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.

Ship Model of Thomas Dana

The merchant ship Thomas Dana was built at Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1876—the 86th vessel constructed by shipbuilder John Currier, Jr. It measured 203 feet 5 inches in length, 38 feet 5 inches in beam, 24 feet 2 inches in depth of hold, and 1,445 tons.
Description
The merchant ship Thomas Dana was built at Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1876—the 86th vessel constructed by shipbuilder John Currier, Jr. It measured 203 feet 5 inches in length, 38 feet 5 inches in beam, 24 feet 2 inches in depth of hold, and 1,445 tons. According to Lloyd’s Register, the Thomas Dana was owned by Thayer & Lincoln, a Boston firm of merchants, ship owners, and operators; however, another source indicates that it was owned by W.H. Lincoln & Company. The ship traded throughout the Atlantic Ocean, with frequent stops in Liverpool, Great Britain. On 30 October 1883, the Dana was en route from Liverpool to the Azores when it collided with and sank the French brig Rocaley. The French vessel was transporting 102 fish salters from Newfoundland back home to France after the fishing season ended. The Dana managed to rescue 21 men and remained in the area for 4-1/2 hours, but was unable to find any more survivors. Captain C.C. Sisson of the Dana believed that the lost crew probably were asleep belowdecks when the ship sank. The Dana disappeared from the registry in 1895.
This rigged model was attributed to Captain Fredrick Williamson. Captain Williamson lived at Snug Harbor, a sailor’s rest home in New York, and in the 1920s he crafted ship models for the Insurance Company of North America, among other clients.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880
maker
Williamson, Frederick
ID Number
2005.0279.075
accession number
2005.0279
catalog number
2005.0279.075

Painting of Sailing ship Salem

Salem was built in 1852, at New Brunswick, Canada, and measured 155 feet long and 839 tons. Its home port was Liverpool, England, then Hull, England, and it often traded to Australia.
Description
Salem was built in 1852, at New Brunswick, Canada, and measured 155 feet long and 839 tons. Its home port was Liverpool, England, then Hull, England, and it often traded to Australia. It disappears from the register in 1873.
The painting is a portside view of Salem, with all its sails unfurled. The hull of the ship has painted gunports. A Union Jack is at the foremast, calling for a pilot. There are two lighthouses in the background. All the flags are new, and the masts, hull and rigging are repainted. Small sailboats in the background show signs of being over cleaned.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850
maker
unknown
ID Number
2005.0279.036
accession number
2005.0279
catalog number
2005.0279.036

