked there."

https://dcc.newberry.org/?p=17946

#BlackHistoryMonth #Genealogydons #AfricanAmericanHistory #Blackmastodon
#BlackHistory #AfricanAmericanStudies
#FamilyHistory #TrainsOfMastodon #Trains #RailroadHistory #RailWorkers #Trainstodon #NewberryLibrary #GenealogySources
#AfricanAmericanGenealogy #ChicagoHistory #BookBans #Education #Teaching #Classrooms #ClassroomResources #BannedBooks

Old Railyard Central Shops and Downtown skyscrapers in Sacramento, California. The Railyard shops, where railway maintenance was once performed, and where locomotives were built, will be converted for reuse in a major development project.
#Photography #RailroadHistory #Monochrome #BlackAndWhite #BlackAndWhitePhotography

Old Railyard Central Shops, no longer in use, in Sacramento, California. The shops are brick with A-frame roofs. Two full facades are visible in the photograph along with a little more than one-quarter of a third facade. Each of the buildings has arched windows and entryways. The windows on each of the buildings are marked by broken out glass panes. The shops were once the sight of railroad maintenance and locomotive building. Upper portions of three downtown skyscrapers are visible behind the Railyard shops.

Partial views of a downtown Sacramento, California skyscraper and an old Railyard Central Shop in which railway maintenance was once performed and locomotives were built.

My grampa J worked 40 years for the New York Central Railroad and five more for what became the Penn Central in 1968: a westbound NYC “milk train,” with a Hudson 4-6-4 locomotive, rolls along the Hudson River west of Peekskill, New York on 16 November, 1946. Photo by Donald Furler. According to his son, Alan, the original 5x7 negative resides in the Donald W. Furler Collection at the Center for Railroad Photography & Art in Madison, Wisconsin.
#NewYorkCentral
#RailroadHistory

Five local railroad workers boarded their train in New Philadelphia early on a Saturday morning in October 1910 for a routine trip to Cleveland and back. Only two of the men would return home alive.

http://noel-poirier.com/2022/11/28/explosion-and-death-on-the-cleveland-pittsburgh-railroad/

#ohiohistory #railroadhistory #localhistory #history @histodons

#RailroadHistory

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