MetaFilter posts tagged with transportation and history

You can hear the whistle blow, across the Nile

infini — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 06:07:29 -0800

When it comes to railways, the British are famous for their colonial legacy of one of the world's most extensive railway networks built across then British India but their lesser known and far grander vision was the Cape to Cairo railway network intended to stretch across the sea of colonial pink on the African continent. Left incomplete due to politics and geography, most of it is still almost as it was built in its day. Egypt, historically and internationally, was the second country after the UK to have a working railway, from Alexandra to Cairo built by Robert Stephenson himself. This was the first railway on the African continent, and the first section begun in 1852, was opened to Kafr-el-Zayat in 1854 ; a further section throughout to Cairo was opened two years latter. From Cairo the railway was carried on to Suez, thus completing the overland route by rail. Until the opening of the Suez canal in 1869 it was a source of considerable revenue to the Egyptian State Exchequer. Yet its continued development eventually put the country into debt and the history of the railroad in Egypt is inextricably bound to that of the country's economic development. With more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) of track, Sudan has one of the longest railways in Africa, extending from Port Sudan on the Red Sea to Nyala in the war-torn west, and from Wadi Halfa on the Egyptian border to Wau in the far south. But it now carries less than six percent of Sudanese traffic, and the last passenger train to depart from north Khartoum station left in 2010, according to a policeman guarding the empty building. Ironically, it was conflict that initially prompted the development of Sudan's railway. The first section of the present-day network was built by the British in the late nineteenth century to support their military operations against Sudanese leader Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi, who had defeated the colonial forces some ten years earlier. It was later expanded, and used profitably to export animals, sugar and cotton primarily from Gezira state, Sudan's agricultural heartland south of Khartoum, between the Blue and White Nile. The best known section in its time (traveled on by the likes of Teddy Roosevelt while on safari) laid tracks through what is now Kenya and Uganda initially as a means to attract British settlers to the colonies of British East Africa as well provide freight transport links from the interior of the Uganda Protectorate out to the coastal city of Mombasa's port and harbour. Established as the Uganda railway and then the East Africa Railway Corporation as sections extended further into the region, it came to be popularly known as the Lunatic Express. The story of why it was built, how and by whom is a fascinating glimpse of history, geography and Hollywood style adventure. South Africa's railway network has given it its own place in history, including the story of Jack the Signalman - a baboon who helped his crippled master retain his railway job. Not only did he get his monthly rations from the government but he also received an employment number. Cape Town was where Cecil Rhodes dreamed of linking the African continent from top to bottom - a lost dream of an era of colonial and military history closely intertwined with massive engineering works and the evolution of modern transportation. Some of it carefully preserved even today as this newly BRICS nation pours investment into high speed transportation linking its capital city and the surrounding economic region.

Stewardess Uniform Collection

Trurl — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:51:55 -0800

In the seven years since its last^* appearance in the blue, Cliff Muskiet's Stewardess Uniform Collection has grown to more than 1,000 different uniforms from more than 400 different airlines. Strangely missing: the saris of Air India

Another Role for Buses in Civil Rights History

reenum — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:41:47 -0800

Worcy Crawford ran the only bus company that would transport colored passengers in pre-Civil Rights Act Birmingham. Mr. Crawford recently passed away and now the buses sit in disrepair.

Streetcar-Mounted Film Cameras (and more)

Miko — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:27:28 -0800

San Francisco 1906, Barcelona 1908, London 1927. More detail; via 60 Minutes.

Polin' on the River

Miko — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:26:33 -0800

Since 1870, the Hatton Ferry in Hatton, VA, has been helping people and vehicles cross the James River - under pole power [ferry is cable-assisted, and poling starts at 3:42]. Before the nation was connected by a network of bridges, pole barges like this were a common means of transportation across smaller waterways. Hatton Ferry is thought to be the very last working survivor of those thousands of the pole-driven ferries; but today, due to DOT budget constraints, it may go out of existence. I wouldn't have known about this without having received an interesting ListServ email from Dr. Jurretta Jordan Heckscher, Research Specialist, Digital Reference Section of The Library of Congress, who provided many of the news and LOC links. Also, best part of the video is when the raft of tubers drifts along, 12-packs cooling in the water and all.

Hell's Gate and Beyond

Miko — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:00:40 -0800

Maritime New York

Jesus Boots perfected!

skallas — Tue, 03 Aug 2004 09:54:18 -0800

Jesus Boots perfected! NYT: In the last 150 years, Americans have patented about 100 water-walking inventions. The first, in 1858, was by H. R. Rowlands, who lived in Boston, not far from where Mr. Rosen resides, in Newton, Mass. Most of the subsequent patents, Mr. Rosen said, are iterations of that same idea. "Unfortunately," Mr. Rosen observed, "none of them actually work."

NycRoads.Com

PrinceValium — Sun, 15 Jun 2003 01:30:30 -0800

NYCRoads.com is an exhaustive history of the expressways, parkways, and river crossings that shaped metro New York over the last century and a half.