Painting of the Assembly of the West India Squadron

This painting shows the assembly of the West India Squadron of 14 vessels under American Commodore James Biddle in April 1822 to combat Caribbean piracy.HMS Macedonian (1810) measured 161 ft 6 in and weighed 1,325 tons.
Description
This painting shows the assembly of the West India Squadron of 14 vessels under American Commodore James Biddle in April 1822 to combat Caribbean piracy.
HMS Macedonian (1810) measured 161 ft 6 in and weighed 1,325 tons. The United States captured the ship September 25, 1812, off the Canary Islands. The Macedonian served in anti-piracy campaigns and in 1828 was broken up.
Congress, built in Portsmouth, NH, measured 164 ft and weighed 1,266 tons. It served in the War of 1812 and in the West India Squadron. In 1834 it was broken up.
HMS Cyane (1796) measured 110 ft and weighed 539 tons; Constitution captured the ship in February, 1815. Cyane combated piracy and slavery off the African West coast and the West Indies. The ship sank in 1835 in the Philadelphia Naval Yard.
Built in Charleston, SC, John Adams (1799) measured 139 ft and weighed 544 tons. It served in the War of 1812, in the West India Squadron and the Civil War. The ship was sold in 1867.
Hornet, launched in 1805, measured 106 ft 9 in and weighed 440 tons. It served in campaigns against piracy and the War of 1812 and sank in a storm off Tampico, Mexico in September, 1829.
Peacock (1813), built in the NY Navy Yard, measured 117 ft 11 in and weighed 509 tons. It fought in the War of 1812 and sailed the West Indies. In 1828, the ship was broken up and rebuilt.
Spark (1813) was built in Sag Harbor, New York. Although, purchased by the U. S. Navy in Baltimore in 1814 for use in the War of 1812, it never served. The ship was sold in 1826.
Enterprise (1799) measured 83 ft 6 in and weighed 165 tons. It served in the Mediterranean, sailed the Caribbean suppressing piracy and slaves and wrecked in the West Indies in July, 1823.
Built in the Boston Navy Yard, Alligator (1820) measured 86 ft and weighed 198 tons. It sailed the African west coast and the West Indies. In November, 1822 the ship wrecked off Florida.
Grampus, built in Wash. Naval Yard in 1820, measured 97 ft and weighed 171.5 tons. It served against piracy and is presumed sunk in a storm off Charleston, South Carolina in 1843.
Shark, built in the Wash. Navy Yard, was launched in May, 1821. It measured 86 ft and weighed 198 tons. Active against slavery and piracy in the West Indies, in 1846 it wrecked off the Columbia River.
The Porpoise (1820), built in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, measured 86 ft and weighed 177 tons. It cruised in the West Indies and the West African coast. In 1833 it wrecked off Point Lizardo.
Gunboat No. 158 (1808) measured 60 ft and weighed 90 tons. It combated piracy in the Wests Indies and was later renamed Revenge.
Gunboat No. 168 fought the British ship Erebus near the Florida and Georgia border on March 16, 1815 during the War of 1812.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1824
maker
Schetky, John Christian
ID Number
2005.0279.049
accession number
2005.0279
catalog number
2005.0279.049

Print, Mischief vs. Atlanta, America's Cup, 1881

This print is very similar to an 1884 watercolor by Frederick S.
Description
This print is very similar to an 1884 watercolor by Frederick S. Cozzens entitled For the America's Cup, The Start showing the Mischief and the Atlanta in the Fifth America's Cup Race on November 11, 1881.
The original painting depicts the start of the race between the Atlanta and the Mischief. The 1881 challenge was received from Captain Alexander Cuthbert, who had designed and built the centerboard sloop Atlanta for the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club owners in Belleville, Ontario. Atlanta was plagued by a lack of funds and sailed to New York via the Erie Canal and the Hudson River. Stripped of its spars, the yacht was heeled over as far as possible on the bilge to permit passage through the locks, which was bad for the hull's structural integrity.
Mischief, an iron sloop owned by J. R. Busk of New York and designed by A. Cary Smith, was chosen to be the defender. Built by Harlan & Hollingsworth, it was deeper than most of its competition. It was nicknamed “The Iron Pot," because it was the second all-metal yacht built in the U.S.
The first match race on November 9, 1881 was started off Manhattan; Mischief won by thirty-eight minutes. Cozzens pictured the start of the third and final race, which was held off Staten Island.
One of the onlookers described the start of this race: "Just before the start, storm clouds began to gather over the hills and the Island and with such a threatening look that both yachts made preparations for a heavy squall; but with a splatter of rain this burst over and shaking out the reefs, both waited for the preparatory signal. Atlanta, having no windlass, was a long time in picking up its anchor and getting under way and when, at last, it stood toward the line, another light squall knocked the ship over so far that its lee-rail dipped and its sailing master was forced to take in the gaff top sail which had just been set. Both boats maneuvered a little bit at first, running down to the line and going about. Mischief crossed with a good headway and the Atlanta a little over a minute later." In the end, Mischief victoriously defended the America's cup challenge.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1882
artist
Cozzens, Frederic Schiller
maker
Caldwell Litho. Co.
ID Number
2005.0279.098
catalog number
2005.0279.098
accession number
2006.0279

Hog Farm Commune in Sunland Tajunga, California during a visit with the film crew of, "You are what you eat." 1968

