On Board With Design

In 1954, the Boston & Maine Railroad announced plans for a  complete modernization of passenger service. This entailed the railroad’s largest-ever investment in equipment, with a fleet of 55 new stainless steel air-conditioned rail cars and 10 new locomotives, making theirs the largest diesel fleet in the world. Designer Herbert Matter, who had previously been design consultant for the New Haven Railroad, was hired in 1955 to create a design program for the Boston & Maine. The logo and design program he created were used throughout the company’s outward-facing image–on locomotives and passenger cars, as well as in timetables and annual reports, as shown here.

However, Boston & Maine continued to face similar difficulties as other passenger rail operators, including an increasing shift towards passenger auto and air travel. By 1965, the company ceased long-distance train operations and was subsumed in 1983 into Guilford Transportation Industries–which itself later purchased the name, logo, and colors of Pan American World Airways and took the name Pan Am Railways starting in 2006.

Items in the exhibit are housed at Northwestern University’s Transportation Library. Email transportationlibrary@northwestern.edu with questions, or to schedule an appointment.