Transportation

1955 Ford Country Squire

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.

Date: 1930s

Model, Liberty Ship

This model represents one of the 2,710 Liberty ships built during World War II. The designation EC2-S-C1 was the standard designation of the dry cargo Liberty ships that were used by the United States Merchant Marine to transport nearly anything needed by the Allies.
Description
This model represents one of the 2,710 Liberty ships built during World War II. The designation EC2-S-C1 was the standard designation of the dry cargo Liberty ships that were used by the United States Merchant Marine to transport nearly anything needed by the Allies. Whether in Europe, Africa, or the Pacific, most of the essential supplies arrived on ships, including tanks, ammunition, fuel, food, toilet paper, cigarettes, and even the troops themselves. Manning these vessels was a dangerous task, as the merchant vessels faced tremendous losses from submarines, mines, destroyers, aircraft, kamikaze fighters, and the unpredictable elements of the various destinations. One in 26 merchant mariners died during the war, a higher fatality rate than that of any branch of the armed forces.
Even before the United States was officially involved in World War II, shipyards on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts were building Liberty ships. Drawing from lessons learned at Hog Island in the First World War, Liberty ships were standardized and designed to be built quickly and efficiently. Using new welding technology, workers pieced together prefabricated sections in assembly-line fashion. This largely replaced the labor-intensive method of riveting, while lowering the cost and speeding up production. While it took about 230 days to build one Liberty ship in the first year, the average construction time eventually dropped to 42 days, with three new ships being launched each day in 1943.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt attended the launching of the first Liberty ship on September 27, 1941, at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland. The ship was the SS Patrick Henry, named after the Revolutionary War hero whose famous “Give me Liberty or give me Death!” speech inspired the ships’ nickname. At the launching of the first “ugly duckling,” the President’s name for the stout and functional Liberty ships, he praised the shipyard workers: “With every new ship, they are striking a telling blow at the menace to our nation and the liberty of the free peoples of the world.” President Roosevelt proclaimed that these ships would help to bring a new kind of liberty to people around the world.
date made
early 1940s
launching of first Liberty Ship, SS Patrick Henry
1941-09-27
attended first launching
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
ID Number
TR.313022
accession number
170015
catalog number
313022

Electric Streetcar, Capital Traction Co. # 303

The American Car Company of St. Louis, Missouri, built this 4-wheel, electric motor cars built for Capital Traction Company of Washington, D.C.
Description
The American Car Company of St. Louis, Missouri, built this 4-wheel, electric motor cars built for Capital Traction Company of Washington, D.C. The car was one of sixteen, and was designated number 303 and assigned to the 7th Street line, which ran from the Wharves to Boundary (now Florida Avenue). This car was used as a motor car and regularly pulled a light trailer car until its retirement from regular service in 1913. Single-truck cars like this one were replaced by larger, more comfortable double truck cars.
The first Washington streetcars were horse-drawn and went into service in 1862, much later than New York, Boston, or Philadelphia. Electric cars first appeared in 1888, and, by the turn of the century, nearly 200 miles of line were in operation. As in other large American cities, street-car traffic began to fall off in the 1920s because of the automobile. Large-scale abandonment began in the late 1950s, and early in 1962 the last streetcar ceased operation in the nation's capital.
Because overhead wires were not permitted in the District of Columbia, an underground conduit system at the track's center was employed for electrical collection. Washington was one of the few cities in the world to use an underground conduit. The streetcar therefore has an extension affixed to the underside of the car that connected with an electric conduit between the trolley tracks.
The wood car body is painted yellow and white with gold and black striping. The interior is mahogany and has two longitudinal seats. Above each interior door is a fair counter. There is a controller and brake on each platform.
Date made
1898
Associated Date
Era 7: The Emergence of Modern America
era 6 period association
Era 6:
era 7 period association
Era 7:
user
American Car Company
maker
American Car Company
ID Number
TR.335091
catalog number
335091
accession number
252681

