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: 1960s

Rigged Model, Auxiliary Steamship Savannah

The steamer Savannah holds pride of place in American history as the first steamboat to cross the Atlantic. Measuring 98’-6” and 320 tons, the little two-decker began as a sailing vessel at a New York shipyard.
Description
The steamer Savannah holds pride of place in American history as the first steamboat to cross the Atlantic. Measuring 98’-6” and 320 tons, the little two-decker began as a sailing vessel at a New York shipyard. Local ship captain Moses Rogers and his partner William Scarbrough of Savannah, Ga. formed a Savannah-based steamship line, and Rogers had the shipyard convert the vessel to a 75-hp auxiliary steamer for a total cost of $66,000. It was luxuriously appointed, with 32 berths in 16 cabins, full-length mirrors, mahogany-lined public areas, and other amenities.
On May 22, 1819 the Savannah cleared Savannah, Ga. under steam for Liverpool. It carried 25 cords of wood and 1,500 bushels of coal for fuel, but neither a single passenger nor any cargo. No one—not even the owners—trusted the new technology enough on the open ocean to invest their own money. On the 29-day passage to Liverpool, the Savannah operated its engines for about 100 hours, or 16% of the time. The rest was spent under sail.
The failure to secure any paying cargo or passengers altered the company’s plans for transatlantic service. The steamer left Liverpool for Stockholm, Sweden on July 23, 1819, again unladen. Under steam 28% of the passage to Sweden, the Savannah became the first steamboat in the Baltic on August 13. Capt. Rogers declined an offer for the ship from Swedish King Charles XIV for $100,000 in hemp and iron, as well as an offer from Russian Tsar Alexander for an exclusive monopoly on steam navigation in the Black and Baltic Seas.
The Savannah returned to Savannah in November 1819 and almost immediately sailed for Washington, DC. After two months in Washington, Rogers had failed to interest the U.S. Navy in his vessel, and it was sold to Capt. Nathan Holdridge of New York. He promptly removed the engine and began packet service between New York and Savannah. On its first voyage in October 1820, the Savannah sailed with 24 passengers and a full cargo hold. Ironically, four of its prior owners consigned cargo aboard the ill-fated vessel, now that it was an old-fashioned sailing ship. After a successful year as a packet, the Savannah wrecked at Fire Island, NY on November 5, 1821.
In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated May 22 as National Maritime Day, in honor of the day that the Savannah hoisted anchor on its inaugural transatlantic passage. The Smithsonian has Savannah’s original logbook detailing that pioneering voyage.
Date made
1961
cleared Savannah, Georgia
1819-05-22
sailed from Liverpool to Stockholm
1819-07-23
sailed in the Baltic
1919-08-13
returned to Savannah
1819-11
sailed from New York to Savannah
1820-10
wrecked at Fire Island
1821-11-05
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt named May 22 as National Maritime Day in honor of the <I>Savannah</I>
1933-05-22
ship captain and owner
Rogers, Moses
owner
Scarbrough, William
ship captain
Holdridge, Nathan
designated 05-22 as National Maritime Day in honor of the <I>Savannah</I>
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
ID Number
TR.319026
catalog number
319026
accession number
236167

Man and boy sitting in a car

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.050
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.50

Man driving half a car

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.056
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.56

Man driving car

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.047
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.47

Two men walking down street

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.028
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.28

Couple sitting in a golf cart

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.072
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.72

White van

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.042
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.42

Ford E series van

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.058
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.58

Cars on expressway

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.086
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.86

Mirrored image of a man walking down a sidewalk

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.021
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.21

Group of men, women and children sitting on car hood

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.022
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.22

