Other articles explored the history of art and artists. Gao Jianfu, for instance, discussed Ju Chao – a relative of his own teacher, Ju Lian – in a 1913 issue, praising his graceful brushstrokes and vibrant colours. Huang detailed the history of painting in the Song and two other dynasties over the course of more than twelve instalments. Three issues provided a comparative overview of ink and oil painting in different countries, presenting images of representative works along with introductions to their artists. Elsewhere, articles explored the practice of art globally, or provided insight into ceramics and pencil drawing. Several works of creative fiction, both prose and poetry, were also included.
To fulfil its social mandate, The True Record also offered news and social commentary. These generally promoted the perspectives of the nationalist movement, such that the magazine has been described as its mouthpiece. The advancement of the nation was often discussed. One article argued that technology news could promote innovation and stimulate social progress and indeed new technologies from waterbikes to armaments were featured. Others urged economic nationalism and the expansion of industrial art or condemned the practice of miserly living.
Sun Yat-sen featured prominently in the magazine, which drew parallels between the nationalist leader and the Hongwu Emperor, who had risen from the peasantry to lead China. He was depicted as interacting extensively with others in society, distinguishing him from the earlier Qing emperors. Several articles detailed individuals who had fought against the Qing dynasty, such as Shi Jianru, who had attempted to kill the Qing governor of Guangdong in 1900, and Bai Yukun, who had been killed in the Luanzhou Uprising. Some articles, such as "Chu Ziwen Destroys His Family to Help the Country", extolled the virtues of persons who continued to contribute to the nationalist cause; it asked, "the country is the family. If the country does not exist, where is the family?".
Initially, nationalist publications such as The True Record had supported Yuan and his Beiyang government. However, as it became increasingly authoritarian, the president received extensive criticism. Problems such as an ineffective government and weak bureaucracy were highlighted. This peaked in 1913, when The True Record published an article detailing Song's assassination. Two photographs of Song's corpse accompanied the article, one clothed and the other nude from the waist up, which Gu Zheng of Fudan University describes as consciously included to increase public outrage and highlight the cruelty of the killing. Yuan, meanwhile, was included in a list of persons related to the killing; his photograph depicted him not in the military uniform of the revolutionary, but adornments of one serving the Qing.


Pan Yaochang and Xu Li of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts argue that, by turning to the international world of art, The True Record drew the vitality needed to "push the culture and art of Shanghai to a new height"; at the same time, they write that its ideas contributed to the concepts of aesthetic education that marked the May Fourth Movement. Gao Qifeng, Gao Jianfu, and Chen Shuren later expanded upon their concept of "national art", developing what has become known as the Lingnan school of painting by blending Chinese, Japanese, and western techniques.
In the realm of publication, The True Record was one of the first illustrated magazines in the Republic of China, as well as its first art journal. Liang Desuo, an editor of the pictorial magazine The Young Companion, considered it to be the beginning of photography in Chinese pictorial magazines; photographs had appeared in domestic publications as early as the mid-1900s, but without photozincography their use had been limited. In her history of photography in China, Claire Roberts describes The True Record as one of the most important illustrated magazines published in the first years of the republic.
The magazine's usage of photography has drawn extensive discussion. Yi Gu of the University of Toronto writes that The True Record is among the best examples of the process through which photography was used side-by-side with other forms of imagery, including prints, manhua, and reproductions of paintings to create new understandings of "truth" in Chinese visual culture. Other scholars have prioritized the magazine's photographic content. Citing its coverage of revolutionaries, the communication scholar Xia Yi of Nanjing Xiaozhuang University argues that The True Record positioned photography as a more timely and objective medium. Pan and Xu note that, by employing photography, the magazine was better able to report current affairs; while earlier publications such as the 19th-century Dianshizhai Pictorial had contained some news coverage, they relied on hand-drawn illustrations and thus their photography tended to place greater emphasis on everyday life.


Weird Faith is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Madi Diaz, released on February 9, 2024, by Anti-. The album followed her fifth studio album, History of a Feeling, and tours with Angel Olsen, Waxahatchee, and Harry Styles. It was written in Nashville and upstate New York, recorded in the latter by Diaz and Sam Cohen, and produced by Diaz, Cohen, and Konrad Snyder.
Weird Faith has been described as an indie rock, indie folk, and indie pop album. The album features sparse, acoustic arrangements that highlight Diaz's lyrics and vocals, and it addresses themes of love, trust, and intimacy. Critics positively reviewed the album, particularly praising Diaz's emotional songwriting. It was featured on several year-end lists and was nominated for two Grammy Awards.


Following the release of her critically acclaimed fifth studio album History of a Feeling (2021), the Nashville-based singer-songwriter Madi Diaz went on tour and opened for Angel Olsen, Waxahatchee, and Harry Styles. She also accepted an offer from Styles to join his tour band. At the same time, Diaz began working on her sixth studio album, Weird Faith. She wrote the album at her home in Nashville and in upstate New York, where she recorded the album with Sam Cohen. Cohen co-produced the album with Diaz and Konrad Snyder.
Diaz said in an interview with Stereogum that she wrote Weird Faith during a period in her life in which she was learning to trust herself, the growth of her career, and her relationships with her new manager, new label, and new romantic partner. She told BrooklynVegan that, while writing the album, she engaged in contemplation in places of worship, and that she was influenced by the Bonticou Crag rock scramble in upstate New York, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' "If You Don't Know Me by Now", The Maori Girls of Turakina by the Turakina Maori Girls Choir, Julia Michaels' Not in Chronological Order, and "Like an Old Fashioned Waltz" by Sandy Denny. Diaz said in Nylon that the album was inspired by her father. She worked with several co-writers, including Olivia Barton on "Everything Almost", Steph Jones and Charlie Hickey on "Same Risk", and Lori McKenna on the title track.


Weird Faith has been described as an indie rock, indie folk, and indie pop album. Critics have generally said that the album's mostly-acoustic tracks are minimalist compositions that highlight Diaz's vocals and songwriting. In No Depression, Maeri Ferguson called Diaz's songwriting "raw and direct" and the musical arrangements "[s]parse[,] ... gritty and textured". She said that the vocals ranged from being "stark" to "almost hymnal in their power". Adam Fink in Exclaim! called the musical arrangement "relatively subdued", contrasting it with the lyrics' emotional power. In Glide, Ryan Dillon stated that the album had a "very honed sonic landscape", featuring minimal arrangements that support, rather than "outshine", Diaz's vocals. Lucy Harbron in Far Out wrote that the music was straightforward, with "high-quality, plain sailing" production. She also noted that the production had sufficient layering to ensure that Diaz's lyrics did not sound "one-note". Similarly, in Pitchfork, Marissa Lorusso said that the album's production was straightforward, with moments of sound layering to highlight particular emotions. She also called Diaz's voice "resonant and emotionally rich". Jeremy Fisette in Beats Per Minute likewise praised Diaz's voice for its "immense power and subtle heartache", but criticized the album's uniform tempos, slow pacing, and simple production.


According to critics, Weird Faith addresses themes of love, trust, and intimacy. Mia Hughes in Stereogum, Fisette in Beats Per Minute, and Fink in Exclaim! wrote that, by contrast with History of a Feeling, which addressed the end of a relationship, Weird Faith was written from the perspective of falling in love, as well as the complications that can arise early in a relationship. Likewise, in Glide, Dillon said that the album focuses on a new relationship and the difficulties associated with falling in love, which he viewed as a metaphor for Diaz's relationship with her career and newfound fame, and the anxieties surrounding them. Comparing "Think of Me" from History of a Feeling with "Girlfriend" on Weird Faith, Eric Bennett in Paste wrote that instead of directing "betrayal and hurt" towards her "cheating ex and his new partner", Diaz now "extends grace" towards her new boyfriend's ex-girlfriend, being honest and open with her emotions and insecurities. Rhian Daly wrote in The Forty-Five that Diaz's "penetrative lyrics" focus on themes of love and trust, as well as Diaz's relationships with herself and others, and her "fears and trepidations, insecurities and overthinking". Lorusso in Pitchfork said that the album captures the "paradox" that while falling in love can be beautiful, it is also "absurd and mortifying". In an interview with Exclaim!, Diaz acknowledged that while faith can be a "triggering word" for many people, it is an indescribable form of peace for herself. She said that the album was about "having some weird faith and walking forward" when falling in love in a new relationship.
In Nashville Scene, Jacqueline Zeisloft also highlighted the theme of intimacy, writing that Diaz "conveys the beautiful messiness of sustaining a long-term relationship". Ferguson said that the album "navigate[s] the uneven terrain of intimacy"—including confronting jealousy, personality flaws, and insecurities—particularly the moment "when the dust settles" and a person is confronted with rebuilding a relationship. Similarly, Steffanee Wang in Nylon wrote that the album is about "love and unhealthy cycles", featuring "bare-boned confessionals" about Diaz's "neurotic habits, toxic thought patterns, and an ever-hopeful desire to be better". Marcy Donelson wrote for AllMusic that the album "shines a blue light on the dark underbelly of love, where the flaws, compromises, and insecurities lie".


Weird Faith is Diaz's sixth studio album. It was released on February 9, 2024, by Anti-. On February 10, Diaz played the song "Everything Almost" from the album on The Tonight Show. She began the Weird Faith tour to support the album on February 12. Anti- released a deluxe edition of the album on October 25. It includes a version of the album track "For Months Now" featuring Lizzy McAlpine, a new single titled "Worst Case Scenario", a song titled "One Less Question" featuring Lennon Stella, and several demo tracks.


