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From Ox-Teams to Eagles This little softcover book - more of a booklet, really - was published by the railroad in 1946 for its 75th anniversary, and only a few thousand were printed. Most went to employees, executives and friends of the railroad. They are quite rare today. The cover is made of embossed cardstock for a leather-look appearance. |
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Texas & Pacific 100-150
It is not commonly known that the T&P had an experimental early model streamliner prototype from the Budd Company, a year before either the CB&Q's "Pioneer Zephyr" or the UP's "M-10,000." According to this rare publicity brochure from Budd - printed in silver and blue ink - the consist featured a two-car articulated train, with a power car, including a small RPO, and a trailing coach car. |
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"Topics" Magazine -- --* This was the employee magazine of the T&P, published from the mid 1940s until sometime in the early 60s. Each issue contains feature stories, articles about railroad operations, editorials from management, and is full of tidbits of information about employees and their activities. *- October, 1952, cover, courtesy Amanda Mathers |
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Publicity materials Through much of the 1950s, the T&P conducted a very successful advertising and public relations campaign, placing ads in major national magazines. These ads promoted pro- Christian and pro-American values and the Free Enterprise system, and received various advertising awards. (See my page "Advertising the T&P" page for some examples.) Readers of the ads were invited to write to T&P for brochures by railroad president W.G. Vollmer; one was "Our Four Great Faiths," another was "The Four Pillars of Freedom." The booklet "Toward a Better World" contained small-sized reprints of the ads. Thanks to Mrs. Jo Ann Bailey for sharing this material with me. |
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Books Published by the T&P |
William G. Vollmer, President of the T&P from 1945-1958, was a prolific writer of articles, many of which appeared in the employee magazine, Topics (see above.) He also gave many speeches. As with the "God and Country" ads, the themes generally dealt with pro-Christian, pro-American values, anti-Communist observations (remember, it was the early 50s), and promoting good railroad PR. This picture of Mr. Vollmer is from the March, 1950, issue of Trains magazine by Kalmbach Publishing. That issue contained a feature story about the T&P entitled, "Straight Through Texas," by David P. Morgan. This material has been preserved in several different collections, some of which are virtually unknown today and almost impossible to find. Below are listed those items which I have accumulated; if you know of other collections, I would appreciate hearing from you. |
Faith and Freedom A collection of five articles by Mr. Vollmer, "Dedicated to the Preservation of the God-Given Rights and Personal Liberties of Man." These articles are "Freedom Needs a Soap Box Too;" "Our Four Great Faiths;" "The Primrose Path;" "The Four Pillars of Freedom;" and "Freedom Isn't Free." Note that two of these articles had also been printed separately. This particular copy is signed by J.B. Shores, longtime director of the T&P's Public Relations Department. Note that Mr. Shores dedicated this copy to "Dr. J.T. Wilbanks," but the opposite page reads, "Library of T.J. Wilbanks." |
Selected Articles This collection contains 35 articles by Mr. Vollmer, most of which I think originally appeared in the employee magazine. The titles include"Fruits of Freedom," "Lifeblood of Our Railroad," "Creed for Business," and "Not Things, but People." The book's front and back covers include a printed version of Mr. Vollmer's autographed initials - "W.G.V." - printed in gold ink. |
The Development of Good Public Relations As the title suggests, this little brochure outlines Mr. Vollmer's views on developing and maintaining good relations with railroad customers and the public at large. |
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Here are three wonderful art prints by Fort Worth artist John Winfield. Note that these images are protected by US and International Copyright law and are used with permission. You can see his complete collection and order these prints at www.winfieldart.com. |
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An all-time favorite by Howard Fogg. |
All rights reserved by the respective copyright holders. |
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