Transportation

Americans have always been a people on the move—on rails, roads, and waterways (for travel through the air, visit the National Air and Space Museum). In the transportation collections, railroad objects range from tools, tracks, and many train models to the massive 1401, a 280-ton locomotive built in 1926. Road vehicles include coaches, buggies, wagons, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and automobiles—from the days before the Model T to modern race cars. The accessories of travel are part of the collections, too, from streetlights, gas pumps, and traffic signals to goggles and overcoats.

In the maritime collections, more than 7,000 design plans and scores of ship models show the evolution of sailing ships and other vessels. Other items range from scrimshaw, photographs, and marine paintings to life jackets from the Titanic.

The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. This model was likely built around then. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship.
Description
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. This model was likely built around then. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled. This model came to the Smithsonian from the New York City offices of the United States Lines in 1952.
date made
ca 1914
used date
1914-1938
ID Number
TR.314250
catalog number
314250
accession number
196508
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token from 1924-1938. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token from 1924-1938. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and transportation tokens. George W. Gibbs was the President of the Florida Ferry Company, located in Jacksonville, Florida. There is a hole punched in the center of the token, obscuring the reverse legend.
Obverse: The legend reads: FLORIDA/FERRY COMPANY
Reverse: The legend reads: Geo. W. Gibbs/President.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924 - 1938
referenced
Florida Ferry Company
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1370
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1370
Beginning in 1935, the Simplex Manufacturing Corporation of New Orleans made motorbikes, which were smaller and lighter than motorcycles. Their simple designs made personal transportation accessible to young people and adults.
Description
Beginning in 1935, the Simplex Manufacturing Corporation of New Orleans made motorbikes, which were smaller and lighter than motorcycles. Their simple designs made personal transportation accessible to young people and adults. Owners found many uses for Servi-Cycles, including errands, pleasure rides, and package delivery using a three-wheeled model. Top speed was 40 miles per hour, and average cruising speed was 30 miles per hour. Postwar sales were strong, but Servi-Cycle sales declined in the 1950s because of the growing popularity of imported motor scooters. Simplex ended motorbike production in 1960 but made motor scooters until 1972, when the company went out of business.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1935
maker
Simplex Manufacturing Company
ID Number
TR.317365
accession number
230387
catalog number
317365
By 1943, the outlook for an Allied victory in World War II was steadily improving. The reign of the U-boats that had plagued Allied convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic was coming to an end.
Description
By 1943, the outlook for an Allied victory in World War II was steadily improving. The reign of the U-boats that had plagued Allied convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic was coming to an end. And the Axis powers were finally losing the tonnage war, which aimed to sink Allied merchant ships faster than replacements could be built. While the mass-produced Liberty ships were faithfully carrying cargo and troops to war zones, these ships were relatively slow. In response, the War Shipping Administration commissioned a new class of emergency vessels called Victory ships. This model represents one of the 534 Victory ships that were built alongside the Liberty ships in seven shipyards around the country.
Speed was the key difference between the Victory and Liberty ships. When Liberty ships were designed, all of the new steam turbine engines were reserved for naval vessels, leaving the Liberty ships with reciprocating steam engines. While these engines were reliable, the ships could only reach 11 knots, leaving them vulnerable to attack. As the war progressed, more turbine engines became available and were installed in the Victory ships, giving them a speed of over 16 knots.
Another improvement of the Victory design was a stronger and larger hull. This meant that more cargo could be transported at once, and improved the odds of the vessels continuing to serve in the merchant fleet during times of peace. After World War II, 170 Victory ships were sold as commercial freighters. About 20 were loaned back to the military and used in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Several Victory ships have been preserved as museum ships and are currently located in California and Florida.
date made
early 1940s
commissioned Victory ships like the ones this model represents
War Shipping Administration
ID Number
TR.313023
catalog number
TR*313023
accession number
170015
This key opened the outside door to the Leviathan's kennel, a small wood shed on the aft boat deck in her first-class accommodation.The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914.