Weird Faith received a score of 81 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on nine critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Critics praised the album for Diaz's songwriting and production. Fink in Exclaim! rated the album an 8 out of 10, praising the production and writing that Diaz's songwriting was "plainly spoken" and relatable. For Glide, Dillon wrote that Diaz's "blunt" songwriting centers a "mostly ambient" production. In Paste, Bennett rated the album an 8.2 out of 10 and called Diaz's songwriting "stylized but diaristic"; he also said that the album highlighted Diaz's vocals, but that the instrumentation "felt like a second thought" on some tracks. In The Forty-Five, Daly rated the album 4.5 out of 5 stars and said that Diaz's songwriting places the listener in different scenes. Fisette, who rated the album 72% for Beats Per Minute, praised Diaz's songwriting and the album's honesty.
Critics also praised the album's tone. Sarah Taylor of DIY rated the album 4 out of 5 stars, calling the tracks "wistful yet self-aware", with Diaz striking a "defiant" tone and proclaiming "her faith in love". Caleb Campbell, who rated the album 7.5 out of 10 stars for Under the Radar, said that the album was "often tender and unfussed in presentation, yet full of unsparing honesty". Writing for Garden & Gun, Dacey Orr Sivewright said that the album "combines big feelings and bold sounds" in a manner unique to Diaz. Lorusso in Pitchfork rated the album 7.3 out of 10, praising Diaz's "ear for melody" and the use of "intimacy and restraint" to provide emotional heft to the lyrics.
Some critics compared Weird Faith to Diaz's previous album, History of a Feeling. Bennett said that while "History of a Feeling was the mess of emotions, Weird Faith is the cool-headed exhale." Harbron, who rated the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, said that Weird Faith continued the story of History of a Feeling by capturing "the feeling of returning to love after a brutal loss". Lana Fleischli in Flood wrote that Diaz had grown from her last album, moving on from themes of "loneliness and heartache" to being in a new relationship. Fisette in Beats Per Minute said that the album operates from a point of "delicate uncertainty" at the start of a relationship, while its predecessor operated in "very well-worn territory". Amaya Lim in The Line of Best Fit rated the album 7 out of 10, praising Diaz's songwriting as "sharp and salient". However, she opined that its sparse production style undercut the album's emotions of joy, unlike History of a Feeling, where the sparse production style highlighted that album's dark themes.
Weird Faith reached number 33 on the UK Official Americana Albums Chart. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album and Diaz and Musgraves were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Americana Performance for "Don't Do Me Good" at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in 2025. Several publications listed the album on their best of 2024 lists, including Flood (36), PopMatters (41), Stereogum (41), Slate, and NPR.


Madi Diaz – producer, vocals, guitar, bass, synth bass, synth, piano, organ, percussion, Mellotron
Joe LaPorta – mastering
Andrew Maury – mixing
Konrad Snyder – producer, vocals, drums, percussion, "ambient cool shit"
Sam Cohen – producer, drum machine
Kacey Musgraves – featured vocals on "Don't Do Me Good"
Nat Smith – cello, string arrangement
Matt Barrick – drums, percussion
Adam Schreiber – percussion


The Wood River Branch Railroad was a shortline railroad in Rhode Island, United States. Chartered in 1872 and opened on July 1, 1874, the 5.6-mile (9.0 km) line operated (with one major interruption) until 1947. It connected Hope Valley, Rhode Island, to the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad (known as the Stonington Line) mainline at Wood River Junction. Though always nominally independent, the company was closely affiliated with the Stonington Line and its successor, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (the New Haven), which held significant portions of its stock.
The Wood River Branch carried both passengers and freight for local mills and other industries. A small operation, the company owned only one or two locomotives at any given time. Rhode Island citizen Ralph C. Watrous became president of the railroad in 1904, and remained involved in its operation for the next 33 years. He defended the railroad from several attempts at abandonment. A major flood in November 1927 severed the line and suspended all operations. The company considered abandonment, but ultimately local citizens and the New Haven agreed to rebuild the damaged segments and return the line to service for freight only, using a gasoline locomotive.
Abandonment was considered again in 1937, but the New Haven instead agreed to sell the line for $301 to businessman Roy Rawlings, owner of a grain mill that was the line's biggest customer. He ran the company with his family and a small staff until 1947. That year, both his mill and two other Hope Valley industries were destroyed by fire. Lacking enough business to justify operating expenses, the railroad ceased operations and was abandoned in its entirety in August 1947. Little of the line remains as of 2018.


Southern Rhode Island's first railroad was the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad (commonly known as the Stonington Line or simply the Stonington), which opened between Providence and Stonington, Connecticut, in 1837, connecting to New York City via steamboat. The arrival of rail transportation allowed major growth in textile mills, which used water power along local rivers, such as the Pawcatuck River. Mill owners found that transportation over land by wagon was costly in both time and money. In the mid-1860s, Harris Lanphear, owner of several mills on the Wood River (a tributary of the Pawcatuck), found that it cost three times as much to transport goods to Stonington than it did to ship them the rest of the way to New York. He and other local residents realized that a railroad would solve this problem.
The largest local manufacturer was the Nichols and Langworthy Machine Company, formed in 1834 at the site of the Crandall Mill. The mill was previously purchased by Gardner Nichols and Russel Thayer in 1824, at which time they first introduced the name Hope Valley. The Machine Company was created by Nichols along with Joshua and Joseph Langworthy, all of whom were later succeeded by Gardner Nichols' son Amos G. Nichols and with his brother Henry G. Nichols. By the 1860s, Nichols and Langworthy had expanded into the production of boilers, steam engines, textile machinery, and printing presses.


Residents in the Hope Valley area first asked the Stonington to build a branch to serve local mills, but they were among many towns and cities along the Stonington's route that also desired branches, and the Stonington's management had no interest in building any branches regardless. The residents next chartered their own new railroad, the Wood River Railroad, in January 1867. The new company was authorized to raise up to $600,000 (equivalent to $11,600,000 in 2021) to complete a route from Wood River Junction (at the time known as Richmond Switch) on the Stonington Line to Greene on the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad (HP&F). It was also given the authority to merge with either of its connections after completing construction. The route was approximately 21 miles (34 km) and passed through generally hilly terrain, serving no major population centers; in fact, the promoters of the company had no intention of actually building a railroad. Their goal was to entice one of the proposed line's connections to intervene and build the line for them, a tactic that had succeeded elsewhere in the United States. The Stonington maintained its refusal to build branches, and while the HP&F built several short branches elsewhere, it had no interest in building one in southern Rhode Island. Without the resources of a larger railroad, no progress was made and the charter expired five years later.
Once the first charter expired, residents in the area sought out a new charter, this time intending to build the railroad themselves. The Wood River Branch Railroad was chartered in May 1872, along an approximately seven-mile (11 km) route beginning at Richmond Switch and ending in Hope Valley. The exact terminus location was not specified; the Hope Valley villages of Locustville and Wyoming both sought to have the railroad's terminus. To choose a route, the railroad's directors arranged for all stock subscriptions to be sorted into three groups: those who wanted a Wyoming terminus, those who wanted a Locustville terminus, and those who had no preference. By May 20, 172 shares had been pledged, including 50 for Locustville and 20 for Wyoming, with the remainder expressing no preference. The directors voted that the company's terminus would be Locustville if $35,000 (equivalent to $792,000 in 2021) were raised, but Wyoming instead if either $45,000 (equivalent to $1,018,000 in 2021) were raised or those in favor of Wyoming pledged a total of $10,000 (equivalent to $226,000 in 2021).
A survey was started under the direction of George T. Lanphear on July 17, 1872, and completed on August 2. Lanphear identified two routes from Richmond Switch to Locustville. The western alignment would cost $10,000 more, but would serve two additional mills in Woodville. To extend the line from Locustville to Wyoming would cost approximately an additional $23,000 (equivalent to $520,000 in 2021).


While progress had been made on raising funds, development of the railroad was impaired by both the Panic of 1873 and a deadly train derailment on the Stonington Line at Richmond Switch, caused by the washout of a railroad bridge due to a dam collapse. Most subscribers to the Wood River Branch's stock reduced their subscriptions accordingly, and one mill owner's pledge to buy 101 shares was wiped out with his death. The company was saved when on June 23, 1873, the Stonington Line finally decided to get involved and pledged $19,000, plus $1,000 worth of pledges made directly by that company's executives (equivalent to $430,000 and $23,000 in 2021, respectively). At this point, the Wood River Branch had $59,500 (equivalent to $1,346,000 in 2021) of subscribed stock, which was barely sufficient to reach Locustville, let alone Wyoming. The latter was excluded from the final route, much to the anger of Wyoming residents.
Construction of the line began on September 20, 1873, with a $95,500 (equivalent to $2,160,000 in 2021) contract awarded to J.B. Dacey & Co. to build the entire line. After delays caused by winter weather, construction was completed between Wood River Junction and Woodville by April 1874. Acquisition of a locomotive and rolling stock fell to board member Amos G. Nichols, who ordered a new 4-4-0 steam locomotive, named the Gardner Nichols after his father. With the branch out of money, Nichols purchased the locomotive from the Rhode Island Locomotive Works himself for $8,500 (equivalent to $204,000 in 2021). Nichols also purchased a new passenger car from the Worcester-based Osgood Bradley Car Company using $4,500 (equivalent to $108,000 in 2021) of Wood River Branch Railroad bonds instead of cash. There was no money left for a baggage car. The line opened for business on July 1, 1874.


As the only major industry in Hope Valley, the Nichols and Langworthy Machine Company was the railroad's biggest customer and the only one with a dedicated siding. With a workforce of approximately 150 people, Nichols and Langworthy became known across the United States for the reliability of its engines, and most of the company's products were shipped to customers via the Wood River Branch Railroad.
The line quickly began to show an operating profit, but this was all but eliminated by interest payments on the $57,000 of bonds, totaling $4,000 annually (equivalent to $1,365,000 and $96,000 in 2021, respectively). Additionally, just under $18,000 of floating debt was required to make up the difference between construction expenses and the company's funding from bonds and stocks (equivalent to $431,000 in 2021). When bond payments were made, they were often late and usually funded by taking on additional floating debt.
The company's 10-person payroll cost $342 monthly (equivalent to $8,200 in 2021). The biggest costs were regular operating expenses (generally $4,400 to $4,800 per annum, equivalent to $105,000 to $115,000 in 2021) and maintenance of way, which was highly variable depending on weather events and accidents (anywhere from over $8,000 to under $4,000 per annum, equivalent to $192,000 to $96,000 in 2021). Expenses were amplified by the tendency of the line's iron rails to fracture when trains went through curves and very limited supply of spare parts (allegedly, when the line finished construction, only two pieces of rail and a few spikes were left unused).
Within a few years, it was clear to the company that additional income would be required to make bond payments; the Stonington Line rebuffed an 1882 attempt by Wood River Branch stock and bondholders to more evenly distribute revenue from passengers and freight connecting with the former at Wood River Junction. The Stonington Line saw as much as twice the income from Wood River Branch freight shipments as the branch did, as freight shipments were billed per mile traveled.
The railroad was threatened with default for unpaid bond interest in April 1884, which could force the company into receivership; this had recently caused the demise of another Rhode Island shortline, the Warwick Railroad. Bond payments almost due, which would bankrupt the company, amounted to $45,000 (equivalent to $1,357,000 in 2021). As the bondholders, stockholders, and company executives were largely one and the same, the primary bondholders agreed to accept new 10-year bonds as payment for the previous bonds.
The Stonington Line was purchased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1892, which continued its predecessor's hands-off approach.


