Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: railroad tracks

This early postcard nicely captures the hustle and bustle of trains, cars, and wagons at a railroad station in Des Moines, Iowa, during the early twentieth century. Building signs provide some additional details. Below the sign for the "Passenger Station, Chicago and North-Western Railway" is another one that indicates that the "American Express Co." was based there as well. Barely visible signs on the brick buildings on the other side of the railroad cars identify one as the factory for "Garr Scott & Co " which manufactured threshing machinery, and another--the tallest building in the distance--as the Grand Hotel.

"Easter Greetings" postcard dating to the early twentieth century.

Caption on the front of this postcard: " C.V.R.R. Yards, Williams Grove, Pa." Printed on the back: "14546 - Pub. by A. M. Deichler, Lancaster, Pa., for J. Hurst Est., Mechanicsburg, Pa." Postmarked Mechanicsburg, Pa., Aug. 30, 1918, and addressed to Miss Grace Hoy, 730 S. Duke St., York, Pa. Handwritten message: "Dear Cousin, Expected to see you at the Grove but failed to see you there. Such a crowd of people I never seen as was there on Thursday. All well. Hope this will find you all the same. Emma." A photographic version of this scene appeared in " Grangers at the Grove: Annual Farmers Exhibition Ended Nearly a Century Ago ," a newpaper article by Joseph Cress, which was published in The Sentinel (Carlisle, Pa.), Sept. 5, 2015. "Engine Number 30 arrives in Williams Grove during the Grangers' Picnic in 1916" was the caption of the photographic version, which was provided by the Cumberland County Historical Society.

"This card entitles Name: ________ to a day membership in the Mount Washington Club on the Top of New England, White Mountains, N.H. Date of ascent: Aug. 23, 1938." As Wikipedia reports, Mount Washington is the "highest peak in the Northeastern United States at 6,288.2 ft (1,916.6 m)," which certainly qualifies it as the "Top of New England." The unnamed original owner of this card evidently visited the mountain on August 23, 1938, and may have taken a ride on the Mount Washington Cog Railway --depicted on the back of the card--to get to the top.

An unused real photo postcard, date and location unknown.

"Cornwall Railroad. 1895. Good during current year. Unless otherwise ordered. Pass: Howard Boyd, secy. & treas., Phila., Newtown, & New York R.R. Wm. C. Freeman, president. No. 193. Hosford & Sons, N.Y." Printed on the back: "This pass is not transferable, and the person accepting and using it thereby assumes all risk of accident and damage to person or baggage."

"Miniature Railway, House of David Park, Benton Harbor, Mich. 14." A miniature railroad at an amusement park that was operated by the House of David , a religious commune in Benton Harbor , Michigan, whose members also performed in touring bands and played on baseball teams. Check out another view of the Miniature Railway, House of David Park, Benton Harbor, Michigan .

Printed on the back of this postcard: "The Broadway Limited, the Aristocrat of the Rails, is America's foremost train. It makes the daily run over the Pennsylvania Railroad between New York and Chicago in 20 hours; Philadelphia and Chicago in 18¼ hours. Direct connections in new Union Station, Chicago, for Pacific Coast and points West." As Wikipedia explains, "The Broadway Limited was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995." The illustration on this advertising postcard comes from a 1920s painting by Harold Brett entitled Speed and Security . It shows the Broadway Limited traveling over the Rockville Bridge , which crosses the Susquehanna River a few miles north of Harrisburg, Pa.

Caption on front: "Labor Day, Cumberland, Md." Printed on back: "C. E. Gerkins, Cumberland, Md." A real photo postcard of men marching in a Labor Day parade along Baltimore Street in Cumberland, Maryland, circa 1900s or 1910s. The sign for "J. Gross, " a clothing store with an address of 169 Baltimore Street, is visible on the building at left, and a close examination of an enlargement of the photo reveals that "The Kenneweg Co., Wholesale Grocers" occupied the building on the right. The steeple that's visible at the far end of the street belongs to the historic Emmanuel Episcopal Church , which--as Wikipedia points out--was "built on the foundations of Fort Cumberland, where George Washington began his military career."

