A Personal Amateur Photography Blog
There is a garage in Tucson that hold a labor of love for the volunteers who work on the equipment that make up the Old Pueblo Trolley and Bus Museum.
But it take more than love to restore them. It takes time and money.
Some arrive looking like this…
Some are in a bit better shape….
But with effort they end up looking brand new…
Well done to the volunteers of the Old Pueblo Trolley and Bus Museum
Lowell, Arizona is just south of Bisbee, and today is officially part of the city of Bisbee. Not only has the town lost it’s population over the years, but it actually lost it’s land as the massive copper pit mining was expanded.
Today a portion of the main street remains, with a collection of old buildings, cars, trucks and buses – but it has a unique appeal. It is the scene of numerous photo and video shoots.
A Saturday in the city with some random sights.
As usual, we arrived at Retiro Train Station. Today however I noticed that on the side where the long distance trains leave from there is a series of murals.
There are a number of these vintage platform kiosks scattered about the station.
Moving on we passed by one of the colorful buses, commonly known as Collectivos – private bus companies, In the background is the National Congress Building.
Our final barrio was Puerto Madero. Once docklands, then vacant for 40+ years, it is now the newest neighborhood in the city – with the tallest buildings.
The ship ARA Uruguay is a floating museum. It is thought to be the largest ship of it’s era still afloat – more than 140 years old having been built in 1874.
A first for me – a monument to taxi drivers.
The promenade goes along what was once the riverfront. It has been reclaimed and is now a nature preserve.
There are a number of food trucks along the way, but none served cerveza. Fear not – the mobile bar is ready for you!
The area is known as Costanera Sur.
With your back to the city it feels as though you are in the middle of the tropics.
On the ground, on the water, or in the air there are many ways to get around the city.
Let’s start with a city bus. Not just any bus, but a collection of historic buses from the MTA Museum:
Via the water…
Always a favorite – the Roosevelt Island Tram.
Or the train…
For now it is time to get out of town – over the swamps of Jersey.
When we lived close to Pittsburgh I would sometimes take old photos and recreate them with the current view. Being a city that has developed significantly since the 1950s, Columbus doesn’t have the quantity of old buildings to match up with current photos, it still offers enough to make for an interesting Sunday afternoon.
Most of the old photographs are from the Library of Congress website, and are in the Detroit Photographic Company section of the online photos (easily the best collection of vintage photos anywhere).
For this effort we made our way up High Street from the south end of downtown to the north end, where the former railroad station was once located.
We start with the grand old Southern Hotel. Still there, and still in the hotel business, it hasn’t changed much from the street view since 1910. A few horse and wagons parked instead of cars, and obviously no traffic lights!
We continued north on High Street, stopping at State Street to take a view back south towards where we just came.
Interestingly none of the 1910 buildings seem to still exist, and those that replaced them have also aged long enough to be re purposed into other functions. Most noteworthy is the large building on the far right on the new photo – it was for many years the downtown flagship Lazarus Department Store, which closed in 2003.
Turning around and looking north on High Street – the State Capitol Building on the right (just out of view). I would estimate this photo to be from between 1910-1915, with the presence of a few automobiles.
Note the two 12-15 floor high buildings on the right. The shorter one was the tallest in the city when completed in 1901, with the slightly taller one surpassing it in 1906. One interesting bit of trivia, one of the original leaders of the NFL was a Columbus native, and as the president of the league their headquarters was in the building on the right from 1927 until 1939.
Along the street in the distance you see mass transit – a street car in the 1910 photo, and a bus in the new one.
A second view of Broad and High Street. The older photo was obviously taken from the 2nd or 3rd floor, which I can’t recreate exactly since the buildings are all closed to the public.
It is amazing that since Broad & High is often considered the center of Ohio, being the two main streets in the city directly across from the Capitol that the small buildings on the northeast corner survive to this day, albeit with significant remodeling.
This view also gives a closer view of the transportation choices of the times.
One last view of Broad & High. The line of streetcars in 1910 and buses now.
Another block north brings us to Gay Street. Note the buildings on the northeast corner are all still in existence – although the concept of a Target store was still 50 years away.
Long Street – The Atlas Building has always been a presence at this corner. Not much about the exterior has changed, a couple of neighbors are missing though. Note that Long Street was a two way street in 1910, with the streetcar tracks down the middle.
High Street at Spring Street – Absolutely nothing remains, most has been replaced in the last 40 years.
Even on a Sunday it was easy to get a bus in every photo, as they seemed to pass by about every 5 minutes. The old photos also had a streetcar in nearly every one.
Our final stop on High Street – Union Station. This location on High Street was the location of the main railway station for Columbus from 1851 until the last train left in 1977. The wonderful building was demolished by 1979.
The station was replaced with a convention center, and later the arcade (shopping mall – not video games) was replaced with shops and restaurants built over the freeway in a style that recalls the architecture of the original.
The convention center and hotel sits exactly where the main concourse was located.
It still remains a public gathering space, only for a different purpose.
With that our time travelling up High Street came to an end. Look for more in future visits to other cities (Chicago, Cleveland) or even more in Columbus.
I have had the opportunity to visit most of America’s great transportation museums. Having that background I can state that in my opinion the Gilmore Car Museum is the best in the country.
I had read about the Gilmore for some time now, and had always looked forward to going. With the long Labor Day weekend and the emphasis on cars, now was the time.
When we arrived one of the staff said ‘see you in 4 hours’. He was wrong, we spent 4 1/2 hours 🙂
Gilmore is more than just a single building with some cars. It is a campus of buildings and barns, each featuring a genre of cars or car companies.
Each building is immaculate, clean and well light with great presentations. They also take pride in that there aren’t barriers for most cars, just notes to remind you not to touch. This makes photography much easier.