Several of the company's leaders retired between 1900 and 1902, and president Amos G. Nichols died in January 1904. He was succeeded by Warwick native Ralph C. Watrous. Watrous first became involved with the company when he inherited a single share from his uncle in 1899. He began purchasing more shares, joining the company's board of directors in 1901. By 1903, he was the largest stockholder, with 75 shares to his name. Watrous later said he became involved with the railroad "so his mother wouldn't feel lonely or isolated in her Hope Valley home".
Watrous would serve as the Wood River Branch's president for the next 33 years, and steadfastly defeated several attempts at abandonment. He recalled one instance when he gave a New Haven Railroad executive intent on abandoning the line "some doughnuts, a glass of milk, and let him talk to my mother" and the executive changed his mind.
After many years of running passenger trains Monday through Saturday, the railroad introduced Sunday passenger service on July 29, 1903. Four trips were then provided on Sundays, with two round trips in the middle of the morning and two more in the late afternoon. A typical schedule in 1903 had four round trips each day, each timed to connect with New Haven Railroad trains to Providence. Despite being considered a success, the last Sunday trains ran on September 11, 1904. In general, the small line was at the mercy of the New Haven's scheduling, and had to adjust its timetables when the New Haven changed its train service to Wood River Junction.


The Nichols and Langworthy Machine Company site was destroyed by a fire on April 13, 1909. By this point, the company had already been struggling with reduced demand and poor relations between employees and management. The Machine Company never recovered, and its assets were sold at auction in 1910. Several successors continued manufacturing at the site on a much reduced scale until 1925, but for the Wood River Branch Railroad the damage had already been done. Before the fire, the railroad had been averaging an annual freight volume of 23,000 long tons (26,000 short tons; 23,000 t), this was reduced to 16,000 long tons (18,000 short tons; 16,000 t) afterward. The loss of the Machine Shop's traffic badly hurt the railroad's finances.
Businessman Roy Rawlings signed a lease with the railroad for a property adjacent to the Hope Valley station in 1917. He opened a grain mill on the property the following year, which relied on the railroad for deliveries of grain. Shipments for the Rawlings grain mill eventually formed a large share of the railroad's business.
The Wood River Branch Railroad was temporarily placed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) with the rest of the nation's railroads in 1917, as a result of the country's entry into World War I and the railroads' inability to handle the resulting surge in traffic. It returned to independence on March 1, 1920, though the Hope Valley Advertiser noted that the company was too reliant on the New Haven to truly be considered an independent operation. Wartime demands meant little time was devoted to maintenance, and the railroad was returned in a poor state of repair. Increased support, both direct and indirect, from the New Haven was necessary to address the deferred maintenance and keep the Wood River Branch running.
A fire destroyed the Wood River Branch Railroad engine house in the early hours of April 16, 1920, along with the company's sole remaining steam locomotive. The New Haven dispatched a replacement, which was rushed to Hope Valley and arrived quickly enough to run the first scheduled train on that day.
For several months in 1924, the Wood River Branch experienced "one of its biggest freight booms in its history" when state highway construction near Hope Valley demanded large shipments of trap rock and cement along the railroad. In a span of eight days, 110 cars of construction materials were handled, exceeding normal traffic levels by a significant margin. Also in 1924, the Wood River Branch defaulted on a more than $50,000 (equivalent to $791,000 in 2021) debt payment it owed the New Haven, which the larger company turned a blind eye to. Busy with its own money problems, the New Haven let the Wood River Branch continue operating rather than foreclose and assume its junior partner's financial issues as well.


A major flood in November 1927 brought widespread damage to Rhode Island and shut down the Wood River Branch Railroad entirely, with multiple washouts from Woodville to Hope Valley and slight damage to the Wood River bridge. The railroad's passengers and mail were temporarily ferried by an automobile. Once the waters had receded, the New Haven dispatched an inspector, who estimated repairs would cost $5,000 (equivalent to $78,000 in 2021). The railroad had mounting financial problems: it had already defaulted on bond payments and was late in paying rental fees to the New Haven for equipment, when it could afford to pay them at all. While the $5,000 repair bill would not be a major expense for a healthy railroad, for the Wood River Branch it was an impossible demand.
Abandonment of the line appeared to be the only option, Watrous noting the company had consistently lost approximately $10,000 (equivalent to $156,000 in 2021) each year in the past decade. Having the New Haven take over would mean either spending a further $10,000 to relay the line with heavier rail and replacing old bridges, or operating the existing equipment with New Haven employees, which would require a significant increase in wages. It was suggested that the line acquire a gasoline-powered locomotive that could be operated cheaply and without track upgrades, but obtaining one would cost $10,000.

1927 flood and end of passenger operations


The board of directors met on November 15 at Watrous' request, and it was decided to seek permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to abandon the line. The washouts had stranded the railroad's passenger car, a leased New Haven locomotive, and a boxcar and hopper car in Hope Valley; a New Haven track crew joined forces with the Wood River Branch's employees to jack up the tracks at washouts so the stranded equipment could return to Wood River Junction. The Wood River Branch began shutting down, and its employees were laid off apart from a single man who continued fulfilling the line's mail contracts.A number of residents and businesses in the area were opposed to the abandonment. On November 17, they held a meeting and several businessmen reported they were heavily dependent on the railroad. A local mill reported that coal deliveries by truck would be far more expensive, E. R. Bitgood's lumbering operation needed the railroad to export lumber, and Roy Rawlings (by this point also speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives) could not continue operating his mill without three to four railroad cars of grain a day. Concerned citizens made their opposition known to the ICC and the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, and also asked the towns of Richmond and Hopkinton to cancel the railroad's taxes if it could be reopened.
When the level of opposition came to its attention, the New Haven offered to keep the line running, conditional on eliminating passenger service and cutting the frequency of freight service, and sufficient cost-cutting to make operations profitable. In February 1928, the New Haven came to an agreement with local citizens to reopen the line for freight service only; a gasoline-powered locomotive would be purchased and leased to the railroad by the New Haven for this purpose. New Haven track gangs were dispatched to repair the line, and the company agreed to directly handle maintenance for a year.
The New Haven became the official operator, but much as before, it left day-to-day operations to Watrous. Although the New Haven could foreclose on the Wood River Branch at any time, it was not to the New Haven's advantage to do so; foreclosing meant New Haven employees would have to run the line, an expensive proposition due to the company's unionized workforce. If the New Haven were directly in control, the ICC might even refuse to allow the line to be abandoned no matter how unprofitable it became. Instead, the company offered to lease the line to the towns of Richmond and Hopkinton, but locals deemed this impractical. A new company to operate the line was suggested, but with the existing Wood River Branch Railroad still around, that company was revived and in April resumed train service. The New Haven leased the gas locomotive, which could pull up to six freight cars at a time, to the Wood River Branch for $113 per month (equivalent to $1,800 in 2021).


With the New Haven as the official operator after the 1927 flood, extensive steps were taken to cut costs. Only a few employees were retained, and the Plymouth locomotive (numbered A100) made a single round trip three or four days a week, a sharp reduction from what had been six runs per day before the flood. With passenger service ended, the combination passenger and baggage car was taken by the New Haven, and in its place the Wood River Branch acquired a second-hand caboose and converted it to handle less-than-carload freight. To help the line's finances, much of its required paperwork was assigned to the New Haven's station agent at Wood River Junction.
Initially, the cost-cutting succeeded in reversing the Wood River Branch's years of unprofitability. The local lumber industry was aided by the return of the railroad, and exports of lumber and railroad ties gave the company business. By 1929, the railroad was showing a profit, aided greatly by the efficiency of the A100, which only required a single operator and negated the hours of work required to start a steam locomotive each day.

Post-flood re-opening and the Great Depression


The brief revival was cut short by the onset of the Great Depression that same year. Many of the mills along the line were forced to either close or reduce their shifts, and demand for lumber also decreased. While Richmond agreed to suspend the railroad's property taxes in 1930, and two shuttered mills were reopened in 1932, the railroad began reporting losses in 1930 which evaded all cost-cutting measures. The company downsized to two employees in 1932, and the New Haven cut the rent for the A100 to a token $50 per month (equivalent to $1,000 in 2021). More and more track maintenance was deferred, as the economy continued to worsen. By 1933, Rawlings' mill and single cars of coal for the Howard C. Woodmansee Coal and Oil Company made up almost all of the line's traffic. In 1934, the Wood River Branch became a one-man operation, with Hope Valley resident Otis A. Larkin responsible for operating the train, handling cargo, and maintaining the line and stations.
Losses continued the following years, and the New Haven was required to make up the deficits between income and expenses. Though the lumber industry began to recover in summer 1936, it was insufficient to prevent a $3,000 loss at the end of the year (equivalent to $59,000 in 2021). By 1937, most of the freight traffic came from one operation – Rawlings' grain mill. Bankrupt itself, the New Haven was under the control of bankruptcy trustees who had grown tired of the Wood River Branch being a money sink. In April 1937, they voted to cut all funding for the Wood River Branch, and the New Haven's president gave the news to Watrous on April 12. The news became public on April 14, and the following day the bankruptcy trustees voted at the Wood River Branch's annual stockholders' meeting to abandon the line (the only stockholders being the New Haven and Watrous). Over 70 years old, and with his mother no longer alive, Watrous was largely consigned to the impending abandonment of the railroad. However, he also pledged his support should local citizens launch an effort to save the line.