Description
This key opened the outside door to the Leviathan's kennel, a small wood shed on the aft boat deck in her first-class accommodation.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1923
used date
1923-1938
ID Number
1991.0856.27
catalog number
1991.0856.27
accession number
1991.0856
This telegraph was used to communicate speed and direction orders from the wheelhouse of the ocean liner Leviathan to one of its engine rooms.
Description
This telegraph was used to communicate speed and direction orders from the wheelhouse of the ocean liner Leviathan to one of its engine rooms. Most modern ships have a throttle, but for steamers it was necessary for the pilot to contact the engine room with instructions for the engineer that were relayed to the boilermen. This telegraph would signal full, half, slow, dead slow, finished with engine, and stop—both astern and ahead.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1923
used date
1923-1938
ID Number
1991.0856.40
catalog number
1991.0856.40
accession number
1991.0856
This butter dish, substantially similar to another one from Leviathan in the Smithsonian's collections (1991.0856.37), is decorated with the emblem adopted by the new owners of the United States Lines in 1929.The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamb
Description
This butter dish, substantially similar to another one from Leviathan in the Smithsonian's collections (1991.0856.37), is decorated with the emblem adopted by the new owners of the United States Lines in 1929.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1929
used date
1929-1931
maker
International Silver Company
ID Number
1991.0856.38
catalog number
1991.0856.38
accession number
1991.0856
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token from 1924-1938. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token from 1924-1938. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and transportation tokens. George W. Gibbs was the President of the Florida Ferry Company, located in Jacksonville, Florida.
Obverse: The legend reads: FLORIDA/FERRY COMPANY
Reverse: The legend reads: Geo. W. Gibbs/President.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924 - 1938
referenced
Florida Ferry Company
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1369
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1369
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token during the 1920s. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token during the 1920s. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and transportation tokens. Three sections in the center of the token are punched out.
Obverse: The legend reads: KEY SYSTEM/KST/TRANSIT CO.
Reverse: The legend reads: GOOD FOR/KST/ONE FARE
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
referenced
Key System Transit Co.
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1399
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1399
The Good Humor truck is one of the best known symbols of food vending on wheels. In the early 1920s, Harry Burt, Sr., the proprietor of an ice cream parlor in Youngstown, Ohio, created a chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream bar on a stick with the help of his son, Harry Burt, Jr.
Description
The Good Humor truck is one of the best known symbols of food vending on wheels. In the early 1920s, Harry Burt, Sr., the proprietor of an ice cream parlor in Youngstown, Ohio, created a chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream bar on a stick with the help of his son, Harry Burt, Jr. Good Humor bars were peddled in gleaming white refrigerated trucks by driver / salesmen in white uniforms; a set of bells announced the truck’s presence. Other businessmen soon established Good Humor franchises in major cities. The Smithsonian’s 1938 Chevrolet truck was used in the Boston area.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1938
maker
Chevrolet Motor Car Company
ID Number
2000.0264.01
accession number
2000.0264
catalog number
2000.0264.01
In the late 1920s and 1930s, Chrysler Corporation successfully marketed Plymouth as a low-priced rival to Ford and Chevrolet. Strong sales of the new make constituted a bright spot in the automotive industry during the Depression.
Description
In the late 1920s and 1930s, Chrysler Corporation successfully marketed Plymouth as a low-priced rival to Ford and Chevrolet. Strong sales of the new make constituted a bright spot in the automotive industry during the Depression. Plymouth stood at number three in production volume by 1931, and output reached a half million cars per year five years later. Several other auto manufacturers had introduced "companion" makes in the 1920s, but only Plymouth achieved high volume and found a lasting place in the market.
The streamlined styling of the 1939 Plymouth is among the best examples of art deco automotive form and ornamentation developed in the 1930s. The P-8 Deluxe Coupe was among the first cars that featured a gearshift lever on the steering column instead of its traditional location on the floor.
