Diesel Train in the Royal Gorge

Postcard US-3689818 to Russia shows a diesel train in the Royal Gorge, on the Arkansas River, passing underneath the Suspension Bridge - "The World's Highest Bridge", near Cañon City, Colorado, Cañon City, with a population of 16,400 as of 2010 and known as the "Corrections Capital of the World for having nine state and four federal prisons and penitentiaries, is one of the few U.S. cities that have an eñe in its official name.

Two train stamps, among others, were affixed to the card. One was a 33-cent "The Congressional of the Pennsylvania Railroad" from a set of five 1999 stamps entitled All Aboard! 20th Century American Trains. The other “Untitled (Trains on Inclined Tracks),” showing a gouache, colored pencil, and graphite drawing on pieced paper from circa 1960–1963, was one of the five Forever stamps, issued on March 26, 2015, featuring the work of Mexican artist Martín Ramírez who had been confined to psychiatric hospitals for more than 30 years.

I had the sender's address since November 6, 2015. However, the card didn't get posted until December 4, 2015 due to delay from my training for my first half marathon and my encounter of a failed armed robbery. The card had since expired after 60 days, and it was automatically registered by Postcrossing on May 11, 2016 when the account of the receiver was closed.

California State Railroad Museum

Outgoing postcard US-3911531 to Slovakia shows the EMD E-9A diesel-electric locomotive No. 6051 at the California State Railroad Museum. This large, streamlined locomotive was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in 1954. It had served the Southern Pacific Railroad for 15 years before it was donated to the Pacific Coast Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society for the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento, California in 1969.

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

Postcard US-3429537 to France shows a northbound San Diegan train, in the form of two Budd-built Rail Diesel Cars (RDC's), pulls out of Santa Ana, California. The photo was taken by Thomas H. Gildersleeve on July 3, 1952. Those cars were brand new and were placed in service on May 21, 1952.

According to Thomas H. Gildersleeve, "the first San Diegan was inaugurated as a diesel powered streamlined train on March 27, 1938, and it soon evolved into an entire fleet of Los Angeles - San Diego trains encompassing three sets of equipment, each of which made two daily round trips. After the RDC was introduced, Santa Fee purchased this one pair to replace one of the conventional streamliner sets in San Diegan service."

"The RDC San Diegans lasted until January of 1956, at which time they were reassigned to train No's 311 and 312 between Newton and Dodge City, Kansas, as it was felt they lacked sufficient seating capacity for continued service on the popular San Diego line. In their new assignment, the cars displayed a more conventional Santa Fe paint scheme with the usual red and yellow front end, and one of the cars sported a baggage section, making it similar in appearance to an RDC-2. The cars climaxed their career on the Santa Fe by operating out of Carlsbad, New Mexico."

The card features two of the five 1999 33-cent USPS commemorative stamps titled "All Aboard!" The original water color illustrations used on the stamps depict art deco-style passenger trains of the 1930s and 1940s. On the far left was the Super Chief, famous for carrying motion picture people between Chicago and Los Angeles, also known as the "Train of the Stars." On the second left was the Congressional which followed a route between New York and Washington, D.C. Its slogan was "Every Mile Electrified."

The stamp on the far right shows one of the five 2015 Forever USPS commemorative stamps with Mexican artist Martín Ramírez's drawings from circa 1960–1963, a gouache, colored pencil, and graphite drawing on pieced paper “Untitled (Trains on Inclined Tracks).”

Ringling Bros. Ending Elephant Acts in 3 Years

After 145 years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is ending its elephant acts by 2018, among the concerns over animal treatment.

The circus currently has 13 elephants traveling with its tour units. They will be relocated to the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk City, Florida once their acts end. More than 40 other elephants are already at the Center. However, other exotic animals such as lions and tigers will continue performing.

It's a victory for the animal rights groups such as PETA and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who have been claiming mistreatment of circus animals for a long time. While the parent company of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was able to won a nearly $16 million settlement from a number of animal-rights groups including the Humane Society of the United States, ending a 14-year legal battle, it was the shifting consumer perceptions done the elephant acts in.

The stamped card features one of the eight USPS Vintage Circus Posters Commemorative stamps which uses a reproduction of a 1926 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey poster made by the Strobridge Lithographing Company, showing an ornately costumed elephant. The vintage poster used a bragging tag line “5 Big Herds of Performing Elephants in 5 Circus Rings at One Time” to advertise the Greatest Show on Earth. The card has a pictorial first-day-of-issue postmark on May 5, 2014 from Sarasota, FL 34230.

America's Party at Fremont Street, Las Vegas in the New Year's Eve

The Fremont Street Experience in downtown Vegas will again to hose the New Year's Eve America's Party to ring in 2015. The adult-only (21+) party starts at 6:00 p.m. with 9-hour live concerts on three stages, performed by 13 tribute bands: Crimes of Passion (Pat Benatar Tribute), Doobies Inc. (Doobie Brothers Tribute), Rio (Duran Duran Tribute), Don't Look Back (Boston Tribute), Generation Idol (Billy Idol Tribute) Jumping Jack Flash (Rolling Stones Tribute), Led Zepagain (Led Zeppelin Tribute), No Duh (No Doubt Tribute), Queen Nation (Queen Tribute), Fan Halen (Van Halen Tribute), Aeromyth (Aerosmith Tribute), Bonfire (AC/DC Tribute) and Red Not Chili Peppers (Red Hot Chili Peppers Tribute),  as part of the “TributePalooza.” The giant Viva Vision screen will feature a spectacular light show and virtual fireworks at the count down.

Postcard US-2545733 to Czech Republic shows the light of the neon reflects off the cars parked along the Fremont Street, adding to the feeling that it was never dark in downtown Las Vegas, even in its early years. From neon circles under the Fremont Hotel to the Indian head atop the Hotel Apache sign, Fremont Street is a destination 24 hours a day. At the end of the street, the neon sign for the train depot can be seen.

Wabash F7A #1189 Locomotive

Postcard US-3064218 from Illinois shows Wabash F7A #1189 locomotive, which was the last F unit built for the Wabash Railroad by General Motors Diesel (GMD) at London, Ontario, Canada in April 1953. As the last operating F7 on the Norfolk and Western, it was retired on September 18, 1979 and donated to the Monticello Railway Museum in 1982. One weekend a year, Wabash #1189 and CN #6789 get to run on the mainline track.

鉄道の日

"鉄道の日" is the annual Railway Festival in Japan on October 14 to commemorate the opening of Japan's first railway between Shimbashi Station (新橋駅), Tokyo and Sakuragichō Station (桜木町駅), Yokohama on October 14, 1872. In 2014, the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) issued a three-day unlimited-ride pass to celebrate the occasion.

Postcard JP-591605 from Japan shows the Super Sōya, express train service between Sapporo and Wakkanai in Hokkaido, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) which is one of the six regional operators in the JR Group for the passenger services.

Union Pacific's Living Legend

Postcard  US-2913074 to Ukraine shows Steam Locomotive No. 844 at Sherman Hill, Wyoming. It was the last steam locomotive of a fleet of 45 built for the Union Pacific Railroad by American Locomotive Company, placed in passenger service in December, 1944. After diesel engines took over all of the passenger service, No. 844 was operated in freight service in Nebraska between 1957 and 1959. The engine was widely known as the No. 8444 as an extra '4' was added to its number in 1962 to distinguish it from a diesel engine numbered in the 800 series. The steam engine regained No. 844 in June, 1989, after that diesel engine was retired.

Hailed as Union Pacific's "Living Legend," the engine is widely known among railroad enthusiasts for its excursion runs since 1960, with appearances at Expo '74 in Spokane, WA, at the opening of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, CA in 1981, at the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans, LA, and the 50th Anniversary Celebration of  the Union Station in Los Angeles, CA in 1989. The locomotive is currently parked in the roundhouse at Cheyenne, Wyoming, You can get the update from the Up Stream Team via Facebook and Twitter.

The postcard was purchased from National Geographic's store at Zazzle. Copyright:  Kent Kobersteen / National Geographic Stock.

The Circus Is In Town

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town yesterday, with elephants and performers of the circus posing for pictures in front of the fabulous Welcome Sign. It will perform LEGENDS from their all-new Blue Tour at the Thomas and Mack Center from Thursday June 19 to Sunday June 22, 2014.

Photo: Steve Marcus via @LasVegasSun

Outgoing postcard US-2813947 to Taiwan, with the Vintage Circus Poster stamps, shows the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train in Safety Harbor, Florida in January, 1992. Photo credit: © James G. Howes 1992.

Fremont Street, Las Vegas in 1930

May is National Historic Preservation Month. Postcard US-2545672 to Russia shows a historic photo of Fremont Street looking west around 1930. The train depot is at the end of the street. There was an Elks lodge, an ice cream and sweets store, a Western Union, and a hardware store. Doctors, dentists, and lawyers had their offices on the second floor of many of the buildings.

The Union Plaza Hotel was built at the location of the train depot in the early seventies. It continued to have the Union Pacific Railway Station attached until Amtrak discontinued passenger train services into Las Vegas in the late nineties. The area where the train station was has since been converted into additional casino space as part of the Plaza Hotel and Casino.

Exactitude

Postcard US-2713420 from Illinois shows a 1932 Art Deco travel poster of train "Exactitude" by French artist Pierre Fix-Masseau (1905-1994). The original poster was a 39.25 inch x 24.25 inch color lithograph, part of the Modernism Collection in Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It was a gift from Norwest Bank Minnesota.

Auto Train

Postcard US-2690034 from Florida shows that Auto Train, an 855-mile or 1,376-km scheduled service between Sanford, Florida near Orlando and Lorton, Virginia near Washington D.C. by Amtrak, transports passengers AND their cars. Trains depart daily at 4:00pm and arrive at the destinations at 9:30am next day. It is the only one of its kind in the US.

When I was a graduate student living in the east coast, I had chances to take the train. However, I ended up passing the opportunities, as the cost of driving was considerably lower when the gas costed lesss than two US dollars and if wear and tear of the car was not factored in. However, with the current average gas price at $3.50, an one-way trip from Orlando, Florida to Washington D.C. would take almost 12 hours and cost at least $120 using AAA's fuel cost calculator. In comparison, a least expensive one-way Auto Train ticket from Sanford, Florida to Lorton, Virginia on April 15, 2014 would cost $102 for a passenger plus $186 for an automobile or $131 for a motorcycle. While the fare is complex just like airlines ticket and not inexpensive, it may be worth a try just to eliminate stress from the 12-hour driving.

Colorful Train on Neiwan Line

Postcard TW-1123145 from Taiwan shows a colorful train running on the Neiwan Line (內灣線), a railway branch railway line in Hsinchu County, Taiwan. The line was constructed in 1950 and was fully open on September 11, 1951, with a length of 27.9 km and 14 stations from Hsinchu to Neiwan. It became a popular tourist attraction in the early 2000s.

Alishan Forest Railway, Taiwan

Postcard TW-1051157 from Taiwan shows the Alishan Forest Railway (阿里山森林鐵路), a network of narrow-gauge (762 mm or 2.5 ft wide) railways originally constructed for logging in the Alisha mountain area in Chiayi County, Taiwan. Now it is a popular tourist attraction with unique Z-shaped switchbacks, many tunnels and wooden bridges.

Restoration of Zwolle Station

Postcard NL-2104782 from the Netherlands shows restoration of the Zwolle Station with bus and train services, circa. 1954. Zwolle is the capital of the province of Overijssel, the Netherlands. More recently, the station underwent a major renovation in 2000, which resulted in an increased capacity among the effort to overhaul the entire public transportation systems in the city to serve the bus and train passengers better.

Zwolle was built on a hill overlooking four rivers: the IJssel, Vecht, Aa and Zwarte Water. It has a long history dated back to the Bronze Age period while the city as it is now known was founded around 800 A.D. The compact old city was surrounded by a star-shaped moat traversed by the Zwarte Water which means black water.

Map of Zwolle by Joan Blaeu in Blaeu's "Toonneel der Steden", 1652, from Wikipedia 

Zwolle residents were known as Blauwvingers (Bluefingers) from a folk story dated back to 1682 when the St.Michael's church tower collapsed. The city government was short on cash and had to sell the church bells to neighbouring city Kampen. However, Kampen residents found out the bells were too damaged to be played, after agreeing a high price. In revenge, Kampen residents paid in copper coins of four duiten (the equivalent of 2.5 cents). Distrusting Zwolle people went through a rigorous counting to make sure that they got paid in full. As a result, their fingers had turned blue from the copper after counting this vast amount of coins.

The following video on YouTube shows that Zwolle is really a charming city.

Model Car for Chicago "L" Train

Postcard US-2375509 has a template to make a 1:160 scale model car for the Chicago "L" Train - Red Line. Chicago's "L" Train was first built as an elevated steam line to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and later evolved into a public transit system with 1,100 cars and 290 miles of track. The Red Line is the busiest route in the city, running through Chicago from north to south and under a subway tunnel downtown.

Florida Overseas Railroad

On January 22, 1912, the first train from mainland Florida reached Key West through the Florida Overseas Railroad, an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway, in operation from 1912 to 1935.

Until today 101 years ago, Key West is an isolated outpost reachable only by boat. Standard Oil tycoon Henry Flagler conceived the railroad that stretched more than 160 kilometers or 100 miles into open ocean, and the construction began in 1905. Similar to William Andrews Clark, who built the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad that went through Las Vegas in 1905, Henry Flagler was a visionary who made remote destinations accessible to both passengers and freight.

You can read the Last Train to Key West to learn how the train services ended in September 1935.

Update: The Postcard showing a train traveling along the Florida Overseas Railroad was later sent to Brasil as US-2501260.