A tools photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A real photo postcard showing a group of men working on railroad track maintenance (workers like these were sometimes called " gandy dancers "). The man on the left is using a track jack to adjust the height of a rail. The man next to him is posing with another tool, probably a sledge hammer. The boy in the middle is carrying a bucket. The fellow on the right is sitting on some sort of long bar—maybe a claw bar for pulling spikes—that appears to be wedged under one of the cross ties.

Flowery train Valentine postcard.

The back of an advertising postcard postmarked April 22, 1911, Elmira, N.Y. Printed by Blanchard Press, New York. Message (a printed reproduction of a handwritten note): Dear Boys: Miss Clara Wagner, the most successful and experienced lady motorcyclist, always uses the Eclipse Coaster Brake. Miss Wagner states that "The perfect security I felt in my brake equipment contributed largely to the pleasure." As she had numerous occasions to test it, and it was not found wanting. That's good evidence. Eclipse Machine Co. -------- For the front of the postcard, see Miss Clara Wagner with Her Motorcycle at Coenties Slip, New York . For a similar postcard advertisement, see J. C. Ferguson Using a Morrow Coaster Brake at the Hotel Astor, New York .

"Miss Clara Wagner with her motorcycle at Coenties Slip, New York, using the Eclipse Coaster Brake. 30206. Photo only by A. Loeffler, Tompkinville, N.Y." -------- According to Wikipedia, " Clara Marian Wagner (1891-1961) was the first documented woman motorcyclist who became notable as an endurance racer and was sponsored by the Eclipse Machine Co., a bicycle company, for using its braking products. In 1907, Clara, aged 15 years old and the daughter of the Wagner Motorcycle Company (1901-1914) owner George Wagner from Saint Paul, Minnesota, became a member of the American Federation of Motorcyclists (FAM). Clara put the company's motorcycles on the map by achieving a perfect score in a FAM 360 mile endurance race from Chicago to Indianapolis in 1910, aged 18, but was denied the trophy because she was female." In the early twentieth century, the Eclipse Machine Company published a series of advertising postcards like this one that featured exaggeratedly large women and men with correspondingly huge motorcyles and bicycles in ordinary-sized settings at locales in and around New York City (in this case, Coenties Slip is "a historic pedestrian walkway in Lower Manhattan"). The postcards were advertisements for the various types of motorcycle and bicycle brakes that the company manufactured. For the message on the back of this postcard, see Miss Clara Wagner with Her Motorcycle at Coenties Slip, New York (Back) . For a similar postcard advertisement, see J. C. Ferguson Using a Morrow Coaster Brake at the Hotel Astor, New York .

"Engine Brand Safety Matches. Made in Sweden. Impregnated."

"18. Miniature Railway, House of David Park." Part of an amusement park that was opened in 1908 by the House of David religious commune, this miniature railway ceased operations when the park closed in 1972. Fortunately, however, the railroad was recently restored, and it reopened for rides in 2011. For a history of the railway, see Dave Schoeffler's article, " The House of David Railroad ," in Discover Live Steam: The On-Line Magazine of Rideable Model Railroading . See also another view of the Miniature Railway, House of David Park, Benton Harbor, Michigan .

A real photo postcard consisting of a trick photo that uses a double exposure to show a woman simultaneously pulling and riding a wagon. Notice the ghost shafts at the front of the wagon that fade and disappear (they're located behind the woman and below the shafts she's holding). The doppelgänger riding the wagon is pretending to hold the reins (with what looks like a stick with attached string in her right hand). Not to be confused with A Man Pushing Himself on a Wheelbarrow . 8-) For another similar trick photo, see A Man Simultaneously Pushing and Riding a Wheelbarrow .