The coupe body became popular in the late 1920s, when more people were shopping for closed cars at low prices. Coupes were popular among traveling salesmen, young people, single women, and others who needed room for only one or two people. Open runabouts and roadsters preceded coupes and evolved into sporty convertibles. The word "coupe" is French for "cut," meaning a standard vehicle cut in size. It was first applied to downsized horse-drawn carriages that held one or two passengers.
date made
1939
maker
Chrysler Corporation
Plymouth Motor Corporation (Division of Chrysler Corporation)
ID Number
2003.0223.01
accession number
2003.0223
catalog number
2003.0223.01
Made in Fort Wayne Indiana, this gasoline pump sold "Red Crown" gasoline, a brand produced by Standard Oil of Indiana.
Description
Made in Fort Wayne Indiana, this gasoline pump sold "Red Crown" gasoline, a brand produced by Standard Oil of Indiana. Consumers could see how much gas was pumped as the arrow moved around the face dial.
As Americans began to drive gasoline-fueled cars in large numbers, oil companies and gasoline stations created technologies and systems to fulfill the demands of consumers. By the 1930s, pumps were the recognizable ancestors of the ones we use today.
Date made
1930
date made
1932
distributor
Amoco
maker
Wayne Oil Tank & Pump Company
ID Number
TR.326809
accession number
265699
catalog number
326809
This bus carried rural children to the Martinsburg, Indiana school in the 1940s. Busing enabled children to attend consolidated schools, which were larger than one-room schools and had better curricula, teachers, and facilities.
Description
This bus carried rural children to the Martinsburg, Indiana school in the 1940s. Busing enabled children to attend consolidated schools, which were larger than one-room schools and had better curricula, teachers, and facilities. All-steel school buses like this one were safer than earlier school buses, which had wooden bodies. The paint color, double deep orange, was common at the time, but yellow later became the standard color for school buses. This body was built by Carpenter Body Works of Mitchell, Indiana in 1936 and later was attached to a 1939 Dodge chassis.
date made
ca 1936-1939
used date
1936-1946
maker
Carpenter Body Works, Inc.
Dodge Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1982.0600.01
accession number
1982.0600
catalog number
1982.0600.01
Although dry cargo freighters like the Liberty and Victory ships are probably the best-known emergency vessels of World War II, oil tankers were also mass produced in American shipyards and played an important role in the Allied victory.
Description
Although dry cargo freighters like the Liberty and Victory ships are probably the best-known emergency vessels of World War II, oil tankers were also mass produced in American shipyards and played an important role in the Allied victory. This model represents the most common type of tanker, T2-SE-A1, a commercial design that before the war started was already being constructed by the Sun Shipbuilding Company for Standard Oil. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Maritime Commission recognized that wet cargo like oil and machine lubricants would be just as necessary as guns and ammunition. The commission ordered this design to be built, in addition to the dry cargo designs.
Like the Victory ship, the T2 tanker was outfitted with a steam turbine engine that gave the vessel a speed of over 14 knots. Tankers were also built at some of the same shipyards as the other merchant vessels, and experienced a similar construction time average of about 70 days. But unlike the Victory or Liberty ships, no T2 tankers have survived to become museum ships, and only one remains afloat in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, mothballed in Beaumont, Texas.
date made
early 1940s
built tankers typical to this model
Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
purchased tankers typical to this model
Standard Oil
ID Number
TR.313036
catalog number
313036
accession number
173712
The Otto Reinhardt Fahrrad-fabrik, of Bielefeld, Germany built this Reinhardt bicycle in 1935. Donor Fred Birchmore purchased the bicycle for 67 Reichsmarks in Gotha, Germany. Mr.
Description
The Otto Reinhardt Fahrrad-fabrik, of Bielefeld, Germany built this Reinhardt bicycle in 1935. Donor Fred Birchmore purchased the bicycle for 67 Reichsmarks in Gotha, Germany. Mr. Birchmore nicknamed the bicycle, "Bucephalus" after Alexander the Great's horse and rode it “around the world”—through western Europe, eastern Europe, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Siam, Indochina, and the Philippines—over the next two years. Birchmore estimated that his travels covered approximately 40,000 miles, of which about 25,000 were on the bicycle, and the rest by boat. Approximately four saddle covers and seven sets of tires were worn out during the journey.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1935
maker
Fahrradfabrik Otto Reinhardt
ID Number
TR.311533
catalog number
311533
accession number
148650
Although not marked, this key is reputed to be from the brig, or jail cell, of the ocean liner Leviathan.