Navigational Bell Buoy

Unlike car drivers on land, navigators at sea have no road signs to indicate speed limits, dangers, or routes. Navigational buoys are floating objects anchored to the bottom that serve as aids to navigation.
Description
Unlike car drivers on land, navigators at sea have no road signs to indicate speed limits, dangers, or routes. Navigational buoys are floating objects anchored to the bottom that serve as aids to navigation. Their distinctive shapes, colors, and other markings provide information indicating their purpose and how to navigate around them.
The placement and maintenance of navigational buoys are essential to shipping, since they often provide the only guidance for channel locations, shoals, reefs, and other hazards. If damaged by collisions, extinguished, or broken loose from their moorings, the Coast Guard will repair, replace, refuel, or relocate the failed buoy.
Designated an 8X20 LBR, this particular type of buoy was used by the U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouse Service on the East Coast from around 1930 until the early 1950s. It measures 8 feet in width and 20 feet high, and the letters mean Lighted, Bell, and Radar Reflector. It originally weighed ca. 15,600 pounds, including the 225-lb bell. The bottom of this example was removed to fit into the gallery.
It was designed to be deployed in shallow, protected coastal waters and could be seen about two miles away in daylight. The light on the top was powered by batteries stored under the round hatches in the large bottom compartment. The bell was rung by the rocking of the buoy in the waves.
ID Number
TR.336771
accession number
1978.2285
catalog number
336771

Leveling the Brazilian Strategic Highway

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940s
maker
Associated Press
ID Number
2013.0327.0778
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0778

Electric powered vehicles in Russia

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1945
ID Number
2013.0327.0997
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0997

Test Run of Vista Dome Railcar

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1945
ID Number
2013.0327.0978
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0978

The Gray Line Sight Seeing Tours

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1935
ca 1920
printer
Allied Printing Trades Council
graphic artist
B. Schwartz & Company
ID Number
2013.0133.02
accession number
2013.0133
catalog number
2013.0133.02

camel drawn wagon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940s
maker
Associated Press
ID Number
2013.0327.0788
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0788

toy, bus

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1933
ID Number
1971.295669.711
accession number
295669
catalog number
295669.711

toy, bus

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1933
maker
Arcade Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1971.295669.736
catalog number
295669.736
accession number
295669

Painting of the Matilda Wattenbach

Matilda Wattenbach was built under special Lloyd's Registry of Shipping survey in 1853 by Frederick C. Clark in Jersey, England for J.J Helhuish and T.H.A. Wattenbach. The ship measured 210 feet in length, 35 feet in beam, 20 feet in depth of hold, and 1,058 tons.
Description
Matilda Wattenbach was built under special Lloyd's Registry of Shipping survey in 1853 by Frederick C. Clark in Jersey, England for J.J Helhuish and T.H.A. Wattenbach. The ship measured 210 feet in length, 35 feet in beam, 20 feet in depth of hold, and 1,058 tons. It first appears in Lloyd's Register in 1854. The Matilda Wattenback was a metal-sheathed vessel that traded between Great Britain and New Zealand and later participated in the China trade. In 1864 the ship's name changed to Race Horse.
The painting shows a front view of the ship under full sail from off the port bow. Montague Dawson (1895-1973) was a British painter whose father and grandfather were also well-known artists. During World War I he illustrated naval engagements. After the war, he specialized in the portrayal of clipper ships in full sail.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1935-1937
maker
Dawson, Montague
ID Number
2005.0279.016
accession number
2005.0279
catalog number
2005.0279.016

Caliper

A fairly crude caliper like this one was used for approximate measurements only, during the "rough" cutting of a diameter down to size. In the final, fine stage of a lathe cut, a much more precise caliper was used.
Description
A fairly crude caliper like this one was used for approximate measurements only, during the "rough" cutting of a diameter down to size. In the final, fine stage of a lathe cut, a much more precise caliper was used. A large caliper like this one was used by a machinist when operating a large lathe or vertical boring mill, making very large parts. The lathe might be an immense wheel lathe, one that "trued" the wheel treads of locomotive and railroad-car wheels. Or it might be a lathe for axles, in which the outer ends of each axle were machined for later fitting of wheels by a wheel press.
This tool is part of a collection of hand tools used in the inspection and repair of steam locomotives in Salisbury, North Carolina from the early- to the mid-20th century, roughly 1900-1955. Light repairs on steam locomotives were usually done in roundhouses at the many small locomotive terminals throughout a railroad's system; heavy repairs were done in a large, centralized repair shop serving the whole system (often referred to as the "Back Shop").
Date made
1930s
date made
ca. 1930s
Associated Date
1820-Present
maker
unknown
ID Number
2002.0075.05
accession number
2002.0075
catalog number
2002.0075.05

