AA-2026-BA6D65
On the image
A family — two women and a small girl — descends the boarding steps of a bi-level passenger rail car painted in orange and silver, smiling at whoever is waiting on the platform. The car is one of the new dome or gallery coaches that American railroads were rolling out in the early 1950s with the confidence of an industry that had just won a world war and saw no reason to suppose the interstate highway would amount to much. The crowd on the platform is dressed for an occasion, not a commute: hats, good coats, the particular alertness of people at a public event. An EXIT sign in the railroad's own yellow-and-blue livery stands at the foot of the steps, which means this is an exhibition or a fanfare stop — someone has arranged for the public to board and alight, to experience the future of rail travel. The women are beaming with the specific pleasure of people who have just been shown something impressive and have decided to agree.
Visually related — by likeness
Stepping Down from the Dome Car, 1950s. 1950–1958. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-BA6D65. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/stepping-down-from-the-dome-car-1950s.
@misc{aaAA2026BA6D65,
title = {Stepping Down from the Dome Car, 1950s},
year = {1950–1958},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-BA6D65},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/stepping-down-from-the-dome-car-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Stepping Down from the Dome Car, 1950s PY - 1950–1958 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-BA6D65 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/stepping-down-from-the-dome-car-1950s ER -
From the community
Identifications, corrections, and discussion from readers — reviewed by a librarian before appearing here.
Sign in to add an identification, correction, or comment.
No notes yet — be the first to add what you know about this image.