Boeing Air Transport Boeing 40-A  (N)C288     (c/n   899)

                                 

                                     The Boeing 40 series of (primarily) mailplanes were designed by Clair Egtvedt in response to William
                                     Boeing's bid on the San Francisco to Chicago Air Mail Route (CAM 18).  Boeing had joined forces
                                     with Edward Hubbard who already had an air mail route from Seattle to Victoria on Vancouver Island.
                                     They won the bid at an unprecedented $2.88 per pound and needed an efficient mail carrying plane to
                                     enable them to make a profit.   The oft-published shot above shows one of the initial fleet of 20 of these
                                     (two passenger) mailplanes crossing  California's Sierra Nevada range on one leg of the transcontinental
                                     crossing.  The line was based in Salt Lake City in order to provide connections to Varney Air Lines to
                                     Seattle and WAE to Los Angeles.