Ship Model, Lighthouse Tender Joseph Henry

This model represents the U.S. Lighthouse Tender Joseph Henry, a side-wheeled steamer built by Howard & Company in Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 1880. This 180-foot-long vessel was built for service along the nation’s inland waterways.
Description
This model represents the U.S. Lighthouse Tender Joseph Henry, a side-wheeled steamer built by Howard & Company in Jeffersonville, Indiana, in 1880. This 180-foot-long vessel was built for service along the nation’s inland waterways. Lighthouse tenders served both coastal and inland areas by delivering supplies, fuel, news, and relief and maintenance crew to lighthouses and lightships. They also maintained aids to navigation, including markers identifying channels, shoals, and obstructions. Based out of Memphis, the Joseph Henry worked along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers until 1904.
The vessel’s namesake, Joseph Henry, was America’s foremost scientist in the 19th century. His expertise was in the field of electromagnetism. Henry was a professor at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) when he was named the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a position he held from 1846 until his death in 1878. He also served on the U.S. Lighthouse Board (1852-78), and implemented various improvements in lighting and signaling during his tenure. This lighthouse tender was named in his honor at its launching two years after his death.
Date made
1880
1962
used
late 19th century
ID Number
TR.321486
catalog number
321486
accession number
245714

Rigged Model, Extreme Gold Rush Clipper Challenge

The extreme clipper ship Challenge was built at New York by the famous shipbuilder William H. Webb. At its launch in May 1851, the $150,000 Challenge was the largest merchant ship ever built, measuring 227 feet in length by 42 feet in beam and 2006 tons.
Description
The extreme clipper ship Challenge was built at New York by the famous shipbuilder William H. Webb. At its launch in May 1851, the $150,000 Challenge was the largest merchant ship ever built, measuring 227 feet in length by 42 feet in beam and 2006 tons. The high length:beam ratio of 5.4:1 was what made the three-decker an extreme clipper, and it set a few speed records over the course of its working life.
The Challenge was expected to set a record on its maiden voyage, and Capt. Robert H. Waterman was offered a $10,000 bonus if he could drive the ship to San Francisco in under 90 days. He pushed his 60-man crew hard, but poor weather and a mutiny by 50 crewmen off Rio slowed the Challenge to a 108-day trip. The mutiny and the unrelated death of seven crew on that maiden voyage gave the ship a bad reputation. Capt. Waterman was relieved of his command after reaching San Francisco, but the next master had to pay a signing bonus of $200 to lure new crewmen aboard for a China trip. Another mutiny on this second leg of the maiden voyage occurred as well—testament to how driven these men were to sail hard and fast.
Over the next decade as a China clipper, an additional mutiny, widespread crew illnesses, frequent dismastings and leaks, and other events cemented the bad reputation of the vessel. It was sold to its captain for $9,350 in 1861. The Challenge changed hands a few more times before sinking off the Brittany coast in February 1877.
Date made
1965
ship launched
1851-05
ship sold
1861
ship sank
1877-02
designer
Webb, William H.
captained the ship on its maiden voyage
Waterman, Robert H.
maker
Arthur G. Henning Inc.
ID Number
TR.326530
catalog number
326530
accession number
255036

Model of the Steam Locomotive, Tom Thumb

This is a 1/2" scale four-wheel model of Peter Cooper’s Tom Thumb, which operated on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1830. Few contemporary details about the locomotive’s construction have survived.
Description
This is a 1/2" scale four-wheel model of Peter Cooper’s Tom Thumb, which operated on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1830. Few contemporary details about the locomotive’s construction have survived. The model is based on Peter Cooper's recollection printed in the an 1875 issue of the American Railway Master Mechanics Association. The model shows a verticle boiler, a verticle cylinder and piston and a stack.
After making a modest fortune in glue manufacturing in New York City, Peter Cooper purchased property in Baltimore on which he constructed the Canton Iron Works. He was therefore anxious about the future of the newly opened Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, since only a successful line would increase the value of his land holdings. In England, where the railway was first developed, companies operated steam locomotives over farely straight lines. B&O officials believed that their route’s sharp curves were unsuitable for locomotives, and operated trains hauled by horses instead. Cooper, by contrast, insisted that steam locomotives were not only practical but necessary if the line was to make a profit. To argue his position, he constructed a small locomotive that hauled trains carrying B&O Railroad officials during the summer of 1830. The Tom Thumb’s ability to traverse the sharp curves of the line with a speed of 18 mph proved Cooper’s point, and steam locomotives were adopted on the B&O the following year.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
1960
ca. "t1960
ca. 1830
Tom Thumb locomotive constructed
1830
ID Number
TR.318210
catalog number
318210
accession number
233853

