The last big splurge: the 1939-1940
New York World’s Fair by Keith Wills
T
he 1930’s were dynamic years for ¹/₄″ O scale model trains. Large display layouts were first seen in
the Transportation Building at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Ex- position, and later in Texas and Cali- fornia. The last big display would be the International 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair, which had the theme “The World of Tomorrow.” Twenty-sev- en competing eastern railroads, called the Eastern Railroads Presidents Con- ference, came together to establish the Railroad Building and create its vari- ous interior and exterior displays. It was spectacular. The entire space occu- pied by the massive building and out- door exhibits took up 17 acres, domi- nating the Transportation area, which included the automotive and aviation industries. One outdoor site, “The Yard, The Railroads of Yesterday,” had historic 19th century locomotives on loan from different roads, such as the Boston & Providence, Baltimore & Ohio, Boston & Maine and Lackawanna. Another was “The Grounds, The Railroads of To- day” with modern domestic and Euro- pean locomotives and cars on 4,500 feet of track for the public to explore. Of particular note was the Pennsylva- nia’s 140-foot long S-2 6-4+4-6 Duplex under steam on track rollers. An open air theatrical extravaganza was Edward Hungerford’s production,
TWO PHOTOS LOCOMOTIVE AND CAR ERECTING SHOPS
“Railroads on Parade,” with music by Kurt Weil of Three Penny Opera fame and a large cast of operating steam lo- comotives, actors, singers and dancers.
Railroad, Lackawanna, Delaware & Hudson, Norfolk & Western, Baltimore & Ohio and Canadian National. It was all steam, not a diesel in sight. Indoors, “Railroads in Action,” was a
large ¹/₄″ O scale layout measuring 160 feet by 40 feet in a 1,000-seat theater
BROCHURE COVER
It told of the evolution of American railroading from its primitive incep- tion to the modern era, with operating reproductions of ancient steamers to restored 19th century historic locomo- tives, to the most up-to-date ones from the New York Central, Pennsylvania
with a 40-minute presentation of a typi- cal railroad system in a 24-hour period. I greatly recommend readers search
out July-August, 1989, COLLECTOR CON- SIST articles by John A. Blakes for a thorough discussion of its creation and operations, as the thrust of this
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