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The Mercury Streamliner & the World’s Fair Myths

 

Debunking Tartaria: The Mercury Streamliner & the World’s Fair Myths

There’s a popular narrative gaining traction online, suggesting that the 1800s and early 1900s cities—and marvels like the Mercury Streamliner—weren’t built at all, but inherited from a mysterious lost civilization called "Tartaria." While imaginative, this theory falls apart under historical scrutiny. Let’s walk through some of the key claims and ground them in documented history.

Link to Facebook Post By Guy Anderson 


Claim: The Mercury Streamliner Wasn’t a Train, but a Mysterious Tartarian Machine

The Mercury Streamliner absolutely was a real, functioning train. It was part of the Union Pacific’s fleet, and a tangible product of Art Deco-era industrial design. It debuted as the Union Pacific "City of Salina" in 1934 and was among the first diesel-electric streamlined trains in the U.S. It was later repainted and exhibited at the 1939 New York World’s Fair as the “Mercury” to showcase modern transportation.

The Mercury’s design was heavily influenced by industrial designer Raymond Loewy and engineers of the time—not by any hidden ancient civilization. The sleek, futuristic look represented American optimism and engineering progress between the wars.

🔗 Source: Smithsonian National Museum of American History – Union Pacific Streamliner

Claim: No Records Exist of the Designer or Blueprints

This is demonstrably false. Union Pacific Railroads and General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division were heavily involved in the train’s development. The Mercury Streamliner was based on the M-10000 and later models like the M-10002 and M-10003-06 series. These were extensively documented and featured in newspapers, engineering journals, and trade catalogs of the time.

As for Eugene Burnett, it's likely a misremembered or confused attribution. The actual designers and builders were well-known engineers working for Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company and General Motors. Thousands of photographs, patent filings, and engineering publications from the 1930s verify this.

🔗 Source: History Nebraska – Union Pacific’s M-10000

Claim: The World’s Fairs Were “Ritual Erasures of History”

World’s Fairs were designed to celebrate science, innovation, and global culture—not erase history. Their architectural style, often referred to as Beaux-Arts or City Beautiful, was deliberately temporary and theatrical. These buildings weren’t “inherited,” but built quickly using staff—a mix of plaster and fiber over wood frames. They weren’t meant to last decades.

For example, the buildings of the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition were built in just under two years and mostly demolished afterward, as intended. Construction photos, labor records, architectural blueprints, and even bills of sale all still exist in university and museum archives.

🔗 Source: Library of Congress – 1893 Columbian Exposition

Claim: “Steampunk” Design Proves a Lost Civilization

Steampunk is a modern literary and aesthetic genre inspired by 19th-century industrial design—especially the look of Victorian machinery, early electricity, and steam power. The fact that people today find resonance with “brass and gears” doesn’t imply we’re recovering repressed memories of Tartaria. It reflects nostalgia for a time when machines were tangible, visible, and elegant.

Modern artists and designers borrow from this look, not because it’s suppressed history, but because it’s beautiful. That doesn’t make it ancient tech; it makes it good design.

🔗 Source: V&A Museum – What Is Steampunk?

Claim: These Cities Were “Inherited” and Not Built

This is a misunderstanding of architectural history. The rapid urban development in the 1800s was driven by industrialization, immigrant labor, steel-frame construction, and mass production. Cities like Chicago, New York, and St. Louis expanded fast—but they were built, not found. We have complete records of architects, construction firms, materials used, and even workers’ names.

What seems “impossible” today was possible due to concentrated labor and emerging technologies like cranes, precast concrete, and machine tools. That’s not conspiracy—it’s progress.

🔗 Source: Architectural Digest – How American Cities Were Built

Final Thoughts

The Mercury Streamliner is not a Tartarian artifact. It's a product of its time—of real people, engineering breakthroughs, and America’s push into modernity. The myth of Tartaria is entertaining, but it falls apart the moment you look at primary sources. Before believing that entire civilizations were erased, look at the archives. They’re all still there, and they tell a very different story.

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