Brawner-Ford 'Hawk' racing car

After earning his reputation as one of American open wheel racing’s best designers and mechanics during the front engine roadster era of Indy cars, Clint Brawner developed his first rear engine racer, the Brawner Hawk, in 1965.
Description
After earning his reputation as one of American open wheel racing’s best designers and mechanics during the front engine roadster era of Indy cars, Clint Brawner developed his first rear engine racer, the Brawner Hawk, in 1965. Several iterations of Brawner’s Hawks competed between 1965 and 1969. These speedsters not only were on the cutting edge of engine design and aerodynamics, but they also launched the career of racing legend Mario Andretti with five years of success behind the wheel of Hawks. Andretti drove a Hawk to a third place finish in the Indianapolis 500 with Rookie of the Year honors and continued to claim the 1965 USAC National Championship. The following year Andretti drove a Brawner Hawk to his second consecutive USAC National Championship. When Brawner’s Hawks were retired from competition at the end of the 1969 season, Andretti had driven a Hawk to his first Indianapolis 500 victory and a third USAC National Championship. At the 1969 Indianapolis 500, the STP Hawk No. 2 was designated as Andretti’s backup car, but when faulty hubs led him to crash his four-wheel-drive Lotus Super Wedge, his crew prepared the car that would be dubbed “The Cinderella Car” to race. Andretti took an early lead but soon fell back because the car was running hot. He drove on to lead 116 out of 200 laps, including the all-important last lap, and took the checkered flag. Andretti finished out the season driving the Hawk No. 2 and claimed the third of his four USAC National Championships. The STP Hawk No. 2 represents Mario Andretti’s only official Indy 500 win, STP CEO Andy Granatelli’s first Indy 500 win, and the mechanical tradition of innovation and excellence of the car’s creator, Clint Brawner. Most of the Indy cars had sleek, cigar-shaped bodies while the Brawner Hawk had a larger body with a flat bottom and the oil tank in front with the oil tubes running down the sides along the bottom, all of which created downforce. The STP Hawk No. 2 is one of the most iconic and significant cars in auto racing history. It represents cutting edge aerodynamics, innovative rear engine design, and the mechanical legacy of Clint Brawner.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
1968
maker
Ford Motor Company
Clint Brawner
Garrett Corp.
ID Number
TR.336463
accession number
1978.0418
catalog number
336463

Ship Model, Santa Maria

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed a small fleet of three small ships west from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean, hoping to find a shorter route to the riches of Asia.
Description
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed a small fleet of three small ships west from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean, hoping to find a shorter route to the riches of Asia. Before his voyages, Chinese and Indian luxuries for European markets were transported over the long and hazardous overland route through Arabia.
The three-masted vessel Santa Maria was the largest of Columbus’s expeditionary vessels and his flagship. Measuring around 70 feet in length, it carried a crew of 40 men. The Santa Maria and Columbus’s other fleet members the Niña and the Pinta were older ships used for coastal trading rather than vessels designed for ocean crossings. Nine weeks after the little fleet left Spain, land was sighted in the Caribbean on 12 October 1492, but exactly which island Columbus’s crew first spotted remains disputed.
The fleet went on to explore the north coasts of the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (now Haiti). On Christmas Day 1492, the Santa Maria ran aground on a reef off Hispaniola and was declared a total loss. The ship’s timbers were salvaged and used to build a small fort on shore. Fortunately for Columbus, he was able to return to Spain on the Niña.
Instead of Asia, Columbus had landed in the Caribbean islands on his first voyage. Although they were already inhabited, he claimed them for Spain. Columbus made three more voyages to the western hemisphere between 1493 and 1504.
Waves of conquerors and colonists—both free and enslaved—followed. What was a triumph for Spain became a catastrophe for native peoples. New livestock, plants, diseases, and beliefs unsettled centuries-old communities and ecosystems, changing and destroying the lives of millions.
This model was built at the Museo Maritimo de Barcelona, Spain, under the supervision of museum director Jose Maria Martinez-Hidalgo y Teran, who published a book on the Santa Maria in 1964.
Date made
1965
ID Number
TR.325800
catalog number
325800
accession number
260040

