Quote: Do you collect timetables? Some of those have incredible designs with some done by the American Banknote Company.
Really! That's completely new to me. I'd love to see an ABNC example if you could post one here. I'm guessing timetables would have been lithographed. It would have been too costly to engrave something with such a short shelf life. But I'd be thrilled to be proved wrong!
When I was in Costa Rica in 1984-5, they had wonderful long thin paper railroad tickets with the names of all the stations printed on them. The station clerk would tear off the ticket at the appropriate space to show which station you had booked to travel to. Sadly the Costa Rican main lines were badly damaged in an earthquake in 1991, and today there are just suburban trains in the capital, San Jose, in addition to a few special trains operated for tourists.
I don't really collect tickets, but there is a history behind this one. On September 30, 1994, I left work at 5pm and headed north to attend a friend's wedding, taking place the following day in Yorkshire. I knew that London Transport was closing one of its far-flung branch lines - from Epping to Ongar - that day, and decided to do a short detour as I was passing close to the intermediate station, North Weald, and thought I might be able to get a photo of the last train. According to the timetable it should have left Ongar and should have been on its way back to Epping.
When I got to North Weald Station, there was a crowd on the platform and the guard was just about to lock up the building. I then discovered that the 'last train' was running late and had just left Epping. Obligingly the guard let me buy a return ticket to Ongar before closing the station. The train came along and I squeezed on board. I was the last person to get a return London Underground ticket from North Weald to Ongar! When I got back to Ongar I picked up my car and continued my journey.
A few years ago the branch line was revived as a tourist railway and I gave the volunteer stationmaster at North Weald my ticket so he could display it in the station. https://www.eorailway.co.uk/
Quote: NumisRob - you mean you got to ride a "last train" and didn't even plan on it?
That's right. I knew the line was closing but hadn't planned to travel on the last train - I couldn't get off work before 5 and didn't think I'd make it on time. It was pure luck I managed to get on that train!
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It's funny now seeing other people's videos on YouTube and thinking "I was on that train!"
Here are a couple examples. First is a tour book, second is a timetable. I can imagine this was quite costly to produce back in the day, hence why I don't see many of these by the ABNCo very often.
Wheatback, you found the bee! This answers a long-standing question I've had.
ABNC did plenty of vignettes of animals, but so far I've only found one insect -- this bee:
I always wondered about the purpose of engraving such a stylized bee. And here's the answer -- it was for the Bee Line!
It looks to me line the Bee Line timetable was printed lithographically. The other timetable isn't obvious from the scan. Are you able to do a "feel test"? Run your fingernail lightly over the more heavily engraved areas. If you can feel the raised ink then you'll know it was engraved.
Some tickets from the Isle of Man: The Isle of Man, in addition to issuing far too many coins for its size, has a remarkable Victorian transportation system. There is a steam railway, an electric railway that is more like an inter-urban streetcar, and a Fell mountain line that ascends Snaefell Mountain:
Quote: The Isle of Man, in addition to issuing far too many coins for its size, has a remarkable Victorian transportation system. There is a steam railway, an electric railway that is more like an inter-urban streetcar, and a Fell mountain line that ascends Snaefell Mountain:
I would love to ride those! When I lived in Portland, OR the Oregon Electric Railway Historical Society had an operational double-decker trolley from Blackpool, England. I think they still run it on the museum grounds. https://oregontrolley.com/
GregAlex: Awesome! That's super cool and new info on that Bee Line piece that I didn't know. As for the Central Jersey tour book, it's smooth. So another litho.
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Posted 03/07/2021 11:37 am
