Thursday, October 28, 2010

...Come to Omaha with me...The Durham Museum...

...on our last day in Omaha we visited the Durham Museum...

...it's in the old train station...

...I'm always amazed at how very grand these old train stations were...

...you might think this was just painted on the ceiling - but they showed the intricate molded plaster being restored...

...the ceilings are probably 30 feet high...

...and the floors are beautiful too...

...there were a couple of Great Halls - very impressive...

...the sign to the trains...

...there were statues of soldiers and partings...

...that's Karen flirting with a couple of soldiers...

...some art deco painting - I love it - it makes me wonder what people will look back on from our era...

...I loved all the neon signs - for taxi cabs...

...baggage...

...and the soda fountain - which still works...

...then we did go downstairs...

...to see the trains...

...and streetcars...

...and mail buggies...

...and baggage waiting to be loaded...

...Scout planted a sunflower - they were having a soil exhibit - Dig It!...

...then he headed outside to climb on some farm equipment - he enjoyed it still...when he was little he absolutely LOVED 'diggers' - we would stop on the side of the road and let him watch them digging - he had so many books about diggers and said he wanted to drive a dump truck when he grew up - so sweet...

...there was a tiny mouse in the scoop...

...back inside for gangster cars...

...old trucks...

...horseless carriages...

...a model train...

...Karen playing at being a snobby first class patron in a Pullman Car...

...her dining room...

...the lounge car - I must say that the lounge car has not changed an awful lot - I took the train from Greenville, SC to Boston MA - and the lounge car looked pretty much the same - on the inside anyway...

...the public restrooms were the same too - even the colour of the walls...

...a second class berth...

...the same berth in the daytime position...

...the second class seats - these look exactly like the seats on a train I took in France - they were blue too - and we faced each other like this...

...this is a first class sleeper - it has a door for privacy - the second class berth was just open to the hallway...

...the bunk pulled down on top - with the little ladder going up...

...a first class single sleeper - all in about a 3 x 6 space - you had a bed...

...a toilet...

...we thought the notice was funny - no flushing in station...

...the chair in the upright position...

...the sink in the corner with the toilet closed...

...and baggage overhead...those were the days...

3 comments:

  1. Love your tour. What fun! MOM

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  2. I just love the museums that let you get a hands on go at stuff like this. It is the sort of museum where all ages can have a lot of fun.

    Our old trains had compartments with sliding doors. The seats faced each other and seated four people - with or without the pull down arms. There were netting racks for luggage. As I remember people didn't have so much luggage back then.

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  3. There was a corridor down one side. If you see 'Terror by Night', a Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes film, it is set on such a trainl

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