Boat Model, Alexander Graham Bell’s HD-4 Hydrodrome, ca 1960

The model represents a boat called a hydrodrome, invented by Alexander Graham Bell and Casey Baldwin. This example models the HD-4, fourth in the experimental series of the type.
Description
The model represents a boat called a hydrodrome, invented by Alexander Graham Bell and Casey Baldwin. This example models the HD-4, fourth in the experimental series of the type. Launched in 1918, the HD-4 had hydrofoils, or fins under the boat that lifted it out of the water to go faster. The HD-4 was powered originally by two 250-hp Renault engines, later replaced by two 360-hp Liberty engines. On 9 September 1919, Bell’s HD-4 achieved the world record for the maximum speed of a watercraft at 70.86 mph, or 61.58 knots. Composed of wood with steel fittings, the HD-4 was 60 feet long overall. The model was given to the Smithsonian in 1962.
date made
ca 1960
ID Number
TR.321484
catalog number
321484
accession number
245895

Ship Model, Chaleur

In the mid-18th century, little sloops, brigs, and schooners were the small craft of choice for use in local coastal trade along the shores of North America.
Description
In the mid-18th century, little sloops, brigs, and schooners were the small craft of choice for use in local coastal trade along the shores of North America. In the early 1760s, the British Royal Navy produced a list of six vessels it intended to purchase in the New England area for use in the North American Squadron. The Chaleur was one of these vessels, possibly purchased in Boston in May 1764. Its original name and home port are unknown.
Originally, the Chaleur is believed to have been rigged as an armed sloop. In 1768, records indicate that it was re-rigged as a two-masted schooner, as shown by the model. The Chaleur was sent back to England, where the hull shape was documented at the Royal Navy’s Woolwich Dockyard, London. The schooner’s hull was found to be rotten, so the Navy recommended that it be sold. It dropped out of the record at that point, and at present nothing is known of its later history.
Date made
1962
ID Number
TR.320005
catalog number
320005
accession number
241594

Ship Model, Ship London

The three-masted square-rigged ship London was built at New York in 1770 or 1771 for English owners.
Description
The three-masted square-rigged ship London was built at New York in 1770 or 1771 for English owners. With so much good, close-grain wood at hand in the colonies, colonial shipbuilding prospered, and American ships sold well overseas.
Measuring 92½ feet long by 26½ feet in beam, the vessel was known as a well-built, fast-sailing merchant vessel with good cargo capacity for its size. In 1776, it was purchased by the British Royal Navy as an armed ship, renamed the Grasshopper and used as a convoy escort protecting groups of British ships against their enemies.
Date made
1967
ID Number
TR.327688
catalog number
327688
accession number
272429

Ship Model, Rum-Runner Launches Viola and Ruby, ca 1930

These two models represent launches, a type of motorboat used during Prohibition to smuggle liquor. Using crates filled with hay, liquor bottles were disguised as hams and stored in the holds of the launch. The Viola and Ruby smuggled goods from supply ships to the shore.
Description
These two models represent launches, a type of motorboat used during Prohibition to smuggle liquor. Using crates filled with hay, liquor bottles were disguised as hams and stored in the holds of the launch. The Viola and Ruby smuggled goods from supply ships to the shore. Rumrunners were fast, with speeds up to 30 knots, and quiet, with movable exhaust pipes which could be lowered underwater to muffle the sound. The Viola and the Ruby were powered by single-screw Sterling Viking gasoline engines. Both launches were built in Essex, CT around 1930, and were 55 feet long and 11 feet wide. The models were built in 1962 from the designer’s plans by Major John W. Moroney of the U.S. Air Force.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1962
ID Number
TR.319929
catalog number
319929
accession number
241523

