Railroad travel posters keep going full steam ahead

This 1928 A.M. Cassandre railroad travel poster, known as ‘L.M.S. BEST WAY,’ achieved $36,000 plus the buyer’s premium in May 2022 at Swann Auction Galleries. Ten years earlier, a different vintage example of the poster sold at Swann for $162,500 and a world auction record for any travel poster. Image courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries and LiveAuctioneers.
Philip Zec’s railroad travel poster ‘By Night Train to Scotland’ attained $25,456 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2020. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers and LiveAuctioneers.
Philip Zec’s railroad travel poster ‘By Night Train to Scotland’ attained $25,456 plus the buyer’s premium in November 2020. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers and Onslows Auctioneers

NEW YORK — Evoking glamour, power and a sense of adventure, posters touting trains and railways are one of the most notable subsets of collectible vintage travel posters. The streamlined shape of a train speeding through the night to its destination conjures up images of an impeccably stylish, gone-too-soon past as well as man’s mastery of machines and technology. While most railway travel posters depict a train, some poster designer instead choose to focus on alluring scenery or a legendary place.

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