While local newspapers were announcing the end of the Wood River Branch Railroad, Roy Rawlings took matters into his own hands. His grain mill was heavily dependent on the railroad, and when he learned of the impending abandonment, he promptly contacted the New Haven and asked how much they would charge him to buy the entire line. Once he got in contact with the company's management, Rawlings and the New Haven worked out a price: $301 (equivalent to $5,670 in 2021). Happy to be free of dealing with the unprofitable line, the New Haven's trustees agreed to the sale, and the ICC gave its blessing on June 3, 1937. On June 18, the Wood River Branch held a meeting and elected Roy Rawlings president of the company; Watrous was being treated at Rhode Island Hospital for an illness and did not attend. While the company was once again independent, the New Haven continued to lease the 20-ton gas locomotive to the Wood River Branch. No longer house speaker, Rawlings joked that being a railroad president would be both easier and more enjoyable than running the legislature.
Rawlings promptly renumbered the A100 as 1872, the railroad's founding year. He had the caboose and locomotive painted bright red, as a tribute to the extensive amount of red ink in the company's financial history. Service remained on an as-needed basis, up to four round trips per week. Mill employees often worked on the railroad and vice versa. Rawlings took an active interest in railroad operations, often assisting the locomotive engineer (usually his nephew Reat Scholfield) as a brakeman or making track repairs; Rawlings' wife Lucy Rawlings drove a few spikes herself. Operations were rather informal; trains would sometimes stop along the route so the train crew could pick blueberries or fish from the Wood River bridge; Rawlings looked the other way as long as the train crew brought some blueberries to his desk.


In early 1938, Rawlings decided the railroad should once again have a passenger train. Scholfield and teenager Rob Roy Rawlings, the president's son, salvaged seats from the long-retired coach number one and attached them to an unpowered track car and added railings and a handbrake. The resulting contraption was attached to the railroad's gas-powered speeder, and named the "President's Special". Rawlings unveiled it at a stockholder meeting in April 1938, bringing stockholders on a round trip from Hope Valley to Wood River Junction. The "streamliner" made it from Hope Valley to the other end of the line in 18 minutes. It was put into service for outings, track inspection, and maintenance of way duties.
Under Rawlings' presidency, the railroad made large reductions in its losses, even showing an operating profit, but factoring in fixed expenses the company was losing money. Much of the reduction in expenses came from deferred maintenance. Even with a speed limit of 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) derailments became common, and tools for putting the train back on the track were a permanent fixture in the caboose. In October 1938, the company reported handling approximately 10,000 tons of freight per year.
In early 1941, Roy Rawlings moved to Florida with his wife and son after contracting a persistent case of pneumonia. His daughter Lucy Rawlings Tootell took over the day-to-day management of the railroad, "reputedly as the only woman VP of Operations in the U.S." Reat Scholfield was responsible for operating the grain mill.
During World War II, production of the M1941 Johnson rifle began in Rhode Island, including at the Rhode Island Arms Company, which moved into part of the mill in Centerville. As the United States Department of War preferred rail transport for security reasons, completed rifles were shipped out via the Wood River Branch Railroad from Hope Valley. The U.S. soon entered the war, but little benefit came to the railroad, as lumbering was curtailed by many men being drafted into the military and little military production took place in the rural Hope Valley area.
Freight volumes had begun to decline during the war, and this intensified following the war's conclusion in 1945 when the area's few remaining textile mills largely switched to truck transport. Rawlings paid for the company's deficits, considering the railroad a loss leader for his mill. He was optimistic that grain business would increase, as Rhode Island's biggest poultry producer operated in neighboring Wyoming.


On March 14, 1947, the Rawlings grain mill was completely destroyed by a fire. Hope Valley's fire chief responded moments after receiving the phone call, summoning seven fire companies, but they could do little more than protect nearby buildings. The grain was highly flammable, and flames reportedly grew to several hundred feet in height. Once the fire burned itself out, losses were estimated at $100,000 (equivalent to $1,210,000 in 2021). While these were mostly covered by insurance, the 64-year-old Rawlings decided to call it quits. The mill accounted for most of the Wood River Branch Railroad's traffic, and to make matters worse both the Centerville Mill and Bitgood's sawmill were also destroyed by fires shortly afterwards. The sole remaining customer of any significance was the Howard C. Woodmansee Coal and Oil Company; with the overwhelming majority of its traffic lost, the Wood River Branch had no choice but to close.
Rawlings first offered the company to any buyers, hoping someone would use the land along the railroad for development. This time, there was no one left to save the Wood River Branch Railroad. Therefore, following the company's request, and with the ICC noting no objections, the agency granted permission to abandon the line on August 8, 1947. After one final round trip on the President's Special, the railroad came to an end.


The company was overwhelmed with offers to purchase the line for salvage and the reuse of its rails on other railroads, with Rawlings telling a Connecticut newspaper: "Practically every junk dealer in the country wants to buy it." Lucy Rawlings Tootell signed a contract with the Providence-based Metals Processing Company in October, which paid the company $26,559 (equivalent to $322,000 in 2021) for the right to salvage the line, including rails, bridges, and the company's section car. The 1872 and the caboose were given back to the New Haven; the former found a new home at a Connecticut coal distributor. Scrapping began in November, and the rails and bridges were salvaged and resold elsewhere, but the ties were not valuable enough to justify resale and were instead abandoned along the line.
Portions of the railroad's right-of-way remain extant in the form of a rail trail as of 2018, and the abutments and a pier from a Wood River Branch Railroad bridge remain in the Wood River. Some segments of the right-of-way have been reused for streets. A handful of preserved mill buildings that were once railroad customers survive as of 2017.


A man was accused of attempting to derail a Wood River Branch train on April 14, 1897. It was alleged William H. Baton had placed a railroad tie over the tracks, which was later struck by a train; the train was not derailed as the tie was caught in the locomotive's cowcatcher. A jury found Baton not guilty of placing a tie on the tracks.
A fatal accident, the first in the company's history, occurred on May 25, 1914. A local resident was traveling across the bridge over the Wood River on foot, despite being warned a train was due. A southbound train from Hope Valley rounded a curve near the bridge, and could not stop in time to avoid a collision. The man, Ernest Peter Palmer, was struck and thrown into the river. Though the train's crew dove into the river and recovered his body, a coroner later determined he was killed upon impact.


The Wood River Branch Railroad's first locomotive was the Gardner Nichols, named after Amos G. Nichols' father. Weighing 23 short tons (21 long tons; 21 t), it was a 4-4-0 wood-burning locomotive built new by the Rhode Island Locomotive Works for the line. Purchased directly by Nichols, it was first leased to the railroad before Nichols agreed to sell it for company bonds. It ran on the Wood River Branch until 1906, when it was sold to a lumber company in the Southern United States.
Locomotive number 2, named Wincheck, joined the Gardner Nichols as the second locomotive, purchased in 1883 from the Narragansett Pier Railroad. Originally built in 1872, Wincheck was retired in 1896 when its annual inspection found the boiler too worn out to continue operating. By 1898 Wincheck was described as a scrap heap, but it was not scrapped until 1906.
Locomotive number 5, unofficially named Polly by the Wood River Branch's employees, was purchased used from the Long Island Rail Road in April 1896. Acquired to replace Wincheck, Polly was a 40-short-ton (36-long-ton; 36 t) 2-4-4T (known as a Forney locomotive) built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, and developed a reputation for frequently breaking down and having accidents. This locomotive was sold for scrap in November 1915.
Cinderella, a second locomotive of a similar design to Polly, was acquired used from the New Haven in 1904, and noted for being equipped with air brakes. Cinderella was scrapped in 1919 when the USRA decided it was not worth completing extensive needed repairs on the 32-year-old engine.
Locomotive 10, never given a name, was brought to the Wood River Branch in April 1918 during federal control of the railroads. The ex-New Haven locomotive was assigned to the railroad permanently when the USRA returned the Wood River Branch to its owners in 1920.
The A100, renumbered 1872 by Roy Rawlings (and unofficially named Miss Hope Valley), was a newly-built, 20-short-ton (18-long-ton; 18 t) 0-4-0 Plymouth Locomotive Works gas locomotive, ordered by the New Haven for $8,483 (equivalent to $134,000 in 2021) and leased to the Wood River Branch Railroad. With four gears in forward and reverse, it could run at full speed (15 miles per hour or 24 km/h) in either direction. This was necessary as by this point the railroad had no turntable; the locomotive therefore always faced south. The New Haven reclaimed 1872 when the Wood River Branch shut down in 1947, and it was then sold to a coal dealer in Stratford, Connecticut.


16 Super Éxitos Originales (English: 16 Original Super Hits) is a greatest hits album by American singer Selena released on March 3, 1990, through EMI Latin. The label aimed to release a compilation containing recordings by Selena y Los Dinos prior to their contractual agreement in 1989, to illustrate the band's musical progressions up to that point. 16 Super Éxitos Originales encompasses 16 tracks re-recorded under new arrangements, ranging from compositions recorded through Freddie Records in 1983 to the group's Dulce Amor (1988) album. The album received critical acclaim from music critics, who found it to have contained recordings that solidified Selena's status in the Tejano music market and introduced her to a broader audience. The album peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart. EMI Latin posthumously re-issued 16 Super Éxitos Originales under the title Mis Primeros Éxitos (English: My First Hits) on August 13, 2002.