Model of the 1837 Steam Locomotive, H. R. Dunham

This is a 1/2 inch scale model of the engine and tender that represent the general service locomotive, Dunham built around 1837 by H. R. Dunham & Co. of New York City for the Harlem Rail Road. Contemporary drawings reveal that Dunham closely followed Baldwin’s Lancaster design.
Description
This is a 1/2 inch scale model of the engine and tender that represent the general service locomotive, Dunham built around 1837 by H. R. Dunham & Co. of New York City for the Harlem Rail Road. Contemporary drawings reveal that Dunham closely followed Baldwin’s Lancaster design. The locomotive model shows a 4-2-0 wheel arrangment. Steam locomotives are often classified by wheel arrangement, in the order of leading, driving, and trailing wheels. This engine has four leading wheels, two driving wheels, and no trailing wheels.
The proliferation of new railroads encouraged many small machine shops to enter the locomotive business. While some of these firms, like that of M. W. Baldwin, would produce many engines and make a fortune, most, like H.R. Dunham & Co., built only a few machines and went out of business. Dunham constructed sixteen locomotives from 1836 to 1838 for the New York and Harlem, the Camden and Amboy, the Michigan Central and several other lines.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961
ca. 1837
maker
Severn Lamb, Ltd.
ID Number
TR.319306
catalog number
319306
accession number
234646

Boat Model, Bushwhack Boat, mid-20th Century

This model represents a rowboat called a bushwhack boat, commonly used in Chesapeake Bay. Bushwhack boats were used for hunting waterfowl on the Susquehanna Flats, where the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay meet.
Description
This model represents a rowboat called a bushwhack boat, commonly used in Chesapeake Bay. Bushwhack boats were used for hunting waterfowl on the Susquehanna Flats, where the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay meet. They also were used as tenders by sloops and schooners, because they could navigate the rough waters of the Flats. The model represents a boat 18 feet long and about 5 feet wide, made by the Havre de Grace Marina in Maryland. The model was purchased by the Smithsonian in 1963.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
ca 1960s
ID Number
TR.322470
accession number
247837
catalog number
322470

Ship Model, Colonial Sloop

During the period of North American colonization and early settlement, sloops formed the backbone of the trade along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and to the West Indies. They often sailed as smugglers and warships, too.
Description
During the period of North American colonization and early settlement, sloops formed the backbone of the trade along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and to the West Indies. They often sailed as smugglers and warships, too. This armed example from the late 1760s, with oars to maneuver in calms, is similar to craft used by Caribbean pirates a century earlier.
Little coastal sloops were the tractor-trailers of the colonial period, populating the waters along the eastern coast of North America right down to the Caribbean islands. Heavily built for bad weather and rough sea conditions, they were simple to sail, roomy for lots of cargo and passengers, easily handled by small crews, relatively swift, and usually armed for self defense wherever they might sail. They were also simple to build and inexpensive, so that if one were lost, it might not cause a crippling financial loss to its owners.
Date made
1960
date made
1768
maker
Arthur G. Henning Inc.
ID Number
TR.318281
catalog number
318281
accession number
234477

Boat Model, Chincoteague or Sinepuxent Bay Skiff, 1905

This model represents a skiff, a type of sailboat used in Sinepuxent Bay, an inland waterway in Maryland. V-bottomed skiffs were built on Chincoteague Island by three different boat builders. This type of watercraft was used for fishing, as well as catching crab and oysters.
Description
This model represents a skiff, a type of sailboat used in Sinepuxent Bay, an inland waterway in Maryland. V-bottomed skiffs were built on Chincoteague Island by three different boat builders. This type of watercraft was used for fishing, as well as catching crab and oysters. They were commonly manned by two people, but could also be sailed singlehanded. The model represents a skiff constructed in 1905 about 20 feet long and 8 feet in beam. The model was built in 1963 by John W. Parker from plans at the Smithsonian.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
1963
ID Number
TR.322466
accession number
247836
catalog number
322466

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