Description
Although not marked, this key is reputed to be from the brig, or jail cell, of the ocean liner Leviathan. According to collector and historian Frank Braynard, the key's donor, it hung on a wood plaque for many years in the model shop of the New York naval architecture firm of Gibbs and Cox, the company that renovated the Leviathan for American passenger service in 1922-23. Presumably, it came to be there after the ship was scrapped in Scotland after 1938.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1923
used date
1923-1938
ID Number
1991.0856.26
catalog number
1991.0856.26
accession number
1991.0856
In the early nineteenth century, lighthouses in the United States were considered inferior to those in France and England.
Description
In the early nineteenth century, lighthouses in the United States were considered inferior to those in France and England. American mariners complained about the quality of the light emanating from local lighthouse towers, arguing that European lighthouses were more effective at shining bright beams of light over long distances. While American lighthouses relied on lamps and mirrors to direct mariners, European lighthouses were equipped with compact lenses that could shine for miles.
In 1822, French scientist Augustin-Jean Fresnel was studying optics and light waves. He discovered that by arranging a series of lenses and prisms into the shape of a beehive, the strength of lighthouse beams could be improved. His lens—known as the Fresnel lens—diffused light into beams that could be visible for miles. Fresnel designed his lenses in several different sizes, or orders. The first order lens, meant for use in coastal lighthouses, was the largest and the strongest lens. The sixth order lens was the smallest, designed for use in small harbors and ports.
By the 1860s, all of the lighthouses in the United States were fitted with Fresnel lenses. This lens came from a lighthouse on Bolivar Point, near Galveston, Texas. Galveston was the largest and busiest port in nineteenth-century Texas. Having a lighthouse here was imperative – the mouth of the bay provided entry to Houston and Texas City, as well as inland waterways. The Bolivar Point Light Station had second and third order Fresnel lenses over the years; this third order lens was installed in 1907. Its light could be seen from 17 miles away.
On 16-17 August 1915, a severe hurricane hit Galveston. As the storm grew worse, fifty to sixty people took refuge in the Bolivar Point Light Station. Around 9:15 PM, the light’s turning mechanism broke, forcing assistant lighthouse keeper J.B. Brooks to turn the Fresnel lens by hand. By 10 PM, the vibrations from the hurricane were so violent that Brooks began to worry the lens might shatter. He ceased turning the lens, trimmed the lamp wicks and worked to maintain a steady light through the night. The next morning, Brooks left the lighthouse to find Bolivar Point nearly swept away by the water.
Bolivar Point Light Station used this Fresnel lens until 1933. It was donated to the Smithsonian Institution by the National Park Service.
date made
1822
late 1800s
all United States lighthouses outfitted with Fresnel lenses
1860s
lens used during a severe hurricane at Bolivar Point
1917-08-16 - 1917-08-17
donated to Smithsonian
1933
inventor
Fresnel, Augustin Jean
ID Number
TR.335567
catalog number
335567
accession number
1977.0626
The 140’-long sternwheel ferry Kiwanis was built at Dubuque, Iowa in 1923. Owned by the Cairo City Ferry Company, the Kiwanis operated locally between Dubuque and Birds Point, Mo. until a bridge across the Mississippi River at that location put the line out of business.
Description
The 140’-long sternwheel ferry Kiwanis was built at Dubuque, Iowa in 1923. Owned by the Cairo City Ferry Company, the Kiwanis operated locally between Dubuque and Birds Point, Mo. until a bridge across the Mississippi River at that location put the line out of business. Across from Cairo, Ill., Birds Point had been a major river and railroad crossroads for cotton in the 19th century.
