I have been corresponding with some people on a modern high-speed rail site in California, and one of the things brought up has been what some of the rolling stock might look like. One of the potential vendors is a firm called Talgo of Spain. This builder's equipment is noted for very low floor levels made possibly by wheels running on stub axles. This equipment has been greatly refined over the years, and is now in high-speed service in Spain, as well as a pair of equipment sets assigned to Amtrak's Cascade service.

What is not always remembered is that the first Talgo equipment sets were built in America by American Car & Foundry at Berwick, Pa. It must have been something newsworthy; Life magazine had a spread on it. Some photos of this equipment from 1949 are below:

http://www.life.com/image/50520681

http://www.life.com/image/50520680

http://www.life.com/image/50520679

http://www.life.com/image/50520675

http://www.life.com/image/50520676

http://www.life.com/image/50520673

http://www.life.com/image/50520672

http://www.life.com/image/50520671

http://www.life.com/image/50520678

http://www.life.com/image/50520677

http://rlhs.org/ARCHIVES/rlapt1.htm

http://rlhs.org/ARCHIVES/rlapt2.htm

The New Haven had an experimental set for a while:

http://www.nhrhta.org/htdocs/images0605.htm

And amazingly, at least one of these early equipment sets has been preserved in Spain:

http://www.djibnet.com/photo/trenes/tal ... 54853.html

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/o ... /tpod.html

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/o ... /tpod.html

Let's see what keeps this Talgo company:

http://world.nycsubway.org/world/es/railmuseum.html

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/o ... /tpod.html

While looking for Talgo photos, I came across this site, which looks interesting:

http://www.oil-electric.com/

F-M Speed Merchant page:

http://www.oil-electric.com/2008/12/rea ... -viii.html

Well, have fun.