With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture.
Description
With her camera, Lisa Law documented history in the heart of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s as she lived it, as a participant, an agent of change and a member of the broader culture. She recorded this unconventional time of Anti-War demonstrations in California, communes, Love-Ins, peace marches and concerts, as well as her family life as she became a wife and mother. The photographs were collected by William Yeingst and Shannon Perich in a cross-unit collecting collaboration. Together they selected over two hundred photographs relevant to photographic history, cultural history, domestic life and social history.
Law’s portraiture and concert photographs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lovin Spoonful and Peter, Paul and Mary. She also took several of Janis Joplin and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, including the photograph used to create the poster included in the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum’s exhibition 1001 Days and Nights in American Art. Law and other members of the Hog Farm were involved in the logistics of setting up the well-known musical extravaganza, Woodstock. Her photographs include the teepee poles going into the hold of the plane, a few concert scenes and amenities like the kitchen and medical tent. Other photographs include peace rallies and concerts in Haight-Ashbury, Coretta Scott King speaking at an Anti-War protest and portraits of Allen Ginsburg and Timothy Leary. From her life in New Mexico the photographs include yoga sessions with Yogi Bhajan, bus races, parades and other public events. From life on the New Buffalo Commune, there are many pictures of her family and friends taken during meal preparation and eating, farming, building, playing, giving birth and caring for children.
Ms. Law did not realize how important her photographs were while she was taking them. It was not until after she divorced her husband, left the farm for Santa Fe and began a career as a photographer that she realized the depth of history she recorded. Today, she spends her time writing books, showing her photographs in museums all over the United States and making documentaries. In 1990, her video documentary, “Flashing on the Sixties,” won several awards.
A selection of photographs was featured in the exhibition A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law, 1964–1971, at the National Museum of American History October 1998-April 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1968
date printed
1998
maker
Law, Lisa
ID Number
1998.0139.119
catalog number
1998.0139.119
accession number
1998.0139

Painting, Clipper Ship Mandarin

This formal ship portrait by an unknown Chinese artist depicts the clipper ship Mandarin sailing into Hong Kong harbor around the middle of the 19th century.
Description
This formal ship portrait by an unknown Chinese artist depicts the clipper ship Mandarin sailing into Hong Kong harbor around the middle of the 19th century. All sails are set except for one on the mizzenmast, and the crew on the ship's bow are preparing to drop anchor in the harbor. One of the earliest extreme clipper ships built specifically for the California Gold Rush, Mandarin was launched at the New York shipyard of Smith & Dimon in June 1850.
The ship was built on the packet ship model—relatively flat-floored and vertical-sided—which added cargo capacity. Measuring 151.5 ft in length by 33.5 ft in breadth and 776 tons, Mandarin was not particularly large, nevertheless, the smallish clipper ship was very swift, particularly during its later voyages. Mandarin was owned by Goodhue & Co. for the 12 years, then sold to former Goodhue partners Weston & Gray.
Throughout the ship's 14-year life of ten round trips, the clipper had only two captains. Three of its voyages were to California; most of the others were to China. This painting would have been painted during one of these trips, but which one is not known. On one trip from New York to Melbourne, Australia in 1855/56, Mandarin set a 69-day 14-hour record that was never bested by a commercial sailing ship. Mandarin continued to trade into the Civil War, despite the massive rise in insurance rates connected with the conflict. On its 11th voyage, the ship cleared New York in December 1862 for Shanghai, and traded on the China coast until the summer of 1864. On 9 August 1864, en route back to the United States, Mandarin struck an uncharted rock 12 feet deep in the China Sea. All the passengers and crew were saved along with some of the cargo, but the ship was a total loss.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1850-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
2005.0279.008
accession number
2005.0279
catalog number
2005.0279.008