The Kiwanis was bought by Cincinnati’s Greene Line Steamers in 1930 and operated as a cargo freighter transporting agricultural and manufactured products up and down the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Huntington, W. Va. from 1933 to 1943. In 1936, it was rebuilt and renamed Evergreene.
The Evergreene was sold in 1943 to Cincinnati riverboat captain John Beatty. In 1948 it was bought by the Merchant Paving Company and became a sand dredge. It later sank near Louisville, Ky. and was dismantled.
This wheel is from the Kiwanis’s original CCFC service as a Mississippi River ferry. Standing high above the vessel’s deck, the river pilot steered by standing to one side of the wheel or the other.
date made
1923
ID Number
TR.336870
accession number
1979.0314
catalog number
TR*336870
A souvenir pin from the ocean liner Leviathan, sporting the house flag adopted by the new owners of the United States Lines in late 1931.The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914.
Description
A souvenir pin from the ocean liner Leviathan, sporting the house flag adopted by the new owners of the United States Lines in late 1931.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1932
used date
1932-1934
ID Number
1991.0856.33
catalog number
1991.0856.33
accession number
1991.0856
This is a Rhodes spring-driven Pathfinder Model Mark-Time parking. M. H. Rhodes added parking meters to its line of household and industrial timing devices in the mid-1930s.
Description
This is a Rhodes spring-driven Pathfinder Model Mark-Time parking. M. H. Rhodes added parking meters to its line of household and industrial timing devices in the mid-1930s. This manual parking meter showed the number of minutes an automobile was parked over the time limit.
Oklahoma City installed the first coin-operated parking meters in 1935, a practice soon adopted by other cities. Parking meters placed along curb lanes were meant to increase turnover, help enforce violations, reduce traffic congestion resulting from inadequate or haphazard parking spaces, and add much-needed revenue to municipal treasuries. City officials believed that parking meters were necessary to cope with the influx of automobiles into downtown areas and give more motorists access to stores and other businesses. But motorists and merchants challenged the legality of meters, claiming that they annoyed shoppers, deprived merchants and their employees of access to their front doors, and imposed an unfair tax on right-of-ways that were open to all. Most of the legal challenges failed, but meters were removed in several cities, and hours of enforcement were shortened in others. As parking meters proved their compatibility with downtown traffic and their success at increasing revenue, meters became an accepted way to regulate curb parking and fund traffic-related improvements as well as general municipal expenses.
date made
late 1930s
ID Number
1988.0814.19
accession number
1988.0814
catalog number
1988.0814.19
Reflectors are small fixtures that outline vehicles, signs, and road surfaces and help prevent collisions at night. In the mid-1920s, Jonathan Cass Stimson, a St.
Description
Reflectors are small fixtures that outline vehicles, signs, and road surfaces and help prevent collisions at night. In the mid-1920s, Jonathan Cass Stimson, a St. Louis inventor, patented an improved “central triple reflector” with angled, cube-shaped cells that reflect light rays back to their source regardless of direction. He formed two companies to manufacture reflectors of this type and sold them to many customers, including General Motors, Ford, and other automobile manufacturers. His early reflectors were made of glass, but he made the transition to plastic and coined the name Stimsonite for his plastic reflectors. Stimson reflectors were widely used on automobile tail lights, highway signs, guard rails, road flares, railroad signals and yards, airport signs, marine beacons, bicycle fenders, and other applications.
date made
ca 1935
maker
Stimson Reflector Company
ID Number
1997.0243.30
catalog number
1997.0243.30
accession number
1997.0243
This is a model of the Chicago, Quincy and Burlington Railroad’s Burlington Zephyr, a streamlined diesel-powered passenger train built in 1934.
Description
This is a model of the Chicago, Quincy and Burlington Railroad’s Burlington Zephyr, a streamlined diesel-powered passenger train built in 1934. This model is part of the collection displayed in the museum’s Railroad Hall exhibit of 1964-2002 to illustrate the technological development of the locomotive.
