Milwaukee Road Post Card with Hiawatha #2

What a week. I know I said things were going to slow down around here but I'd like to do it on my own terms and not have technology slow me down. After a long frustrating period of fighting with my old modem and router (constantly unplugging and re-plugging in the devices to boot them up and get them running again) we finally got an upgraded modem/router combo. I decided on the Motorola SURFboard SBG6580 and  it's nice to be able to sit at the computer for a whole 15 minutes in a row and not have to re-start the Internet.

It's been awhile since we've posted any Milwaukee Road stuff so today Toys & Stuff will feature two different postcards. They both have the same artwork on the front - the Hiawatha #2 speeding down the rails - but the reverse is different on each.  Enjoy! Even my Wife Enjoy's it:)

TRAIN TIME: USPS Trains & Locomotives Post Card Series 1999 - Card 14

Ahh, finally, my favorite engine, the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha. The Postal Service would have been remiss had they not included this engine. Why? Well, not because it's my favorite but it was notable for several reasons. The locomotives were the first Class A locomotives to be designed and built from the beginning as streamlined engines. The original design is credited to famed industrial designer Otto Kuhler who worked for the American Locomotive Works (ALCO), the builders contracted by the Milwaukee Road. Each originally designed engine wore its shroud from birth to death. It was the first class of locomotives built for daily operation at speeds exceeding 100mph and they hauled the fastest scheduled passenger trains in the world by 1935. The first engines were 4-4-2 Atlantic's and were among the last Atlantic types built in America. Last but not least, they were gorgeous! Unfortunately not one of the Hiawatha engines survived the wrecker's torch but I believe there is only one Beavertail observation car and a passenger car, of the original 50 cars built for the various Hiawatha routes, which survive. Enjoy!

TRAIN TIME: MR Hiawatha Post Card

Another Milwaukee Road post card (year unknown) showing my favorite engine - the Hiawatha - this time crossing the Wisconsin Dells. Enjoy!

TRAIN TIME:Post Card - ca1900 CM & St Paul Depot (Made in Germany)

Here's an interesting post card of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St Paul Depot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It's circa 1900 and the card itself was printed in Germany! I suppose that's not entirely unusual as Milwaukee had a large German population and many German tourists and ties to the old country would have been quite strong. Enjoy!

TRAIN TIME: Post Card - Hiawatha Along Mississippi River

For train time today Toys & Stuff features another post card featuring the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha. The card is undated but the the original artwork is from noted railroad artist Russ Porter. The Milwaukee Road is my favorite line and I have a nice collection of post cards, ads, artwork and ephemera - not a huge collection but it'll provide enough material for quite a few posts. While a couple of the cards feature the same artwork on the front but with different  reverse sides, the  majority of them are different in some way. Everybody Enjoy ! Bettina & Fritz Berg :)

TRAIN TIME: Post Card - Hiawatha at Milwaukee, WI by Russ Porter

Today's Train Time offering is a post card of the Chicgo & Northwestern Depot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin along with a couple of gorgeous stream-line Milwaukee Road Hiawatha's. The artwork is done by noted railroad artis Russ Porter. While the Russ Porter painting is listed as a 1967 work, there's no indication as to when the post card was made. Enjoy!

Train Time: 1928 Chicago & North Western Depot, Milwaukee, WI

The really nice thing about collecting things like magazine ads, postcards, stationary, and other forms of paper ephemera is that it doesn't necessarily have to take up a lot of space. I mean really, this post card takes up a lot less room than the tin-litho buildings that have been posted here on Toys & Stuff. I could store  a couple of hundred post cards in the same space as one or two buildings. And most of the time they're relatively inexpensive. I say this because should you decide to start collecting something, anything, space may be a big consideration and it's good showing you options. Today we have a post card from 1928 featuring the Chicago & Northwestern Depot at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was built in 1889-90 in the Romanesques style near the lake front - near the shores of Lake Michigan. It was near the east end terminus of St Paul Ave - just a few miles straight down the road from my house! St. Paul Ave was the street bordering the south end of my block. I had actually been to this depot at least a couple of times, but unfortunately my childhood memories are vague. The depot was torn down in 1968, against the protests of preservationists, to make way for a larger, more modern structure. Sad :-(  Anyway, we still have pictures of it. Enjoy!

Here the post card was scanned using different settings. The colors are brighter but there is a slight loss of detail in the shadow areas.