The Photo Standalone from The New York Times January 28, 1934, directly below, reports on the very first "Train of Tomorrow." What's in this picture's caption ...is about all the information GM wanted to release on this futuristic new direction this company had already started investing heavily in. 

Further down at this section are a few 1934-35 General Motors print ads subtly elaborating on the direction Harley Earl's futuristic engineering role was taking at this time in history—while he was secretly designing all sorts of other transportation products, besides cars and trucks, for the world's largest manufacturer. After this company secured Designer-Earl's involvement, no GM leaders ever came out and said, "one of our newest divisions is presently working on 'startle the imagination' type engineering projects right now inside General Motors." But, as one can clearly see printed inside these ads, GM was letting the information out though that it was designing airplanes and trains, too. 

Also provided, further down at this section, is an online link to a transcribed interview local Detroit reporter Stanley Brams had with Designer-Earl in 1954 whereby he talks about designing the original Union Pacific M-10000 streamliner...and how it won him and his Styling Section design team the contract for not only designing all GM's most important trains of the twentieth century (in the 1930s,'40s and '50s), but the second "Train of Tomorrow" GM would build and publicly introduce in 1947, too. Of course, Earl tells the story behind these milestones using his standard subtleness style...leaving out a few significant parts. Mr. E did this mainly because he didn't dare want to raise awareness, at this time in the mid-1950s, how exactly GM had gained a "design monopoly" manufacturing many products...from cars, busses and trains. Because this was a time a U.S. senate antitrust investigation was happening where many inside Washington wanted to break up GM due to their issues relating to "bigness."

The reason Harley Earl remained largely anonymous in ever becoming known as the "champion player" behind these masterworks of design is one of the most captivating part of his life's story.

This pioneer of the modern streamlining world allowed this information to slip threw the cracks of history, so it has yet to be fully examined in our contemporary business world, society and culture. Again, essential parts and pieces of America's transportation history properly connecting this seminal design work which helped jump start the modern design-in-industry era of transportation has not been studied, reported on or most importantly...understood. 

These informative print ads are featured below

Click below to read the train segment of this interview (page 6 and 7)Stan Brams conducted with Harley Earl in January, 1954: