Lord_k's Article – October 2010 Archive (27)

Sunday Streamline #7: Pennsylvania GG1

The PRR GG1 is a class of electric locomotives that was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad for use in the northeastern United States.

The GG1 was designed by the Pennsylvania Railroad based on the need for a locomotive that could pull more than 12 to 14 passenger cars. The railroad thought it had designed the perfect electric passenger locomotive, the P-5a (shown below), but as the P-5a…

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Added by lord_k on October 31, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

Knights of the Air: Pyotr Nesterov

Staff Captain Nesterov (1887-1914) is often called the first Russian ace, though he scored only one air victory.

He rammed an enemy plane at the cost of his own life. Thus he made history - for the second time in less than a year. Two milestones in the history of aviation - "dead loop" and air ramming - are inseparable from his name.

Pyotr Nesterov was a… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 30, 2010 at 6:30am — 2 Comments

Lord K's Garage - #61. Got Fuel?

Just a few photos today:

I found this Renault truck @ Le Container blog - no caption and no source given. Here's its contemporary, a tank truck:…

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Added by lord_k on October 29, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

Mirror Radios

Don't let this classic dial deceive you.

It looks like a part of some "cathedral", "tombstone" or "console" radio. Actually, it belongs to a very non-conformist device produced by Sparks-Withington company, the Sparton brand owners.

"The celebrated Sparton "Bluebird" 566 glass mirror… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 28, 2010 at 6:30am — 3 Comments

Barkers of Kensington

Another example of London Art Deco:

From the late 19th century until the mid 1970s Kensington High Street had three classic department stores: Barkers, Derry & Toms and Pontings.

In the 1920s, Barkers was famous for its Food Hall:…

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Added by lord_k on October 27, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

Dark Future

Actually, it's not-so-bright past: US Army Depot & Warehouse, October 1949

Photographer: Andreas Feininger

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Added by lord_k on October 26, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

Japanese Propaganda

After studying the pictorial legacy of the Left, it's time to see what goods the State had been able to deliver.

"The concepts of Japanese statism migrated to mainstream Japanese politics,…

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Added by lord_k on October 25, 2010 at 7:00am — No Comments

Sunday Streamline #6: Slovak Arrow

Slovenská strela (Slovak Arrow) diesel motor coach M290 Class, built by Tatra in 1936, was a unit of the Czechoslovak railways (ČSD).

Only two units were manufactured, obviously inspired by the Flying…

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Added by lord_k on October 24, 2010 at 6:30am — 1 Comment

Knights of the Air: Poetic Bombers

These guys, standing in front of Caproni tri-motor, are the most famous Italian bomber pilots of the Great War.

Maurizio Pagliano (right) was born in Porto San Maurizio, Imperia on October 11, 1890 from Italian father and German mother. He begun the war with the rank of lieutenant and immediately distinguishes himself as an expert pilot on Caproni bi- and tri-motors.… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 23, 2010 at 6:30am — 2 Comments

Lord K's Garage - #60. Indian Munro Special

The Munro Special won top honors at the 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance*.

New Zealander Burt Munro rode this 1920 Indian Scout-based streamliner (our understanding is that this bike has the original 1920 Indian frame and shell no.3) to a record 183.586mph at Bonneville in 1967.…

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Added by lord_k on October 22, 2010 at 7:00am — 2 Comments

Leftist Posters from Japan

"In the 1930s, a new style of poster emerged that reflected the growing significance of the masses in Japanese society", says Pink Tentacle.

"These artistic posters borrowed elements from Western design and often incorporated bold slogans with political, economic and educational themes."

However, the… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 21, 2010 at 6:30am — 6 Comments

Miskatonic Mondays - 21st Century Reanimator

Miskatonic University Lights out, everybody.

On Miskatonic Mondays, we celebrate the "weird" fiction of HP Lovecraft and the genre of otherworldly horror that it spawned.

HP Lovecraft's Herbert West: Reanimator has been already published in our community.

This wonderful story has a significant impact on the 'zombie' genre in general and, specifically, on the modern… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 18, 2010 at 7:30am — 2 Comments

Sunday Streamline #5: Mercury

Mercury was the name used by the New York Central Railroad for a family of daytime streamliner passenger trains operating between midwestern cities.

The Mercury train sets were designed by the noted industrial designer Henry…

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Added by lord_k on October 17, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

Knights of the Air: R-planes

German Riesenflugzeuge (giant airplanes) were the largest and most complicated bombers of WWI.

Their story begins as early as in August 1914 when Villehad Forssman, a Swedish engineer who worked in Germany for Prince Sigismund von Hohenzollern, started to build a close copy of the Russian… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 16, 2010 at 7:30am — No Comments

Lord K's Garage - #59. Panhard Dynamic

This is one of the most unusual cars built in 1930s:

It was developed from Panoramique series with their "transparent" front pillars. Dynamic retained small curved windows in its windshield pillars but got completely new streamline body, designed by Louis Bionnier, with massive fenders and lavishly decorated hood.

It was the largest unibody car ever built.…

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Added by lord_k on October 15, 2010 at 6:00am — No Comments

Austrian Deco Lighters

Petrol lighter. A small gadget - and a great Diesel Era symbol.

One of the first really successful and popular petrol lighters has been produced in Austria after an American design since 1919 (the US patent, issued in 1912, was fully registered in Vienna only in 1922). IMCO lighters bore close resemblance to their improvised brethren from the Great War trenches, usually made of bullet- and small-caliber shell cartridges:…

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Added by lord_k on October 14, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

British Deco Revisited

One of my favorite pools @ Flickr is Art Deco Britain. Just take a look:

The (former) Daily Telegraph Building (Fleet Street, London; architects: Elcock & Sutcliffe with Thomas Tait; built in 1928). Photo by… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 13, 2010 at 6:30am — 2 Comments

F.P. 1 Doesn't Respond

A true Dieselpunk movie built around an idea that promised a lot - at least, so it seemed at the time.

F.P.1 (Flying Platform Number One) was the name of a 1931 novel written by noted science fiction and fantasy writer/director Curt Siodmak, best known as the creator of the… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 12, 2010 at 6:30am — 7 Comments

Japanese Dieselpunk

Published @ Pink Tentacle blog:

Sphere-wheeled car - Reiji Iizuka, 1936

In 1936, Shōnen Club magazine published an illustrated article entitled "World Transportation Invention Competition," which took a look at the future of… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 11, 2010 at 7:00am — 7 Comments

Sunday Streamline #4: Flying Banana

The story of the Great Western diesel railcar began with its inventor, C. F. Cleaver of Hardy Railmotors.

Hardy's were a subsidiary of the Associated Equipment Co. Ltd. (AEC), and they had provided petrol and diesel engined shunting locomotives in addition to four- and six-wheel drive lorries and tractors through their associated company, the Four Wheel Drive Lorry Company. Cleaver was a man of considerable… Continue

Added by lord_k on October 10, 2010 at 6:30am — 2 Comments