help identifying Set of 57 Pictures of very old trains...

[Anonymous]

Hi all, I know absolutely nothing about trains. I found an old group of 57 photos of old trains while sorting through some boxes in my closet. The pictures were given to me by my great-grandmother just before she died, and I am guessing by the wear/quality that they are very old. The first picture in the set is titled "The Race of the Iron Horse and the Horse Car", and the last is a conglomeration of about 100 railway trademarks. This is obviously a set, as all are titled and numbered 1-57. Any information would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!!

[West Coast S]

The key phrase "The race between the iron horse and horse car, lead me to suspect it to be from the 1939-40 worlds fair, pagent of the rails exposition, the corporate trademarks are also a clue as to some type of commerative set for a exbitition, I have several coins from this event, passed down by my father, and possibly the same print you have, it seems awfully familar to me, a similar event was stagged in 1948 as well... Hope this helps.

Dave

[CShaveRR]

I think the Association of American Railroads used to produce sets like this, as educational tools for teachers. I "relieved" an elementary teacher of her set because what they showed as "modern" railroading was well out of date at the time.

[CShaveRR]

I can't seem to find the set I had; it may have been a casualty of our most recent flood.

However, I did remember something else about these particular photos--railroad names were not shown in the photos themselves, or were altered so that favoritism would not be displayed. One I remember was hoppers being loaded at a mine tipple--they looked like N&W cars, but the lettering was "E&W".

If this sounds familiar, it's pretty safe to say that the AAR was the origin for your collection.