Following the 1989 Tejano Music Awards, Selena y Los Dinos signed with EMI Latin and released their debut studio album that same year. The label hesitated to let A.B. Quintanilla maintain his role as the group's producer. However, given the uncertainty of Tejano music's future, the company acquiesced, allowing A.B. to stay on as producer but cautioning that failure would result in his replacement by a company-approved candidate. Following the debut album by the band, led by vocalist Selena, surpassing the performance of other female Tejano artists' releases, A.B. secured his position.
The golden era of Tejano music was ushered in with the acquisition of Bob Grever's Cara Records on January 10, 1990, catalyzing a shift in the genre's emphasis from polkas to cumbia music. Despite the waning demand for Manny Guerra's production and music engineering services amidst the genre's surge in popularity, he contributed his services for 16 Super Éxitos Originales. Following Selena's endorsement agreement with Coca-Cola, subsequent to her contract with EMI Latin, the group decided to invest their earnings in acquiring new equipment. Empowered by these advancements, Selena resolved to learn Spanish, driven by escalating demand for press interviews. Initially, the singer recorded songs phonetically. Selena expressed her aspirations to attain fluency in the language, recognizing the value of bilingualism as a catalyst for personal and professional growth, believing it to be a testament to enhanced intelligence and broader opportunities in both business and interpersonal communication.
EMI Latin sought to release a greatest hits album of the band's recordings predating their contractual agreement; they aspired to curate an album that encapsulated the group's musical trajectory up to that point. The group re-recorded the songs under new arrangements at Master Productions in Weslaco, Texas, which paradoxically manifested as a tin-clad garage structure. A.B., in re-telling his experience in producing 16 Super Éxitos Originales, noticed that the material intended for roofing purposes adorned the entirety of the edifice's exterior, rendering his experience memorable. Although the studio was a sought-after recording facility among prominent Tejano musicians, A.B. found it to be encompassing rudimentary recording techniques, though enjoyed experiencing the recording studio as an exceedingly fortuitous opportunity. This was the final album to include guitarist Roger Garcia, who was briefly replaced by Mike Orosco.


The compilation encompasses 16 tracks re-recorded under new arrangements, ranging from compositions recorded through Freddie Records in 1983 to the group's Dulce Amor (1988) album. The album commences with "Estoy Contigo", originally recorded in 1983 for Cara Records. This is followed by "Sentimientos", a cover version of Al Hurricane. The third track is "Acuérdate de Mi", originally taken from And the Winner Is... (1987), and is followed by "Tú No Sabes" (1987), the group's first mariachi-style recording. "Tú No Sabes", written by keyboardist Ricky Vela, was originally conceived as a melancholic mariachi piece; however, A.B. advocated for a cumbia direction and undertook its reformation during the band's rehearsal session preceding the recording. The following tracks, "Costumbres" and "Siempre", are covers of Juan Gabriel, while the seventh song, "Dame Un Beso", is an original song written by A.B. and Vela in 1986. "Dame Un Beso" materialized as a result of A.B.'s futile endeavor to procure compositions from Luis Silva, who was the recipient of many Songwriter of the Year awards. Silva ignored the group during the beginning phases of their music careers.
The eighth track on 16 Super Éxitos Originales, "Yo Fui Aquella", was one of the first songs A.B. composed. Although he expeditiously composed the melody for the song, it required several days of diligent effort before A.B. ultimately finalized the lyrics. The subsequent tracks, "Cariño, Cariño Mío" and "Dulce Amor", are both taken from the Dulce Amor (1988) album, while following tracks "Quiero Estar Contigo" and "Terco Corazón" are taken from Preciosa (1988). The thirteenth track, "Dime" originally appeared on Dulce Amor, while the subsequent track, "Ya Se Va", was one of the first singles released by Selena y Los Dinos in 1983. Vela expressed elation upon Selena's recording of "Cien Años" (1988), included as the compilation's fifteenth track, as it evoked poignant reminiscences of his childhood of listening to songs by Pedro Infante. "Quiero", from the Preciosa album, serves as the concluding track for the compilation.


16 Super Éxitos Originales preceded the 1990 Tejano Music Awards, held on March 9, 1990, and followed Selena's appearance at Fulmore Junior High talking to students about the importance of getting their high school diploma that was sponsored by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The compilation was released on March 3, through EMI Latin. It peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart, on the issue dated May 5, 1990. As part of a commemoration of Selena's twentieth year since entering the music industry, EMI Latin re-issued nine albums of the singer in a series of releases, including 16 Super Éxitos Originales, repackaged as Mis Primeros Éxitos on August 13, 2002. The reissue included a bonus track containing spoken liner notes with commentary from Selena's family, friends, and band, retelling the creative process and inspiration behind the album.
Texas Monthly's Joe Nick Patoski listed 16 Super Éxitos Originales as one of his recommended listens as part of his 1992 article on the best Texas music albums. As Selena's biographer, Patoski believed EMI Latin's swift release of 16 Super Éxitos Originales served as a manifestation of the singer's appeal and allure. Latin Style magazine found the songs to have substantiated Selena's status as a dominant figure in the Tejano music market; they found the album to have served as a vehicle to introduce Selena to a broader audience, delineating the path she would embark upon as a performer. Houston Chronicle's Joey Guerra called 16 Super Éxitos Originales as a comprehensive examination of Selena's early career.


Credits adapted from the liner notes of 16 Super Éxitos Originales by EMI Latin.


18th-century glassmaking in the United States began before the country existed. During the previous century, several attempts were made to produce glass, but none were long-lived. By 1700, it is thought that little or no glass was being produced in the British colonies that would eventually become the United States. The first American glass factory operated with long–term success was started by Caspar Wistar in 1745—although two glass works in New Amsterdam that operated in the previous century deserve honorable mention. Wistar's glass works was located in the English colony known as the Province of New Jersey. In the southeastern portion of the Province of Pennsylvania, Henry Stiegel was the first American producer of high–quality glassware known as crystal. Stiegel's first glass works began in 1763, and his better quality glassmaking began in 1769. In the United States, the first use of coal as a fuel for glassmaking furnaces is believed to have started in 1794 at a short-lived factory on the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia. In 1797 Pittsburgh's O'Hara and Craig glass works was also powered by coal, and it contributed to the eventual establishment of Pittsburgh as a leading glassmaking center in the 19th century.
Many of the skilled glass workers in the United States during the 17th and 18th centuries came from the German-speaking region of Europe. German–born Johann Friedrich Amelung (later renamed John Frederick Amelung) employed 342 people in 1788 at his New Bremen glass works located in Frederick County, Maryland. His skilled workers were German. Other prominent glass makers such as Wistar, Stiegel, and the Stanger brothers were also German. In many cases, as a glass works failed, the skilled workers found work at another factory.
Other attempts to produce glass were made during the 1600s and 1700s, and a few had some success. Glass works in New Amsterdam and New York City, the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, Philadelphia, and the province of New Jersey's Glassboro are often mentioned by historians. Much of the evidence concerning the 17th century New Amsterdam glass factories has been lost, and a 17th-century Massachusetts glassworks did not last long. The works at Glassboro lasted into the 20th century. However, it is thought that there were no more than a dozen glass works of significant size producing in the United States in 1800.


Glassmakers use the term "batch" for the sum of all the raw ingredients needed to make a particular glass product. To make glass, the glassmaker starts with the batch, melts it together, forms the glass product, and gradually cools it. The batch is dominated by sand, which contains silica. Smaller quantities of other ingredients, such as soda and limestone, are added to the batch. Additional ingredients may be added to color the glass. For example, an oxide of cobalt is used to make glass blue. Broken and scrap glass, known as cullet, is often used as an ingredient to make new glass. The cullet melts faster than the other ingredients, which results in some savings in fuel cost for the furnace. Cullet typically accounts for 25 to 50 percent of the batch.
The batch is placed inside a pot that is heated by a furnace to roughly 3,090 °F (1,700 °C). Tank furnaces, which were created in England in 1870, did not begin to supplant pot furnaces in the United States until the 1890s. Glassmakers use the term "metal" to describe batch that has been melted together. The metal is typically shaped into the glass product (other than plate and window glass) by either glassblowing or pressing it into a mold. Although pressing glass by hand had long existed, mechanical pressing of glass did not exist until the 1820s—and it was an American invention. All glass products must then be cooled gradually (annealed), or else they could easily break. Annealing was originally conducted in the United States using a kiln that was sealed with the fresh glass inside, heated, and gradually cooled. During the 1860s annealing kilns were replaced in the United States with a conveyor oven, called a lehr, that was less labor-intensive.
Until the 1760s, most glass produced in what would become the United States was "green" or "bottle" glass, which has a greenish color because of impurities in the sand used in the batch—and a lack of additives used to remove the greenish tint or add a more pleasing color. Crystal glass, a high quality clear glass that needs an additive known as red lead, began being produced by one works in the Province of Pennsylvania in the 1760s. Window glass production during the 18th century involved blowing a cylinder and flattening it. The crown method and the cylinder method (the latter of which was more advanced) were the two main methods used.
One of the major expenses for the glass factories is fuel for the furnace, and this often determined the location of the glass works. Wood was the original fuel used by glassmakers in the United States. Coal began being used in the 1790s. Alternative fuels such as natural gas and oil did not become available in the United States until the second half of the 19th century. Other important aspects of glassmaking are labor and transportation. Glassmaking methods and recipes were kept secret, and most European countries forbade immigration to the United States by glassworkers. Master glassmakers, including glassblowers and glass cutters, that had the secret glassmaking knowledge were smuggled from Europe to the United States to provide glassmaking expertise at American factories.


The first attempt to produce glass in what became the United States happened in 1608 in the English (later British) Colony of Virginia near the settlement at Jamestown. Glass was produced for a few years. A second attempt was made during the 1620s, but production ceased again after only a few years. Glassmaking was conducted for a short time in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay near Salem in the 1640s, and in the province of Pennsylvania near Philadelphia in the 1680s. At least two works produced glass in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam during portions of the 1650s through 1670s. Very little is known about the New Amsterdam glass factories, but it is possible that at least one of them continued producing into the 1760s. Waterways provided transportation networks for the glass factories before the construction of highways and railroads. The first railroad in the United States was not chartered until 1827, and construction began in 1828.
Unless the glass works in New Amsterdam (now New York) was still operating, no glass works are known to have operated in what became the United States from 1700 until close to the 1740s. Most glass was imported from London or Bristol. The English glass industry produced window glass using the crown method, and it produced good quality lead glass (crystal) tableware. The glass industry in German areas of Northern Europe was in a recession, and that situation may have led to Germans coming to the English colonies to produce glass. Prior to 1800, about two dozen glass works operated in the English colonies that became the United States, and some of them continued production into the 19th century.