Ship Model of the barque Loch Torridon

Loch Torridon was built in 1881 by Barclay, Curle & Company in Glasgow, Scotland. It measured 312 feet in length, 42 feet in beam, 24 feet in depth of hold, and 2,081 tons. It was one of the best known, fastest, and most graceful 4-masted barques of the British merchant marine.
Description
Loch Torridon was built in 1881 by Barclay, Curle & Company in Glasgow, Scotland. It measured 312 feet in length, 42 feet in beam, 24 feet in depth of hold, and 2,081 tons. It was one of the best known, fastest, and most graceful 4-masted barques of the British merchant marine. Lock Torridon carried cargo and passengers between Glasgow and Calcutta. It was first under the command of Captain Pinder until 1882, when Captain Pattman took command. In 1912 it was sold to Russia, and on 24 January 1915 it was abandoned in sinking condition in 51.35N 12.28W (English Channel), while on a timber voyage from Fredrikstad to Geelong. The entire crew and the captain's terrier were saved by the steamer Orduna of Liverpool on a trip from Halifax to Liverpool.
The model was built ca. 1930 on a scale of 1/12 inches to the foot and is correct in all details and rigging. The British naval architect and mate of the original vessel verified the plans and fittings. Model builder J.S. Kamp was a member of the Philadelphia Ship Model Society and spent over 3000 hours were spent constructing the scratch-built model.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
maker
Kamp, J. S.
ID Number
2005.0279.069
accession number
2005.0279
catalog number
2005.0279.069

The Rebel

Flat, rectangular plastic card in white with red and blue print. On the front is an image of the Rebel, a red, silver, and blue train, and a calendar for 1935. On the reverse is a map of Gulf, Mobile & Northern Railroad's routes.
Description (Brief)
Flat, rectangular plastic card in white with red and blue print. On the front is an image of the Rebel, a red, silver, and blue train, and a calendar for 1935. On the reverse is a map of Gulf, Mobile & Northern Railroad's routes. Traffic offices include: Birmingham; Chicago; Detroit; Jackson, Mississippi; Jackson, Tennessee; Kansas City; Memphis; Meridian; Mobile; New Orleans; New York; Pittsburgh; and St. Louis.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1935
advertiser
Gulf, Mobile & Northern Railroad
maker
Whitehead & Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0616
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0616

Pneumatic Grease Gun

The Alemite Company manufactured this pneumatically powered grease guns during the 1930s. An Alemite gun was designed to inject hard or soft grease quickly into a machinery bearing.
Description
The Alemite Company manufactured this pneumatically powered grease guns during the 1930s. An Alemite gun was designed to inject hard or soft grease quickly into a machinery bearing. (Regular greasing of such bearings was needed to prevent friction and bearing failure.) The pneumatically operated gun required a special Alemite "fitting," designed to mate tightly with the business end of the gun, to be installed at every location where grease was to flow from the gun to an internal bearing surface.
The gun, and the fittings, provided a tremendous labor-saving improvement over previous methods of greasing critical internal bearings. In a locomotive roundhouse, a greasing crew of two men could lubricate all the rod bearings of a given locomotive in 20-30 minutes (depending on the size of the locomotive) instead of the hours required previously. A large steam locomotive, running in heavy duty on a railroad, required rod greasing approximately every 100 miles. Such greasing was usually done at a terminal, when a fresh load of fuel was put into the tender and other servicing performed on the locomotive.
Date made
1930s
date made
ca. 1930s
maker
Alemite Company
ID Number
2002.0129.01
catalog number
2002.0129.01
accession number
2002.0129

E-Deck Plaque, S.S. Leviathan

Brass plaque with raised letters reading “E-DECK.”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.
Description
Brass plaque with raised letters reading “E-DECK.”
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
1991.0856.16
catalog number
1991.0856.16
accession number
1991.0856

Jump Rope

Child’s jump rope with green wooden handles connected by a green, brown, and white woven cotton rope.
Description
Child’s jump rope with green wooden handles connected by a green, brown, and white woven cotton rope.
date made
ca 1930s
ID Number
1991.0267.03
catalog number
1991.0267.03
accession number
1991.0267

1934 Ford Roadster

Streamlined cars of the 1930s appeared to be on the cutting edge of machine age technology and symbols of modernity and speed. Automobile manufacturers discovered that modern styling attracted motorists as much as mechanical performance.
Description
Streamlined cars of the 1930s appeared to be on the cutting edge of machine age technology and symbols of modernity and speed. Automobile manufacturers discovered that modern styling attracted motorists as much as mechanical performance. In 1933, Ford redesigned its recently introduced V-8 engine car, adding curved fenders and a slanted radiator grille. The rakish, slightly restyled 1934 Ford became the “star” of Ford’s pavilion at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Styling and promotion boosted Ford sales, which had fallen precipitously during the Depression. The donor’s father drove this car in Philadelphia between 1934 and 1944.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1934
maker
Ford Motor Company
ID Number
1972.299295.01
catalog number
330736
accession number
299295
serial number
18765982

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