Railroad Hand-Signal Lantern, ca. 1945

This “Conger” model battery-powered signal lantern was manufactured by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York around 1945. The metal case has rusted and the handle has been wrapped in electrical tape to improve the grip.
Description
This “Conger” model battery-powered signal lantern was manufactured by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York around 1945. The metal case has rusted and the handle has been wrapped in electrical tape to improve the grip. The lantern has two bulbs; a bare bulb with widely dispersed light used for signaling and a smaller adjacent bulb with a focused beam that could be used as a flashlight. The tape label reads “W.L. Metz” for Wilbur L. Metz, who used this lamp during his career as a freight train brakeman and conductor on the Western Maryland Railroad.
Before the advent of portable two way radios, train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. Specific motions of the lantern convey precise instructions such as “Clear to Depart;" "Move the train Forward;" "Move the train Backward;" "Slow Down;" "Slow Down Further;" or "Stop and Remain Stopped."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1945
Maker
Star Headlight & Lantern Company
ID Number
1996.0107.08
catalog number
1996.0107.08
accession number
1996.0107

SS United States Poster

The phrase Newest, Largest and Fastest on this 1952 poster captures the excitement surrounding the launching of the SS United States.
Description
The phrase Newest, Largest and Fastest on this 1952 poster captures the excitement surrounding the launching of the SS United States. Designed by naval architect and marine engineer William Francis Gibbs and built in Newport News, Virginia, the ship was delivered to its owners, the United States Lines, in 1952. It immediately took its place as the most modern (Newest) liner on the transatlantic route and the pride of the U.S. passenger fleet.
At launching, the SS United States was unquestionably the Largest U. S.-flagged passenger ship and the largest of the United States Lines’ fleet. Although at 990 feet in length it was slightly smaller than Britain’s 1,019-foot-long liner the Queen Mary, the SS United States could still carry about the same number of passengers while displacing significantly less water. The emphasis on size is suggested by the two smoke stacks (funnels) featured prominently on the poster. The funnels vented the combustion gases from the vessel’s four propulsion plants into the air. At the time, these structures were the largest ever built for this purpose. The company claimed that the funnels were so large that ten automobiles could be lined up side by side in each of them.
In terms of speed (Fastest), there was no contest. The poster artist conveys speed with the looped arrow and one can speculate that the loop represents the round-trip voyage on the ship’s regular service between the East Coast of the United States and Europe (New York / Havre / Southampton on the poster). The maiden voyage of the SS United States broke all records for a round trip with an average speed of 35.59 knots, or 39.50 miles per hour. The ship’s fastest speed was 38.32 knots, or 44 miles per hour. This speed was achieved by four separate steam turbine propulsion systems driving four separate propellers, each measuring 18 feet in diameter. Together these units produced 240,000 shaft horsepower.
The superlative nature of the SS United States was summed up by the British humor magazine Punch when it commented, on the arrival of the ship in port on her maiden voyage: “After the loud and fantastic claims made in advance for the liner United States, it comes as something of a disappointment to find them all true.”
ID Number
1991.0856.13
catalog number
1991.0856.13
accession number
1991.0856

The Smoke Ceremony

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1934-01
visual artist
Couse, E. Irving
publisher
Gerlach-Barklow Company
ID Number
1991.3127.05
catalog number
1991.3127.05
nonaccession number
1991.3127

1948 Tucker Sedan

Preston Tucker's automobile was promoted as "the first completely new car in fifty years" because of its novel engineering and safety features and its unique styling.
Description
Preston Tucker's automobile was promoted as "the first completely new car in fifty years" because of its novel engineering and safety features and its unique styling. The rear-mounted engine and rubber suspension were designed to improve performance and reduce noise, fumes, and vibration. Safety features included a center headlight that turned with the front wheels and collision protection provided by a pop-out windshield, padded dashboard, and "safety chamber" for the front passenger. Tucker's styling gave the car a futuristic appearance and an impression of power and speed. Fifty-one cars were built before production was halted due to financial problems.
Date made
1948
ID Number
1993.0484.01
accession number
1993.0484
catalog number
1993.0484.01

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

Railroad Cap Badge, Brakeman, used on Western Maryland Railroad

This chrome-plated metal cap badge bears the engraving “BRAKEMAN” filled with black paint. This badge identified the wearer's crew position on passenger trains.
Description
This chrome-plated metal cap badge bears the engraving “BRAKEMAN” filled with black paint. This badge identified the wearer's crew position on passenger trains. The brakeman’s duties included moving from car to car to trigger the brakes and slow the train around turns or steep grades, dropping cars at stations, lining switches, and signaling crew members about train operations.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1996.0107.33
catalog number
1996.0107.33
accession number
1996.0107