In 1738 Caspar Wistar, a German immigrant and manufacturer of brass buttons in Philadelphia, began plans for a glass works by purchasing land in Salem County, New Jersey. Production started in 1739. Wistar, who was originally from the Palatine region of what is now Germany, hired German glassworkers to make bottles, tableware, and window glass. The cylinder method was used for making the window glass, and bottles were made of a clear green glass. His original partners in the glassmaking project were four glassblowers from German portions of Europe.
Wistar's glassmaking company was known by multiple names, including United Glass Company, Wistar Glass Works, Wistarberg Glass Works, and Wistarburg Glass Works. Although the glass works was approximately 40 miles (64 km) from Philadelphia, Wistar maintained a Philadelphia residence and sold much of his glass there. Benjamin Franklin used Wistar's glass for some of his electrical experiments. After Caspar Wistar died in 1752, his son Richard led the glass works. The business continued to grow for about two more years before it began to have problems keeping workers, which led to problems with glass quality. The glassworks operated sporadically beginning in the 1775–1776 winter, and was offered for sale in 1780. Richard Wistar died in 1781. The glass works was eventually closed and abandoned.
Wistar began the German domination of American glassmaking that continued until the 19th century. Many of Wistar's skilled German workers moved to rival glass companies or started their own glass works, and they taught their methods and styles to others. Historians often consider Wistar's glass works to be the first commercially successful manufacturer of glass in the United States, although at least one has said the 17th century Smedes or Duijcking–Milyer glass works in New Amsterdam merit consideration.


German immigrant Heinrich Wilhelm Stiegel, nicknamed "Baron Stiegel", was born in Cologne in 1729. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1750, and moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a few years later. He married in 1752, and bought out his father–in–law's interest in a plantation that became known as Elizabeth Furnace, which included a blast furnace used to make iron stoves. He became a citizen of the English colony of Pennsylvania in 1760, and changed his name to Henry William Stiegel.
Stiegel was the second German to operate an American glass works on a large scale. He built some "glass–ovens" at Elizabeth Furnace in 1762, and began making glass in 1763. Products were bottles and window glass. He hired European glassblowers, including some from Venice, and paid for their transportation to Pennsylvania. One of his first hires was a glassblower who had worked at the Wistar works.
Nearly two years later he started another glass factory in Manheim, Pennsylvania. During 1769, he started a third glass works in the same town that focused on quality tableware, and employed more men that had worked at the Wistar glass plant. He called this works the American Flint Glass Manufactory. Stiegel's works was the first to make lead glass in America. The lead glass of this time period, commonly known as crystal because it was colorless and transparent, was typically used for fine tableware. According to the American Philosophical Society, Stiegel's lead glass was "equal in beauty and quality to the generality of Flint Glass, imported from England." Stiegel had retail outlets for his glass at various locations in the English colonies. However, he expanded too fast and ended production in 1774. He was briefly held in a debtors' prison.


The Stanger family immigrated to Philadelphia in 1768. They were German glassmakers who came from Hesse, and the family had seven sons. At least one of the sons worked at the Wistar Glass Works. The brothers started a glass works between 1779 and 1781 in what became known as Glassboro, New Jersey. The works is believed to have begun producing in the fall of 1781. The brothers were led by Solomon (the original land holder) and Daniel Stanger, and their glass works was the second (after Wistar) located in "South Jersey". Their original products were bottles.
By 1784, all of the Stanger brothers had sold their interests in the Glassboro glass works, although they remained working with glass. At that time, Thomas Heston and Thomas Carpenter controlled the Glassboro works. In addition to bottles, the company began making window glass and other products. Heston died in 1802, but the factory operated under various owners for over 100 years—including the Whitney brothers who were descendants of Heston. At one time the factory was known as the Olive Glass Works. The Whitney brothers became sole owners of the plant in 1839. The Whitney Glass Works was purchased by one of Michael Owens' companies in 1918.

Stanger and Glassboro - nearly 150 years


Another German, Johann Friedrich Amelung (later renamed John Frederick Amelung), arrived in Baltimore on August 31, 1784. He brought 68 German–speaking glass workers, and at least 14 more joined him a few months later. He purchased land in Frederick County, Maryland along Bennett's Creek to the north and east of Sugarloaf Mountain. He called the area "New Bremen", and built a glassmaking furnace and housing for his workers. On February 11, 1785, he announced that a group of "German manufacturers have arrived and will establish a factory", and that "window glass, table glass, optical glass, looking glass" would be their products.
In 1788 Amelung employed 342 people at his glass works. Window glass was made using the cylinder method and the crown method. Archaeological evidence suggests his bottles were made with a transparent green glass that did not require molds. During 1788 he applied for a loan from the State of Maryland, and received the loan plus tax exemption for five years. Over the next two years his glassmaking facilities had at least two fires that did an undetermined amount of damage. Amelung had financial difficulties, and the glass works was offered for sale in 1795. Amelung had invested more money in glassmaking than anyone ever had (at the time), and his factory produced impressive quality glass—but his business failed after 11 years. Amelung died in 1798.


In 1800 most of the nation's glass products came from Europe, and the United States was thought to have about ten glass factories. The domestic glass works were typically located near waterways that provided a transportation resource. Although some high–quality tableware may have been produced in Philadelphia or Baltimore, most glass factories produced bottles or window glass.

18th-century works still operating in the 19th century


Kensington Glass Works: In 1771 Robert Towars and James Leacock started the Kensington Glass Works in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood. Although glass factories had already been established near Philadelphia in Bucks and Lancaster counties, this was the first 18th century glass works in Philadelphia County. The works may have used coal to power its furnace, possibly making it among the first American works to do so. During November 1772, John Elliott, Samuel Elliott, and Isaac Gray gained control of the factory and they called it the Philadelphia Glass Works. Products were window glass, white glass, and green glass. Glass was made sporadically (including periods of idleness that lasted for years) under various owners throughout the next century.
Stanger Brothers: The Stanger Brothers glass works in Glassboro, New Jersey, is believed to have begun production in 1781. In 1783 Thomas Heston and Thomas Carpenter gained control of the plant. The factory operated under various owners (including descendants of Heston) until it was purchased in 1918.


Aetna Glass–House: Thomas Johnson, first governor of Maryland, owned the Aetna Glass House—which was sometimes referred to as the Johnson Glass Works. The plant was located southeast of Frederick, Maryland, on Bush Creek, and production began in 1792. Products were bottles, and window glass was also made later. This works was offered for sale in November 1793, and it was operated only intermittently until 1807. All glassmaking in Frederick County ended by the 1820s.
A. Kohlenberg's New Glassworks: In 1797 Adam Kohlenberg and John Christian Gabler purchased a portion of Amelung's land on Bennet's Creek in Frederick County, Maryland. The land included one of the glass ovens used by Amelung's failed glass works, and Kohlenberg employed some of the glassworkers from Amelung's New Bremen works. Kohlenberg's works produced glass intermittently for about 15 years.
Federal Hill Glass Works: In 1799 Frederick Amelung, son of John Frederick Amelung, built a glass works in Baltimore. The company name was Frederick M. Amelung and Company, and the glass works was located in Baltimore's Federal Hill neighborhood. The works is often called Federal Hill Glass Works or the Baltimore Glass Works, but was also called the Patapsco River Glass House and the Hughes Street Works because of its location. The factory began producing in 1800, and its products were bottles and glassware. Amelung lost financial control of the company in the early 1800s, but he remained as plant superintendent until 1806. The works was still producing in the late 1820s, and it became known for "pictorial flasks".


Pittsburgh Glass Works (O'Hara and Craig): In 1796 Colonel James O'Hara and Major Isaac Craig began planning for the first glass works in Pittsburgh, which was also one of the first to use coal as a fuel for its furnaces. Peter William Eichbaum, who had been involved with the Schuylkill glass works near Philadelphia that used coal for its furnaces, provided the glassmaking expertise and supervised the construction of the Pittsburgh works. The plant was originally located at Coal Hill (now Mount Washington) on the south shore of the Monongahela River close to where it becomes the Ohio River. Actual glass production started in June 1797, making it the first to produce glass in the United States west of the Allegheny Mountains. The factory was called Pittsburgh Glass Works, and Eichbaum was its superintendent. In 1798, Eichbaum leased the factory, but control returned to O'Hara and Craig in 1800. Window glass, bottles, and other hollow ware were produced. Craig left the business in 1804, and O'Hara was the only owner through 1818. The glassworks continued operations, under various owners and names, until 1883.
New Geneva Glass Works: In 1795 Albert Gallatin formed a partnership with James Nicholson (Gallatin's brother–in–law) and three others. They purchased land in western Pennsylvania's Fayette County for the purpose of commercial development, and they named their land New Geneva. Their location gave them access to the Monongahela River, which gave them access to the west using waterways. They also had access to the east coast using roads that connected to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. In September 1797 the partnership made an agreement with five German glassblowers to start a glass works. Production began in 1798 shortly after production at the O'Hara and Craig works began in Pittsburgh. The works was about 45 miles (72 km) south of O'Hara and Craig's Pittsburgh glass works. Among his workers, mostly Germans, were former employees of the Amelung works. Gallatin's glass company was originally called Gallatin & Company, but later it became the New Geneva Glass Works. Gallatin sold his share of the company in 1803. The works was moved across the Monongahela River in 1807, making its new location at Greensboro in Greene County. This site provided access to coal, and the works continued until 1847.
Ohio Glass Works: In May 1799 Hugh Scott bought land on the north side of the Ohio River close to the O'Hara and Craig glass works. He started the Ohio Glass Company, and it began producing window glass in 1800. This works shut down by March 1801.


