Melbourne Tram Network, Australia.

The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne. Trams have operated continuously in Melbourne since 1884, with the opening of a horse tram line in Fairfield, since then they have become a distinctive part of Melbourne's character and feature in tourism and travel advertising. Melbournes cable tram system opened in 1885, and expanded to one of the largest in the world, with 75km of double track. The first electric tram line opened in 1889, but closed only a few years later in 1894. In 1906 electric tram systems were opened in St Kilda and Essendon, marking the start of continuous operation of Melbourne's electric trams.

The above  postcard shows a W 7 class tram on St. Kilda Road passing the shrine of Remembrance.

Z1.95 class tram  in The Met livery on Collins Street.

Grand Central Terminal, New York, U. S.A.

A few days back I wrote about the NY Grand Central Terminal. To day I can show you the facade of the Grand Central Terminal. Grand Central Terminal  on Park Ave and 42nd Street & Chrysler Building on Lexington Ave and 42nd Street are pictured on the post card.The classical sculpture group by Jules A Coutan, combining the figures of  Mercury , Hercules and Minerva on the facade of GCT, offers a striking contrast to the stream - lined parabolic crown and spire of William van Alen's Chrysler Building.

Haapsalu Train Station, Estonia.

The Haapsalu Station building was custom designed, because the resort town was a favourite holiday site for the Russian Tsars. The complex has four parts – the passenger building, Imperial Pavilion, the colonnade connecting them, and a unique 216-metre-long covered platform. The first passenger train arrived in Haapsalu in 1905 and the last left in 1995. The old railway embankment has been rebuilt into a 50-km-long recreational trail. The discarded station It is today  a Railway Museum.

Minsk Train Station, Belarus.

Minsk   Passazhyrski Terminal is the main passenger rail terminal in Belarus. It is sometimes called Minsk Ploshchad Lenina due to the metro station serving the terminal, or simply Minsk. The station was built in 1873. The initial wooden building was demolished in 1890 and rebuilt in stone. During  WW 2 Minsk railway station was completely destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1945-1946 and served until 1991. The new building (pictured here) as Minsk-Passazhyrski railway station was built between  1991-2002. Minsk Passazhirsky is the hub of national passenger transport. It is also servesy several international trains to and from Europe.

The Lisbon Tram Network, Portugal.

The Lisbon tramway network is in operation since 1873. It presently comprises five urban lines, and is primarily a tourist attraction.

Grand Central Terminal, New York, U. S. A.

Grand Central Terminal officially opened on  February 2, 1913, and more than 150,000 people visited the new terminal on its opening day.  Although construction was not yet entirely complete, Grand Central Terminal had arrived and New York City would never be the same again.

All the while, it remained the busiest train station in the country, with a bustling Suburban Concourse on the lower level and famous long-distance trains like the Fast Mail, the Water-Level Limited, the Wolverine, and the Twentieth Century Limited departing from its Main Concourse.  In 1947, over 65 million people -- the equivalent of 40% of the population of the United States -- traveled the rails via Grand Central Terminal.

By the early 1950's, as post-war America transformed itself into a nation of suburbs and automobiles. In 1954, the railroad resolved to make the most of its assets, commissioning plans to demolish Grand Central Terminal. Nothing came of this plan.  But in 1958, the railroad concluded negotiations to demolish the six-story office structure at the Terminal's rear and replace it with the 59-story Pan Am Building.  Completed in 1963, the Pan Am Building sealed off Park Avenue, completely obscuring the Terminal from uptown.  Concurrently, the interior of the terminal was being parceled out for billboards and commercial advertising, in an on-going effort to increase revenues.

On August 2, 1967, New York City's recently established Landmarks Preservation Commission -- formed in response to the demolition of Pennsylvania Station -- designated Grand Central Terminal as a landmark, subject to the protection of law.  In December 1976, the National Register of Historic Places named Grand Central Terminal as a National Historic Landmark.  

In 1994, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority gained long-term control of Grand Central Terminal in the form of a 110-year lease. A comprehensive revitalization plan based on the Master Plan for Grand Central Terminal was put in place.  Construction began in 1996. The revitalization project culminated with a gala Rededication Celebration of Grand Central Terminal on October 1, 1998.  This event garnered both national and international media attention, and marked the beginning of a new chapter of this venerable New York City landmark.

The Grand Central Terminal has been completely restored back to it's 1913 splendor. Grand Central has become an international example of a successful urban project that gave new life to an historic building which otherwise would have been discarded and destroyed.

San Francisco Cable Car System, SFO, U.S.A.

The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated  cable car system. An icon of  San Francisco, the cable car system forms part of the intermodal urban transport network operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway, or "Muni" as it is better known. Of the twenty-three lines established between 1873 and 1890,  three remain (one of which combines parts of two earlier lines): two routes from downtown near  Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf, and a third route along California Street. These cable cars are the only mobile National Monument in the world, and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The cable cars are not to be confused with San Francisco's  heritage street cars, which operate on  Market Street  and the Embarcadero.

Orange Express Tram, Soller, Spain.

Orange Express Tramway in Soller is the only working tram in the island and runs through the old town. It is called the Orange Express not because of the colour  of the trams but due to the fact that its route run through the old town via the orange groves to end at harbor at Puerto de Soller.

Tsing Ma Bridge, Hong Kong.

The Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong has two decks and carries both road and railtraffic, which also makes it the largest suspension bridge of this type. The bridge has a main span of 1,377 metres (4,518 ft) and a height of 206 metres (676 ft). The span is the largest of all bridges in the world carrying rail traffic. The lower level contains two rail tracks. The rail line is part of MTR’s Tung Chung Line and Air Port Express.

White Pass &Yukon Railroad, Alaska, U. S.A.

 

Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, this narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.   The WP&YR railway was considered an impossible task but it was literally blasted through coastal mountains in only 26 months. The WP&YR climbs almost 3000 feet in just 20 miles and features steep grades of up to 3.9%, cliff-hanging turns of 16 degrees, two tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles.  The 110 mile WP&YR Railroad was completed with the driving of the golden spike on July 29, 1900 in Carcross Yukon connecting the deep water port of Skagway Alaska to Whitehorse Yukon and beyond to northwest Canada and interior Alaska. The WP&YR suspended operations in 1982 when Yukon's mining industry collapsed due to low mineral prices. The railway was reopened in 1988 as a seasonal tourism operation operating on the first 67.5 miles (Skagway, Alaska to Carcross, Yukon) of the original 110 mile line. 

This picture on the postcard from 1937 shows the train passing Trail Rocky Point North White Pass in Aalska.