Charles Lindbergh and The Spirit of St. Louis

On this day, 81 years ago, May 20–21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh rose from virtual obscurity to world fame as the result of his exploits as the pilot of the first nonstop Transatlantic Flight from New York (Roosevelt Field) to Paris (Le Bourget Field) made in the single seat, single engine aircraft named the "Spirit of St. Louis".

Charles Lindbergh with the Spirit of St. Louis 1927.

Ryan NYP airplane, Dayton, Ohio, August 5, 1927.

Lindbergh with the Spirit of St. Louis 1927. (Photo New York Public Library)

Part of the funding for the Spirit of St. Louis came from Lindbergh's own earnings as an Air Mail pilot over the year before his nonstop flight to Paris. (The Cooper Collections)

Original 1927 French Postcard.

Ryan NYP (Replica) Paris - Le Bourget, France, June 1987.

Program cover for "WE" Banquet for Charles Lindbergh given by the Mayor's Committee on Receptions of the City of New York on June 14, 1927. (The Cooper Collections)

Welcome Home Charles Lindbergh - Original 1927 Lapel Pin Button.

Stamp issued on June 18th, 1927 by the United States Post Office Department as a tribute to Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh.

Charles Lindbergh & wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh - September 13th, 1929.

National Chicle Company - Chewing Gum Trading Card. Copyright 1934.

Ford Tri-Motor (Tin Goose - N7584). First Sold To American Airlines in 1928, this plane was flown by Charles Lindbergh for American Airlines. He flew Henry Ford on his first and only plane ride. This plane was later used in commuter service in the Cleveland area and, around 1980 was sold to a private pilot for tourist rides. Sold at auction in October 1991 for around "ONE MILLION DOLLARS".

Early Streamlined Trains

Preserved Chesapeake & Ohio No. 490 "Class L 4-6-4" steam locomotive showing the streamlining that was applied to passenger train locomotives in the 1920s and 1930s. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, Maryland.

The Comet was a diesel electric streamliner built in 1935 for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Company. Smaller than the other streamliners, it was a three-car, double-ended train that could operate in both directions and thus did not need to be turned at destinations.

It was initially placed into service between Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island on a 44 mile, 44 minute schedule as advertised. This service lasted until the beginning of World War II, when increased traffic volume overwhelmed the capacity of the Comet, after which it was placed on local commuter services around the Boston area. The trainset was withdrawn from service in 1951 and scrapped.

Between 1947–1948, Baldwin built three unique coal-fired steam turbine-electric locomotives, designed for passenger service on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). The 6,000 horsepower units which were equipped with Westinghouse electrical systems were 106 feet long, making them the longest locomotives ever built for passenger service. The cab was mounted in the center, with a coal bunker ahead of it and a backwards mounted boiler behind it.

These locomotives were intended for a route from Washington, D.C. to Cincinnati, Ohio but could never travel the whole route without some sort of failure. Coal dust and water frequently got into the traction motors. While these problems could have been fixed given enough time, it was obvious that these locomotives would always be to expensive to maintain and were considered (at the time) to be complete failures. All three were scrapped in 1950.

New York Central Observation Car at Rensselaer, New York, September 17, 2003. Observation car "Hickory Creek" formerly served on the 20th Century Limited.

The Milwaukee Road has long been noted for its awesome scenery; particularly on the Pacific Extension, which traverses several mountain ranges. When the road's premiere western train, the "Olympian" was re-equipped and renamed the Olympian Hiawatha, they naturally wanted a distinctive observation car for scenic viewing.

The Pullman Company, with noted Industrial Designer Brooks Stevens, came up with a stunning variation of their standard boat tail observation car. The lower part of the rear end, up to just below the window line, is standard in all respects. Above that, an open framework wraps around to create a bubble. The areas between the frame members are fitted with glass, resulting in a lounge that is nearly 90% transparent. There were six identical cars ordered in 1946 and delivered in late 1948 and early 1949 for the Olympian Hiawatha Route between Chicago and Tacoma, Washington.

U.S. Air Force F-104 Starfighter

On this day 50 years ago in 1958 the F-104 Starfighter, a supersonic interceptor aircraft, set a world speed record of 1404.19 mph. (Photos courtesy of the United States Air Force Museum)

Armed Forces Day

President Harry S. Truman led the effort to establish a single holiday for citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country.

On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Days. The single day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one department, the Department of Defense.

The Santa Fe Railway "SUPERCHIEF"

This is an original 2 page magazine advertisement from the 1950's. I have stitched it together to form a great wallpaper for your desktop.

The following pictures are from my friends at RailPictures.Net and depict the types of F series diesel locomotives manufactured by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors used on the "Superchief" trains.

1953 Barstow, California

1964 Dearborn Station Chicago, Illinois

1967 Chicago, Illinois

1968 Stockton Depot, Stockton, California

1970 Belen, New Mexico

1973 ATSF Depot, San Diego, California