Pitkin Glass Works: In 1783 William and Elisha Pitkin, and Samuel Bishop, established a glass works in East Hartford, Connecticut (which became part of Manchester in 1823). This was the first works in Connecticut to actually be built and produce. Products were bottles of various sizes and colors. J. P. Foster was one of the superintendents. Foster took over management in 1810, and the factory operated until 1830 when timber had become scarce.
Peterboro–Goff: David Goff and a group of Connecticut investors established a window glass house in Peterborough (now Peterboro), New York, around 1783. The site was chosen because of the abundance of wood that was used as fuel for the furnaces. Good quality sand was within 20 miles of the factory. The factory ceased operations in 1813. Superior glass made by competitors, and the depletion of forests that provided wood for fuel contributed to the factory's demise.
Albany Glass Works: In 1785 Leonard de Neufville, with associates Jan Heefke and Ferdinand Walfahrt, built the Albany Glass Works at Dowesborough, New York, which was less than 15 miles (24 km) west of Albany. The design of the works was very similar to the design used for Amelung's glass works in Maryland. German workers were used, and production of window glass is believed to have begun in 1786. De Neufville was a poor financial manager, and the glass works was abandoned by 1790. James Caldwell and associates renovated the abandoned factory in 1792 and began producing window glass. He called his factory the Albany Glass House. A fire severely damaged the factory during the summer of 1794, but by December the old glass works, and a new one, were operating. More financial difficulties in 1795 caused the works to be taken over by Thomas and Samuel Mather. Products were window glass and bottles. The plant is thought to have closed in 1815 due to lack of fuel.
Boston Crown Glass Company: Robert Hewes, Samuel Walley, John Gore, and eight others organized the Boston Crown Glass Company on July 6, 1787. Production did not start until November 11, 1793. Original works was located on Essex Street in Boston, and produced high quality window glass. Company was reorganized in 1809 with different owners, and a second works was completed during 1811 in South Boston. The company failed in 1827, and one of the glass factories was destroyed by fire in 1929.


Some glass works existed during the 18th century but did not survive into the 19th century. The lists below for each region are in order of when the company started producing. The Schuylkill glass works, listed below, may have been the first glass factory to use coal to power its furnaces.


Barge glass works: Jacob Barge began producing glass in 1760 in the Province of Pennsylvania. The works was located in Bucks County close to Philadelphia. Archeological evidence indicates that window glass was made using the cylinder method. Various types of bottles were also made. The glass works appears to have operated through 1784.
Schuylkill glass works: In 1794 John Nicholson built a glass works on the west side of Philadelphia at the falls of the Schuylkill River. Peter William Eichbaum supervised construction of the glass works and provided glassmaking expertise, and production began in 1795. The factory's furnaces were coal powered, which means the works may have been the first American glass plant to use a furnace powered by coal. Bottles were the main product, although a limited quantity of window glass may have been produced. Financial difficulties and strikes caused by lack of pay caused the works' moveable property to be seized during 1797.


Foltz, Kramer & Eberhart: The first significant glass works in Maryland was built in Frederick County, Maryland, around 1780. The investors were Conrad Foltz, Martin Eberhart, and four Kramer brothers (Balthazer, Adam, Martin, and George), and some of these men had worked at the Stiegel glass works. When Foltz died in 1784, the works was sold to John Frederick Amelung.
Tuscarora Glass House: Thomas Johnson, owner of the Aetna Glass Works, built a small industrial complex that included a glass works. It was located along Tuscarora Creek on the north side of Frederick, Maryland. The complex, which included a mill and tannery, was completed by 1793 or earlier. By 1798 the glass works was "out of repair".


Glasshouse Company of New York, New Found Land: In 1752 Matthew Earnest, Samuel Bayard, Loderwyck Bamper, Christian Hertell and Johan Martin Greiner agreed to establish a glass works in the city of New York. All of the partners were from New York except Greiner, who was from Saxe-Weimar in Europe. As part of the agreement, Greiner would travel from Europe to New York on February 1 (or when the New Yorkers were ready), and he would lead in the construction of the glass works as well as instruct in glass making. The works was called "the Glass House Company of New York". The Glass House Company of New York was located on the Hudson River on land that included the Glass House Farm and became known as New Found Land. Newspaper advertising indicates that the works was producing by October 1754, and bottles were the main products. The glass works failed some time before 1762. In 1767 the works and land was offered for sale.
Glasshouse Company of New York, New Windsor: During August 1752 Matthew Earnest, Samuel Bayard, Loderwyck Bamper, Christian Hertell purchased land in the Province of New York at New Windsor. It is believed that this land was originally purchased as a source of wood for the Glass House Company of New York's works at Glass House Farm. However, a glass house was erected on the New Windsor property to make bottles and window glass. It is not known for certain if this works continued after the 1767 sale of the works at New Found Land, but some believe the New Windsor works operated until about 1785.
Brooklyn Glass Works: In 1754 Loderwyck Bamper started the Brooklyn Glass Works in New York City's Brooklyn borough in the Province of New York. Products were bottles, but there is little evidence the works actually produced.


Braintree: Peter Etter, Joseph Crellins, Norton Quincy, and John Franklin started a glass bottle works in the province of Massachusetts near Braintree (now part of Quincy). The business failed before 1752, when it was leased to Joseph Palmer. Infrastructure improvements were made, but the works was destroyed by fire around 1756.
New England Glassworks: Boston businessman Robert Hewes started the New England Glassworks, not to be confused with the New England Glass Company, in 1780. The plant was located in Temple, New Hampshire. German glassworkers were employed, but not Hessen deserters from the British army as local lore suggests. The works was destroyed by fire almost immediately after construction. The facility was rebuilt and window glass (crown method) was produced during the summer. The works was shut down and abandoned during the winter of 1781–1782 because of financial difficulties.
India Point glass house: Politician John Brown started a glass works around 1796 at India Point in Providence, Rhode Island. The works made bottles for a nearby distillery, and may have been a small operation. Factory is thought to have been discontinued in 1799.


Darling: In 1747 Thomas Darling was granted sole rights to produce glass in the Connecticut Colony for 20 years, but was unable to fulfill the conditions of the agreement.
Crellins: In 1752 Joseph Crellins was given permission by the Province of Massachusetts Bay colonial governor to begin a glass works provided he could secure German workmen. He could not meet the requirement before the agreement expired.
Windslow: In 1752 Isaac C. Winslow received sole rights to produce glass in the Colony of Rhode Island. It is not believed that glass was ever produced.


Glassmaking became difficult in the United States at the beginning of the 19th century. Red lead was a key additive for high–quality glassware and England controlled much of the supply. The United States Embargo Act of 1807, and the War of 1812, made red lead extremely difficult for American companies to acquire. After the War of 1812, English glass manufacturers began dumping low–priced glass products in the United States, which drove many American glass companies into bankruptcy.
The United States Tariff of 1824, which was a protective tariff, helped the American glass industry. Between 1820 and 1840, nearly 70 glass factories were started. Most of these factories were small businesses employing 25 to 40 workers. Higher quality glass became more available when American glass man Deming Jarves, sometimes called the "father of the American glass industry", developed a way to produce red lead from domestic sources of lead oxide. The most important innovation for the 1820s was the development of machine pressed glass—pressing glass into a mold. Bakewell and Company, New England Glass Company, and Jarves' Boston and Sandwich Glass Company were early users of machine pressed glass technology.
Glassmaking on the East Coast of the United States peaked before 1850, as plants shifted to Pittsburgh because of the availability of coal for fuel. By 1850, the United States had 3,237 free men above age 15 who listed their occupation as part of the glass manufacturing process. Pennsylvania accounted for 40% of the glassmaking employees. Other states with more than 100 glass workers were New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia (including what is now West Virginia).


18×2 Beyond Youthful Days is a 2024 romance film directed by Michihito Fujii and produced by Chang Chen. Starring Greg Hsu and Kaya Kiyohara, alongside an ensemble cast including Joseph Chang, Shunsuke Michieda, Haru Kuroki, Hitomi Kuroki, and Yutaka Matsushige, the film follows a recently fired Taiwanese video game developer (Hsu) on a solo trip to Japan, reminiscing about a past romantic entanglement with a Japanese backpacker (Kiyohara) that never blossomed into a relationship.
Adapted from a web travelogue by Taiwanese video game developer Jimmy Lai in 2014, the film was stuck in development hell before Japanese filmmaker Michihito Fujii joined the project in 2019, turning it into a collaborative film between Taiwan and Japan. Fujii spent four years penning the screenplay, while lead actors Hsu and Kiyohara were announced to be part of the production in March 2023. Principal photography commenced in Japan in the same month and continued in Taiwan in April. Following the completion of filming in May 2023, the film underwent six months of post-production.
The film held its world premiere at Ambassador Theatres Taipei, on 14 February 2024, followed by a theatrical release on 14 March and 3 May in Taiwan and Japan, respectively. It performed well at the box office and received generally positive reviews from critics, particularly for the acting and aesthetics, but the writing faced criticism. The film also secured four nominations in the 61st Golden Horse Awards.


Jimmy, the founder of a video game development studio, gets fired from his own company during a board meeting. Devastated, he returns to his hometown of Tainan. While tidying his room, he stumbles upon a postcard he received 18 years ago from his dear Japanese friend Ami. He then receives a phone call from the studio co-founder, who invites him on the final business trip to Tokyo. After the business meeting, Jimmy embarks on a solo trip without a destination in Japan.
Jimmy's thoughts drift back 18 years to when he works at the struggling Karaoke Kobe in Tainan during the summer before university. He meets Ami, a new employee and Japanese backpacker looking for a working place to save up money for an upcoming journey. Assigned to show her around, Jimmy interacts with Ami and becomes romantically interested in her. During the welcoming meal, Ami is asked about her trip. She explains that she plans to go on a trip without a destination and shows her sketchbook of drawings recording her previous footsteps in Taiwan. Impressed, Jimmy suggests she decorate a wall at the karaoke. After the meal, Ami expresses her interest in motorcycles, and Jimmy rides her to an observation deck with a stunning view of Tainan. They bond and discuss their dreams. Jimmy confesses his uncertainty, and Ami encourages him to search for a dream.
In the present, Jimmy arrives in Matsumoto and encounters Liu, a Taiwanese izakaya owner who suggests that he visits Ami's hometown, Tadami. On his journey, he meets a young backpacker named Koji on the Iiyama Line, who recommends they stop at the snowing Nagaoka, where Jimmy is captivated by the scenery, reminiscent of a classic romance film Love Letter. Jimmy recalls that his co-workers asked Ami to describe her ideal boyfriend, but her description contradicts Jimmy's characteristics. However, a co-worker encourages him to date her anyway and gives him tickets to Love Letter. During the movie, Ami cries miserably and finds an excuse to leave the scene, leaving Jimmy confused.
Back in the present, Jimmy meets and befriends Yukiko, a staff member at an internet café who is playing the game he developed. Yukiko offers to drive him to the sky lantern festival. Jimmy then recalls Ami's sudden departure, and her subsequent announcement of returning to Japan. Jimmy is furious with Ami and refuses to talk to her, even when she finishes the wall art. However, encouraged by his father's advice to leave no regrets, Jimmy decides to ask Ami out one last time before she leaves and takes her to a sky lantern festival. They make a promise to meet each other again after they have the opportunity to pursue and fulfill their dreams.
Upon arriving in Tadami, Jimmy meets Ami's mother, Yuko, who reveals Ami's passing. Yuko gives Jimmy Ami's sketchbook, which contains drawings of Taiwan. Through the drawings, it is revealed that Ami had been suffering from cardiomyopathy and had wished to travel around the world during the final days of her life. However, after meeting and falling in love with Jimmy in Taiwan, her desire to continue living is ignited, and she decides to seek alternative treatments in Japan. Therefore, she abruptly leaves Taiwan before her condition deteriorates and refuses Jimmy's requests to see her in later years while she is hospitalized. Overwhelmed, Jimmy weeps as he reaches the last page of the sketchbook—a picture of them releasing sky lanterns, symbolizing their promise.
On his journey back, Jimmy writes a letter to Ami, sharing his life since their separation. He reveals that he was aware of Ami's passing after completing his first game, where he fulfilled his promise to achieve his dream and attempted to reach out to her, but to no avail. Jimmy expresses his gratitude for Ami's presence in his youthful days at the end of the letter, and promises to go on a trip without a destination in her honor.