Named for the Greek god of the west wind, the Zephyr was an attempt to bolster passenger traffic, which had declined during the depths of the Great Depression. Completed in April of 1934, the train created a sensation; its shiny, sleek steel body was a dramatic contrast to the drab, conventional locomotives and cars of the period. The Zephyr made a special run from Denver to Chicago averaging over 77 mph with bursts up to 112. It was subsequently displayed at the Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago. After the fair, the train was assigned to the 500 mile run between Lincoln and Kansas City, Nebraska. The Zephyr performed so well that the Chicago, Quincy and Burlington Railroad ordered additional trains for other routes. To distinguish it from its sisters, the original was renamed the Pioneer Zephyr. Operating expenses were given as 31 cents per mile, or one half that of a conventional steam-powered train.
The Budd Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia constructed the Zephyr. The train was made up of three permanently attached cars. The foremost contained the engine room, cab, and separate mail and baggage sections. The second car had an additional baggage compartment, a kitchen and a smoking compartment. The third contained seating and an observation lounge in the rear. The three-car train measured 197 feet long and weighed about 100 tons, significantly smaller and lighter than contemporary passenger trains.
The original Zephyr continued in service until February 1960 when, after operating some 3.2 million miles, it was retired to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The Zephyr’s original diesel engine survives in the Smithsonian collection.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1934
ca. 1934
used date
1934
ID Number
TR.321897
catalog number
321897
accession number
247887
C.A. Walters, an executive at Simpson, Spence & Young, the ship brokerage that sold the ocean liner Leviathan to the Scotish shipbreakers in 1938, acquired this condenser gauge from the ship's engine plant.
Description
C.A. Walters, an executive at Simpson, Spence & Young, the ship brokerage that sold the ocean liner Leviathan to the Scotish shipbreakers in 1938, acquired this condenser gauge from the ship's engine plant. He had it mounted on a wooden stand and presented it as a gift for to his daughter Katherine's boyfriend Leslie Stratton, Jr. Stratton, many years later, gave it to historian Frank Braynard, who in turn presented it to the Smithsonian.
The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany's Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1923
used date
1923-1938
ID Number
1991.0856.18
catalog number
1991.0856.18
accession number
1991.0856
The nation's first network of highways, built in the late 1920s and 1930s, created new opportunities for motorists and small business owners. It also created a perception that highways benefited ordinary Americans, enhancing their personal lives and giving them more freedom.
Description
The nation's first network of highways, built in the late 1920s and 1930s, created new opportunities for motorists and small business owners. It also created a perception that highways benefited ordinary Americans, enhancing their personal lives and giving them more freedom. These advantages contrasted with railroads, which benefited corporations and allowed them to control people's movements and the cost of their travels. In 2000, Oklahoma truckers moved 50 feet of concrete pavement from U.S. 66 to the collections of the National Museum of American History to mark the significance of U.S. numbered highways, and Route 66 as a prime example.
In 1926, almost 60 years after the first transcontinental railroad was completed, U. S. 66 was conceived as a public thoroughfare linking the Midwest, Southwest, and southern California. Its all-season route soon brought heavy traffic. Motorists and business owners adapted Route 66 for their needs and oriented their lives around it. Some earned a living by driving a truck or operating a roadside business, while others enjoyed leisure trips, advertised products, or moved to new homes. Clusters of roadside buildings made Route 66 the main street of a new community—one that was of, by, and for people on the move.
Route 66 also served as a conduit for mass migrations of workers, farmers, and their families who saw the highway as a path to a better life. During the Depression, Midwesterners saw it as a way out of hard times and failed farms, and they followed it to seek jobs in the Southwest and California. G.I.s traveled to defense camps during World War II, and after the war they settled in new homes nearby. Hordes of vacationers followed the advice of songwriters Bobby and Cynthia Troup: "Get your kicks on Route 66." Americans relied on Route 66 to change their circumstances for the better, and the highway earned a special place in American culture. Today, historians commemorate its importance.
Date made
1932
ID Number
2000.3074.01.01
catalog number
2000.3074.01.01
nonaccession number
2000.3074

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