Ford-based Track Roadster

Hot rods first appeared in southern California in the late 1930s and became popular in many other places after World War II. Oval track racing combined speed and spectator enjoyment.
Description
Hot rods first appeared in southern California in the late 1930s and became popular in many other places after World War II. Oval track racing combined speed and spectator enjoyment. Dick Fraizer, Floyd Johnson, and Hack Winniger built this competition track roadster in Muncie, Indiana. It has a 1927 Ford Model T body, a 1928 Chevrolet chassis, and a Ford V-8 engine. Fraizer set a one-lap speed record of 84.23 miles per hour with this car at the Winchester Speedway in Indiana. It also ran at Soldiers Field in Chicago with Andy Granatelli’s Hurricane Racing Association and on tracks as far east as Virginia.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1948
maker
Anderson, Donald
ID Number
1992.0028.01
accession number
1992.0028
catalog number
1992.0028.01

My Truck Book

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1958
author
Reichert, E. C.
illustrator
Grider, Dorothy
publisher
Rand McNally
maker
Rand McNally
ID Number
1990.0449.15
accession number
1990.0449
catalog number
1990.0449.15

Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, 1835

One of the largest sperm whale teeth in the American History Museum’s collection, this huge example measures 8-1/2 inches long.
Description
One of the largest sperm whale teeth in the American History Museum’s collection, this huge example measures 8-1/2 inches long. One entire side is taken up by the horizontal inscription “TAKEN BY THE SHIP/ MONTREAL OF LONDON/IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN FROM/A ONE HUNDRED BARREL/ WHALE”. The other side portrays a small stream surrounding a tiny village of three houses. In the center of the clearing is a fenced fort-like square structure; a hole drilled in the middle was probably for a metal mount to display the inscription on the other side. According to Stuart M. Frank (email to PFJ dated 12/27/2023), the image on this tooth depicts Napoleon’s Tomb on St. Helena, where Bonaparte was buried in 1821. His remains were moved to Paris and reinterred in 1840 at the Invalides Palace.
This tooth was exhibited in 1859 in the maritime and natural history exhibit at the US Patent Office in Washington and is in the exhibit catalog A Popular Catalog of the Extraordinary Curiosities in the National Institute Arranged in the Building Belonging to the Patent Office (Washington, DC: Alfred Hunter, 1859).
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1835
ID Number
TR.239328
catalog number
239328

Ship Tools from the Propeller Indiana, Hand Truck

These hand tools were found in the engine and boiler space belowdecks in Indiana’s hold, indicating that they were used for the machinery.
Description
These hand tools were found in the engine and boiler space belowdecks in Indiana’s hold, indicating that they were used for the machinery. The crew used the shovel to add coal to the fires.
The hand truck—virtually identical to modern examples—is one of four found aboard Indiana and used for moving cargo into, out of, and around the cargo hold of the ship. This hand truck was the artifact that actually identified the vessel when it was located in 1972, for the words “PROPR INDIANA” were stamped into its handle. The other three had different ships’ names stamped on them, indicating that they were secondhand or borrowed equipment.
Date made
ca 1858
when the Indiana was found
1972
ID Number
1994.0033.01
catalog number
1994.0033.01
accession number
1994.0033