Greg Hsu as Jimmy, a successful former video game developer who went on a trip to Japan
Kaya Kiyohara as Ami, a Japanese backpacker romantically entwined with Jimmy 18 years ago
Joseph Chang as Liu, the Taiwanese owner of a Matsumoto-based izakaya
Shunsuke Michieda as Koji, a young backpacker
Haru Kuroki as Yukiko, an internet café staff member
Hitomi Kuroki as Yuko, Ami's mother
Yutaka Matsushige as Nakazato, a resident at Tadami who drives Jimmy to Yuko
Also appearing in the film are Toyoharu Kitamura as Shimada, the Japanese boss of Karaoke Kobe; Buffy Chen as Hsiao-ting, Jane Liao as Shu-yi, Lee Kuan-yi as Wei, the co-workers of Jimmy and Ami at Karaoke Kobe; and Figaro Tseng as Aaron, the co-founder of Jimmy's video game development studio.


18×2 Beyond Youthful Days is adapted from and based on real-life events recorded in a travelogue titled Wandering Journey on Slow Train in Japan (Chinese: 日本慢車流浪記), written by Jimmy Lai under the pseudonym "Blue Fox". Lai, a Taiwanese video game developer, embarked on a vacation journey across Japan using the Seishun 18 Ticket and wrote the travelogue, aiming to reminisce about his romantic past with a Japanese backpacker. After publishing the travelogue on the Taiwanese blog Backpackers and it went viral in 2014, Lai was approached by film production studios interested in purchasing the adaptation rights. Eventually, producer Roger Huang acquired the rights and began searching for film directors and screenwriters to join the project. Actor Chang Chen and director-producer Lin Yu-hsien became attached to the project in the early stages, with Chang making his producer debut at the invitation of his friend Huang, and he described the experience as a "learning opportunity". However, Lai became dissatisfied with the numerous screenplay drafts, feeling that the filmmakers and production companies were excessively expanding the story length and introducing new elements that deviated from the essence of his travelogue. As script after script was rejected and with Lai's subsequent migration to the United States, the project was stuck in development hell for four years. In 2019, during the Kaohsiung Film Festival, Huang met Japanese filmmaker Michihito Fujii, who expressed interest in participating in Taiwanese film productions. Huang invited Fujii to helm the project, and Fujii accepted the role of director and screenwriter shortly after reading the travelogue. After Fujii joined the project, Huang rebranded the film from a domestic production with overseas location shoots into a collaborative film between Taiwan and Japan. Fujii initiated negotiations with Japanese production companies and sponsors, including East Japan Railway Company, which also permitted the crew to film on the railways with loaned train carriages.


After attaching to the project in 2019, Michihito Fujii spent four years penning the screenplay. He retained several background settings from Jimmy Lai's travelogue, including Lai's occupation as a video game developer and the names of the two main characters, Jimmy and Ami. However, he made numerous amendments, such as changing the story's background from Chiayi to Tainan, the hometown of Fujii's Taiwanese grandfather, as he found an older city more fitting for the film's tone. The time period was adjusted from 1996 to 2006, aligning it with Fujii's adolescence and allowing for a better grasp of the social atmosphere. Fujii also added backstories for Jimmy, detailing his venture into starting his own video game company, and explored the reasons why Ami traveled to Taiwan, which further enhanced their character arcs. Brian Lee, a real-life friend of Jimmy Lai and a video game developer for SIGONO, also influenced the portrayal of Jimmy's entrepreneurial failure. Opus: Rocket of Whispers and Opus: Echo of Starsong, two video games developed by Lee, were featured in the film.


The film's production was officially announced under the working title Youth (Chinese: 青春) in March 2023, with Far EasTone as a major sponsor and starring Greg Hsu, Kaya Kiyohara, Hitomi Kuroki, and Chang Chen in lead roles. Chang later dropped out of the acting role to focus on his duties as producer. The casting choices were all proposed by Fujii, and Chang Chen provided advice but did not have a direct role in the casting process. Greg Hsu was recommended to Fujii by his friends due to his ability to portray both the 18-year-old and 36-year-old versions of the character, which Fujii described as having "a sense of both youthful and mature". Hsu accepted the role after reading the script and was drawn to the film's robust production crew. Kaya Kiyohara, who had previously worked with Fujii on his 2019 film Day and Night and 2020 film The Brightest Roof in the Universe, readily accepted the role as she was fond of the story and interested in joining an international project.
Hitomi Kuroki was invited by Chang Chen to make a cameo appearance, following their collaboration as award presenters at the 59th Golden Horse Awards, where Chang revealed to her that he was involved in a project with Michihito Fujii, and Kuroki gladly accepted the offer. The production crew consisted of an equal mix of Taiwanese and Japanese members, and Fujii prioritized the employment of crew members who were around 36 years old to better understand Jimmy's character traits in the film. Hsu was sent to Japan on the film's budget a week prior to filming to learn Japanese.


Principal photography began in Japan in March 2023. Michihito Fujii chose to film in Japan during March as the country undergoes seasonal change in that month, enabling the crew to capture both snowfall at the beginning of the month and cherry blossoms at the end. Taiwanese cinematographer Chan Chih-teng was initially attached to the project but had to withdraw since his wife was scheduled to give birth in the filming period. Keisuke Imamura, a frequent collaborator of Fujii, stepped in as the substitute cinematographer. Imamura intentionally included a snowfall scene shot in Japan as a tribute to the 1995 romance film Love Letter. He also established a fixed colour temperature and selected lenses with Fujii prior to filming, adapting warm orange tones in Taiwan and cold blue tones in Japan to create a contrast. Filming took place in Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, Nagano Prefecture, Niigata Prefecture, and Fukushima Prefecture, which the latter three are located on the JR Iiyama Line and Tadami Line. East Japan Railway Company provided assistance for the crew in set construction while filming in train carriages. Several scenes were cinematographed at Mori-Miyanohara Station, Nagaoka Station, and Tadami Station, as well as the railway crossing near Kamakurakōkōmae Station, a tourist spot due to its feature in the manga Slam Dunk. On 25 March, scenes of Hsu and Haru Kuroki's characters releasing sky lanterns were shot at ski resort New Greenpia Tsunan in Tsunan, Niigata. Other filming locations included Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu and Sumida Park in Tokyo, Matsumoto Castle in Nagano, and Yuigahama in Kanagawa.
After completing the scenes in Japan, the crew moved to Taiwan and commenced filming in April. The majority of the filming was completed in Tainan, with occasional shoots in Yunlin County, Kaohsiung, and New Taipei City. In Tainan, the filming locations included Fort Provintia, Shuei Sian Temple Market, Tiantan Tiangong Temple, Hsinchu East Gate, and Sihcao Boulevard, which served as the dating spots for Hsu and Kiyohara's characters in the film. Hsu and Kiyohara spent nine hours filming on a motorcycle, shuttling between these locations. Filming then continued at Chuan Mei Theatre, the only Taiwanese theater adorned with hand-painted movie posters, in mid-April. The film also featured Wusheng Night Market, where the crew invited local hawkers to participate in the shoot. Other filming locations in Tainan included Bao'an railway station and Yuguang Island, as well as the campus of Tainan University of Technology, which Hsu's character attended.


Hsu took a brief hiatus to attend the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards which was held on 28 April in South Korea, before returning to film the scenes depicting Hsu and Kiyohara releasing sky lanterns at Shifen railway station in Pingxi District, New Taipei City, on 29 April. The shooting schedule at Shifen was disrupted by weather conditions, resulting in a delay from nightfall to the following morning. The scenes set at Karaoke Kobe, a recurring location in the film where Hsu and Kiyohara's characters worked, were filmed at a spa center in Huwei, Yunlin. The entire center underwent renovation to recreate a nostalgic ambience. The exterior wall painting of the Karaoke was decorated by Fujii's sister and picture book illustrator Rumi Yoshida. Hsu mentioned that the scenes revolving around the Karaoke were grouped together and filmed intensively, describing those shoots as having "boss-fighting level of difficulty". Filming ultimately concluded in late May.


Post-production spanned across six months, and was carried out separately in Taiwan and Japan. The respective crews in each country handled the scenes shot within their jurisdiction. As the film was set in two separate timelines, Fujii personally drew storyboards for continuity editing to connect the junctions between scene changes. He also made an effort to group scenes from the same timeline together, minimizing the need for transitions. However, he allowed the two crews to employ different styles and pacing during the editing process to better convey the cultural differences between the two countries. The film was announced to be distributed by Happinet Phantom Studios in Japan, and sales were launched at the Asian Film Market on 7 October 2023. The film was officially announced to be released in Japan on 27 October 2023, with a projected theatrical release date of May 2024. Its title was revealed to be 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days on 30 October.