Thursday, October 6, 2022 – THAT TIMELESS LOOK CONTINUED INTO TRANSPORTATION AND MORE
FROM THE ARCHIVES
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022
THE 800th EDITION
STREAMLINE MODERNE-
CONTINUED
PLANES, TRAINS
AND
AUTOMOBILES
(and SOME INDUSTRIAL DESIGN)
WIKIPEDIA
PLANES
| Boeing 247 airliner (1933) The Boeing Model 247 is an early United States airliner, and one of the first such aircraft to incorporate advances such as all-metal (anodized aluminum) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing, and retractable landing gear.[2][3] Other advanced features included control surface trim tabs, an autopilot and de-icing boots for the wings and tailplane.[4] The 247 first flew on February 8, 1933, and entered service later that year.[5] |
 Douglas DC-3 airliner (1935) The DC-3 had many exceptional qualities compared to previous aircraft. It was fast, had a good range, was more reliable, and carried passengers in greater comfort. Before the war, it pioneered many air travel routes. It was able to cross the continental US from New York to Los Angeles in 18 hours, with only three stops. It is one of the first airliners that could profitably carry only passengers without relying on mail subsidies.[2][3] |
 The Lockheed Constellation (“Connie“) is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its pressurized cabin enabled commercial passengers to fly well above most bad weather for the first time, thus significantly improving the general safety and ease of air travel. |
TRAINS
| The train was streamlined after wind tunnel experiments, a sort of research which was pioneered by the developers of the high-speed interurban railcar Bullet a couple of years before. The Fliegender Hamburger design was very similar to the Bullet’s. Its lightweight, articulated construction and Jakobs bogies were also known on the US interurban scene. However, the Fliegender Hamburger had diesel-electric propulsion. Each of the two coaches had a 12-cylinder Maybach diesel engine with a direct current generator directly coupled to it, which drove a Tatzlager traction motor. The two engines developed a combined power of 604 kW. |
 Two current Dutch Railways InterCity trains: a refurbished ICM train in the foreground, and the front of a VIRM double decker behind it. Photo taken during the rebuild of Rotterdam Central station; in the background the current overall roof is taking shape, while the foreground still shows one of the old individual platform covers |
 New York Central Railroad |
 Front or back? |
AUTOMOBILES
The 1931 WIKOV Supersport, Prostějov Moravia was one of the first produced truly aerodynamically designed automobiles.
Stout Scarab (1935) on display at Houston Fine Arts Museum
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Streamline style can be contrasted with functionalism, which was a leading design style in Europe at the same time. One reason for the simple designs in functionalism was to lower the production costs of the items, making them affordable to the large European working class.[13] Streamlining and functionalism represent two different schools in modernistic industrial design.
1937 Cord Automobile
Thursday Photo of the Day
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WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
NBC TV STUDIO IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER, NEXT TO FORMER GARAGE ENTRANCE.
NOW CHRISTIES AUCTION HOUSE
Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
Sources
6SQFT
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