Streamliners: Locomotives And Bullet Trains In The Age Of Speed And Style – Design You Trust

Streamliners: Locomotives And Bullet Trains In The Age Of Speed And Style

A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor “bullet trains”. Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles.

As part of the Streamline Moderne trend, the term was applied to passenger cars, trucks, and other types of light-, medium-, or heavy-duty vehicles, but now vehicle streamlining is so prevalent that it is not an outstanding characteristic. In land speed racing, it is a term applied to the long, slender, custom built, high-speed vehicles with enclosed wheels.

Streamliners were a relatively late era development. The period in which trains ruled interstate transportation, the so-called “Golden Age,” occurred between the 1880’s and World War I. Into the 1920’s there was strong recovery, following federal takeover during the war, which persisted until the Great Depression and subsequent economic downturn of the 1930’s. Alas, that event proved a turning point.

As John F. Stover notes in “The Routledge Historical Atlas Of The American Railroads” (New York: Routledge, 1999), every year after 1929 the industry posted annual deficits on passenger services and the depression only worsened the situation. In Gregory Schneider’s book, “Rock Island Requiem,” the author points out that by 1936, 70,000 miles were in receivership or roughly 25% of the country’s entire network. As much as railroads tried, nothing slowed Americans from purchasing their very own automobile, an invention made affordable through Henry Ford’s mass-produced Model-T of 1908. To stem the losses, Union Pacific and the Chicago Burlington & Quincy came up with a new concept; the sleek, fast, and colorful train.

The streamliner was born.


































If you want more awesome content, subscribe to 'Oh, Design You Trust,' our brand new Facebook page! Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

More Inspiring Stories

Latest Fight Over Guns in US is Selling of “Unfinished Receivers”
NASA Captures Unique Elephant Face Image On Mars
Amazing Portraits of a Young Demi Moore in the 1980s
Meet Light Ragaz, A Spectacular 3D Projection Onto Natural Environment
Wide Seats And Plenty Of Legroom: These Old Pan Am Photos Show How Much Airline Travel Has Changed
This French Custom Retro-Futuristic Furniture Made From Classic Car Parts
Man Develops 120-Year-Old Photos Of Cats Discovered Inside A Time Capsule
Photographer by Ruth Orkin Captured Stunning Color Photographs of New York City in the 1950s
Double: Wheels for your iPad
Retro Photos In WTF Style
The Futuristic World as Envisioned by Echte Wagner Advertising Cards, 1930
This 4x4-Inspired Aquanaut Yacht Explores Deeper with Onboard Submarine
Tinker the Robot: The 1966 Real-Life Housekeeping Robot
During the Coronavirus Pandemic, Disinfector 'Robots' Were Hired at a Children's Hospital in Russia
New Network on the Streets of London Broadcasts News to City Workers via Recycling Bins
Punkt. DP 01 Cordless Phone
Limo-Jet: The World's First Private Jet Converted Into A Luxury Limousine
Rarest And Oldest Porsche: Yours For About $20 Million
20 Amazing Photos Of A Young And Hot Axl Rose In The 1980s
Photographs of Excited Dutch Boys Hanging on a Moving Train After the Liberation, 1945
Neuno - A New Brutalist-Modern Tablet Stands!
Cool Vintage Photographs That Show People Riding Zebras From The Late 19th And Early 20th Centuries
Hilariously Sarcastic Retro Pics
Big East Tournament 2012: Louisville, Cincinnati to Wear New Adidas Camo Uniforms