French Horsehair Trunk

This horsehair-covered trunk has a domed top, iron straps, loop handles, and two iron latches. The initials R and D are stenciled onto the ends, and the number 10 appears beneath the handles.
Description
This horsehair-covered trunk has a domed top, iron straps, loop handles, and two iron latches. The initials R and D are stenciled onto the ends, and the number 10 appears beneath the handles. The trunk was brought from France in 1881 by an unknown Dominican sister when she joined a group of four nuns from Oullins, France. They had established a strictly cloistered life at Newark, New Jersey, the previous year, having been invited to the United States by the archbishop of New York.
Their religious observances included rising at midnight for Matins and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, as well as abstinence, fasting, sleeping on board beds, and enduring the cold. After two years, the community of Dominican sisters numbered fifteen. In April 1884, the group moved to a new home at the Monastery of Saint Dominic, in Newark, and within nine years, all 47 rooms in the new monastery were occupied.
This trunk remained at the monastery until 1974, when it was purchased by the Smithsonian as an example of immigration, faith, and shared experiences in the United States. It was displayed in the Museum’s Bicentennial exhibition, A Nation of Nations, from 1976 to 1988.
Date made
1880
ID Number
CL.314563.02
catalog number
314563.02
accession number
314563

Rigged Model, Privateer Prince de Neufchatel

The privateer schooner Prince de Neufchatel was built by Adam and Noah Brown at New York in 1813. It measured 117 feet long and 320 tons.
Description
The privateer schooner Prince de Neufchatel was built by Adam and Noah Brown at New York in 1813. It measured 117 feet long and 320 tons. With a recorded speed of 13½ knots and a crew of 129 men, and armed with 18 cannon, it was one of the swiftest and most successful privateers of the War of 1812.
The Prince was initially owned by Mme. Flory Charreton, a French widow who moved to New York and became an American citizen sometime before 1812. It was sailed to France under Capt. J. Ordronaux and fitted out as an armed privateer at Cherbourg. In March 1814, it captured nine British prize vessels in the English Channel.
In June 1814, the Prince took six more prizes in just six days. That summer, the Prince evaded no fewer than 17 British warships that chased and tried to capture the swift American privateer. In October 1814, it survived a battle off New England with a much larger British frigate. Two months later, a squadron of three British frigates finally captured the Prince and promptly sailed it back to London to have shipwrights copy the lines of the speedy vessel at Deptford Dockyard. The Royal Navy planned to purchase the American vessel, but it was badly damaged coming out of the dry dock and sold as a wreck.
The original October 1814 articles of agreement that accompany this model list it as a brig, which is a two-masted vessel with both masts rigged with square sails. However, ship captains had the authority to rig their vessels as they pleased, and this model portrays the Prince as a hermaphrodite brig. This was a rare and short-lived rig from the early 19th century, and modern scholars disagree on its exact layout. The foremast is rigged with square sails, and the main sail on the mainmast is fore-and-aft rigged, but the upper sails on the mainmast can be rigged differently.
The lines of the Prince de Neufchatel were redrawn by the Smithsonian’s Howard I. Chapelle from the original line drawings by the British Admiralty. They are available from the ship plans collection at the National Museum of American History (americanhistory.si.edu/csr/shipplan.htm).
Date made
1965
associated date
1813
ID Number
AF.59447-N
accession number
266053
catalog number
59447-N
59447N

The Iceberg that Sank Titanic

Titanic struck a North Atlantic iceberg at 11:40 PM in the evening of 14 April 1912 at a speed of 20.5 knots (23.6 MPH).
Description (Brief)
Titanic struck a North Atlantic iceberg at 11:40 PM in the evening of 14 April 1912 at a speed of 20.5 knots (23.6 MPH). The berg scraped along the starboard or right side of the hull below the waterline, slicing open the hull between five of the adjacent watertight compartments. If only one or two of the compartments had been opened, Titanic might have stayed afloat, but when so many were sliced open, the watertight integrity of the entire forward section of the hull was fatally breached. Titanic slipped below the waves at 2:20 AM on 15 April. The Cunard Liner RMS Carpathia arrived at the scene around two hours after Titanic sank, finding only a few lifeboats and no survivors in the 28F degree water. Bernice Palmer took this picture of the iceberg identified as the one which sank Titanic, almost certainly identified by the survivors who climbed aboard Carpathia. The large iceberg is surrounded by smaller ice floes, indicating how far north in the Atlantic Ocean the tragedy struck.
date made
1912
ID Number
1986.0173.33
catalog number
1986.0173.33
accession number
1986.0173

