Courtland CHRISTIANI (author and photographer). [Dutch Colonial Railroads in pre-WWII Java].

Courtland CHRISTIANI (author and photographer).

[Dutch Colonial Railroads in pre-WWII Java].

"The Railways of Java" pp.35-44 extracted from the November 1940 issue of Railroad Magazine. An illustrated article, ending with an unintended prediction: 'Barring any unfortunate developments in the political situation, we may look for continued progress from the Netherlands Indies Railways...' (Japan invaded, Holland 'lost' their colony). 

[with:] 22 photos of locomotives in Java, [see images] various sizes, by Christiani, tipped onto thin paper mounts

[and:] three printed Javan railroad forms, [see images] text in Dutch and Indonesian

[and:] three typed letters signed from Christiani to J. Vogler of Texas, American Consulate, Surabaya, Java, April 7, 1941; Surabaya, Java, Aug.5, 1941; Adelaide, [Australia], Sept.2, 1942. The first two letters mostly concern their shared interest: railroads, locomotives and pin-ups. The last letter includes a description of the writer's experiences during the evacuation of US nationals from Java "When the time came actually to get out we had only 12 hours notice and most of the time was taken up in destroying records, etc., ... I had to hurry around and gather up the stray women and children and get them on the night trian for Batavia .... I left Batavia on a dirty little coasting steamer with 90 others...[on] Feb. 23, sleeping on straw on the deck. We never saw a plane the whole ten days which was lucky as we had to go through the strait between Java and Sumatra where so many others went down" 

Provenance: J.T. Vogler, Houston, Texas.

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