Among the buildings is a 1940s diner that was moved from Connecticut. It serves as the restaurant for the museum. We had a basic lunch there, with great milkshakes and friendly staff.
An example of one of the barns. This one was moved from a nearby farm, with 2 levels for cars.
A complete 1930s Shell Station.
The pumps represent different eras.
The motorcycle building.
Inside are a number of bikes from the early 1900s to current day.
A vintage Cleveland and 1919 Johnson.
As the sign notes – a 1928 Indian. Check out that rear seat.
Outside near one of the storage barns is an un-restored London double decker bus.
Another building – another collection. This one has a peddle car collection.
As with the motorcycles, the collection was vast and pristine.
Even some peddle airplanes – how cool.
In the 1960s Mr Gilmore built a replica of the train depot for the little town of Hickory Corners. Inside is a hood ornament display.
I am always enthralled by the old hood ornaments.
Almost too nice for the hood of a car.
At the Gilmore they have over 1300 of them.
While the photography was tricky with the display cases and the light and shadows, many came out very nice.
Also called mascots, it was a common occurrence in the 1930s to personalize your car with a different ornament.
Our next building was called ‘The Classics’. Higher end cars from the 1930s.
A Cadillac for a movie star.
The large two level barn shown earlier from the outside had 1950s cars on the lower level.
And the impressive upper level had earlier models.
Hudson Motor Car Company made automobiles from 1909 through 1954. This one is from the 1940s.
So many great cars.
In the same barn is a Ford display.
One interesting feature of the the Gilmore campus is that car clubs build their museums there. In this example the Cadillac club built essentially a Cadillac dealership on the outside.
Inside are Cadillacs over the years.
Without a doubt the older Cadillacs are much nicer looking than the 1970s and 1980s.
The Ford Museum has a complete, authentic 1930s parts counter.
The Ford museum is dedicated to Model A’s.
A 1930s school bus.
As with Cadillac, from the outside it appears to be a vintage Ford dealership.
Across the driveway in the main building is the Lincoln building, whom have some of the nicest cars of all.
Another earlier Lincoln model.
A collection of 1950s and 1960s sports cars.
As with Cadillac, Lincoln and Ford, there is a Franklin dealership.
But back to the Lincolns.
Also in the main building is an exhibit for A J Foyt.
The main building seemed to have more of a mix of cars.
One of the last of the Packards.
A stylish 1934 DeSoto Airflow
If you are into cars the Gilmore Car Museum is a must to visit.
Our final stop was the Museum of American History, also known as America’s attic. There is so much to see starting with – Children’s TV icons…
A shirtless George Washington?
A tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.
Early computers.
Early money.
Commercial advertising standards.
Batman’s ride.
A collection of model ships.
Washington DC streetcar.
In the transportation hall they had a couple of displays of life in the 1950s.
And a feature of the growth of the suburbs.
Julia Child’s kitchen.
And her awards.
Early telegraph.
The random eagle.
A section about Latino’s in America included this cool Statue of Liberty only featuring a Latino woman holding tomatoes.
There was a section about democracy in America, including a stunning presentation on voting in America, and how often people have tried to control who can vote so they can stay in power – it sadly continues to this day.
Presidential election tchotchkes.
A 1940s voting machine.
A collection of protest signs.
Another room housed mechanical items – an early sweeper.
Finally in the presidential section was a collection of street signs named after presidents. The Museum of American History is a sensory overload – in my opinion it is second to Air & Space for museums in DC.
The Antique Automobile Club of America built a nice transportation museum near Hershey, Pennsylvania. More commonly known as the ACCA Museum, it houses a number of automobiles, trucks, buses and motorcycles.
Currently the very cool Hershey Kissmobile is displayed at the front entrance.
The building has 3 levels, with a nice lobby featuring a beautiful ragtop.
Many of the cars are located within themes.
The museum has a nice mix of automobiles and trucks – all restored to original condition.
A full Atlantic Gas Station is displayed, complete with the Service Truck.
The lower level features the Bus Museum.
Their current primary exhibit is on Tuckers.
Three fully restored Tucker’s are shown.
As mentioned in a previous posting when we went to Loudenville for the melting ice sculpture festival, Flxible buses had been built there for a number of years. Many people have bought old buses and transformed them into RVs, the most famous being used in the Robin William movie RV. Once every two years a large group of them gather in Loudenville for a reunion.
After a brief stop at Mohican State Park, we arrived in ‘downtown’ Loudenville, where we found a nice spot in the shade and waited the 30 minutes or so for the parade to start. The parade was lead off with a local police car, followed by a 1960s Hearse – then you saw them – 15 somewhat smelly, somewhat noisy, but beautiful, lumbering giants coming down the hill.
Some of the exteriors were restored to look original to the 1950s or 1960s, but most had very decorative paint jobs. One, clearly a Texan, had an outline of the state painted like the flag with a comet sailing down the side to a porthole for the bathroom outlined with another large star. A field of stars adorned the bottom half of the bus. Most had unique named, like a purple bus called Plum Crazy, another was Ruthie.
We sat next to some of the family members who had come in from all over the United States. They told us there was an open house immediately following the parade at the campgrounds just south of town where everyone was staying. So after the 15 minute parade we moved to the campgrounds where we enjoyed an hour of checking out the variety of interior finishes, as well as the very proud owners talking about their effort in their restorations. Most of the interiors appears to have been restored in the 1980s.
Our return trip focused on staying on small township or state highways, resulting in a pleasing hour drive back to town. If you find yourself in Loudenville, Ohio in July of even numbered years, a visit to the Flxible Bus Gathering is recommended.
RDZ Photography 