The Car Of Tomorrow....

Corvair, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

...yesterday! A rusty and crusty Chevrolet Corvair. Trusty, too, as this was a runner-I think the owner was preserving it as found, in a state of arrested decay.

Lexington

Lexington, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Pointing the way to Lexington, Illinois, along historic Route 66. Originally a station stop on the Chicago and Alton, Lexington became a popular stopping point along Route 66. Now mostly bypassed by the interstate, the old road can still be driven.

I can't find out the history behind this sign, if it originally hung on a local business and has been repurposed. It's in pretty good shape, and I think it lights up.

The Action Road

The Action Road, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Originally formed as a narrow-gauge road running south from Denver, the Denver and Rio Grande Western grew to be one of the major railroads of the western United States. The Rio Grande became known for it's mountainous routes, which were used to good effect on it's passenger trains. The Rio Grande was also one of the few railroads not to join Amtrak in 1971, continuing to run it's Rio Grande Zephyr between Denver and Ogden, Utah, until 1983. The Zephyr was the last private, intercity train in the United States.

Eventually, the Rio Grande was absorbed into the Union Pacific monolith, along with it's partner the Southern Pacific. DRGW stuff is rare in the system now-a few locomotives are still running around, as well as some old freight cars. This is an old coal hopper, one of a string I spotted parked up in rural Illinois.

Zephyr

Zephyr, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The fantastic former Burlington Road E5. We've seen it before, but I think that it is especially well suited to the TtV technique.

Corvette

Corvette, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Hard to believe, but the Chevrolet Corvette wasn't a successful car when it was introduced in 1953. Rushed into production after making the rounds of various auto shows as a concept, the Corvette received mixed reviews. It looked fantastic, and the first examples sold well, but it soon became apparent that GM's new sports car was more of a cruiser than a racer. It was slower than people expected, and it was beset with quality issues such as water leaks and body panel fit due in part to GM's use of fiberglass for the outer body panels.



These issues were fairly quickly resolved, and the '54 model year cars were better built, and offered more colors to boot. But the Corvette was still a modest performer with it's six cylinder sedan engine, not the sort of powerplant that enthusiasts expected. This changed in 1955, when GM introduced it's new V-8 engine, which naturally found it's way into it's sports car as well. Sales perked up, and did so even more in 1956 when the car gained new styling, roll up windows, and other refinements.

This slightly down at heel example is a '55, with a V-8. I photographed it at a show-it is completely original, having been put in a garage in 1966 and not taken out till recently.

Oregon Theater

Oregon Theater, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A former movie theater marquee in Oregon, Illinois. I have no idea how this sign looked originally-I think it probably said "Oregon", as the holes for the neon tubes seem to match up nicely. Clearly it had some extra decoration at one time, though, and it appears to be hand painted.

The theater has long since closed-the storefront is now home to an appliance store.

North Western

North Western, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Bi-level gallery cars first started to appear in the 1950's on Chicago's commuter lines. A double decker design, they featured an open space between both sides of the upper level, allowing conductors to collect tickets from the lower level. It's a pretty efficient design, and one that is still in use on Metra today.

This is a former Chicago and North Western car, and was made by the St. Louis Car company in 1955.