Locomotive Builder's Plate

This locomotive builder's plate is from the Virginia & Truckee Railroad locomotive # 11, named Reno. Made by Baldwin Locomotive Works, & M. Baird & Company in 1872.
Description (Brief)
This locomotive builder's plate is from the Virginia & Truckee Railroad locomotive # 11, named Reno. Made by Baldwin Locomotive Works, & M. Baird & Company in 1872. A builder's plate is a metal plaque with information about that particular locomotive such as builder's name, construction number or serial number and date built. Some authors compare them to birth certificates or identification badges.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1872
associated user
unknown
maker
Baldwin Locomotive Works
ID Number
1986.0844.016
accession number
1986.0844
catalog number
1986.0844.016
86.0844.016
accession number
1986.0844

Jupiter, Steam Locomotive

The “Jupiter” steam locomotive was built in August of 1876 by the Baldwin Locomotive Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Description
The “Jupiter” steam locomotive was built in August of 1876 by the Baldwin Locomotive Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The locomotive was commissioned by the Santa Cruz Railroad in California for light freight and passenger service in the agricultural region between Santa Cruz and Watsonville. The Santa Cruz Railroad was built to "narrow gauge" of 36-inch width, instead of the more-common "standard" gauge of 56-1/2 inches. The idea of narrow gauge was that it would reduce construction costs in the railroad-building mania of America's post-Civil War era, where miles of rails were built so quickly that tracks were often necessarily cheap and uneven tracks. This necessitated the "American" type engine that included four small steering wheels in front and four larger driving wheels in the back (commonly called a "4-4-0" layout). The four rear driving wheels have an “equalized” spring suspension, so that as the wheels on each side rock differentially up-and-down over uneven track, the weight borne by each of the wheels stays very close to equal.
The Santa Cruz Railroad used the Jupiter until 1883, when it was sold to the International Railway of Central America (IRCA), a United Fruit Company subsidiary. Jupiter was used on the IRCA's Ocos Branch rail line in northwestern Guatemala—hauling mostly bananas and some coffee, with few passengers. In the 1960s D.C. Transit owner O. Roy Chalk bought an interest in the successor to the IRCA and shipped the battered and derelict Jupiter from Guatemala up to Washington, D.C., where it made its home in a children's park he built at 7th & O Streets. Smithsonian curator John H. White, Jr. persuaded Mr. Chalk to donate the locomotive to the Smithsonian for its Bicentennial Exhibition in 1976, where Smithsonian staff then restored Jupiter to its present state.
Date made
1876
associated dates
1974 / 1974
1876 / 1876
1885 / 1885
1904 / 1904
user
Guatemala Central Railroad
International Railways of Central America
Santa Cruz Railroad
United Fruit Company
maker
Baldwin Locomotive Works
ID Number
TR.335093.01
accession number
252681
catalog number
335093.01

1904 Columbia Electric Automobile

Dr. John Oscar Skinner, superintendent of the Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, D.C., drove this runabout from 1906 to 1932. Physicians and affluent women in many cities bought electric cars because they were clean, quiet, comfortable, and easy to operate.
Description
Dr. John Oscar Skinner, superintendent of the Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, D.C., drove this runabout from 1906 to 1932. Physicians and affluent women in many cities bought electric cars because they were clean, quiet, comfortable, and easy to operate. Cities and larger towns had power grids that provided electricity to recharge car batteries. But electric cars were expensive, and electricity rates were high. Maintaining batteries was a complicated, hazardous task often left to a commercial garage. Low mileage between charges and the absence of electric power in rural areas further limited the market for electric cars as Americans drove longer distances.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1904
maker
Electric Vehicle Co.
ID Number
TR.310575
catalog number
310575
accession number
123348

Handheld metal detector

This handheld metal detector was used at security checkpoints at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in 2002.Currently not on view
Description
This handheld metal detector was used at security checkpoints at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in 2002.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Transportation Security Administration
maker
Garrett Electronics, Inc.
ID Number
2011.0161.04
catalog number
2011.0161.04
accession number
2011.0161

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