Auburn Rubber Toy, GM Aerotrain

Another one of Auburn's cast rubber toys, this time a model of the GM Aerotrain, about 10 inches long. Except for the freight trucks, it's actually a pretty good rendition. 
 

1971 Impala

Longer is Better...

German dairy equipment

 Only here for the drawings....

Monday Mystery 2, Kradkurbelwellenanlasser

Thanks, Andre

The name is self explanatory....

 It's a motorcycle crankshaft starter and looks looks like quite the wacky device,  is it to start the motorcycle or to start the truck? Possibly both options?
 

Monday Mystery, German tool logo

Here's an ordinary pair of pliers made in West Germany, what I presume to be a stock number; 62-8 brings nothing up on Google, neither does the logo on the back of the pivot. This looks like possibly a pair of pliers crossed with a screwdriver, and some text which might be TO O LS, too bad about the corrosion. Any guesses as to the manufacturer?

 

Savannah Road Races

After problems with spectator control during the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island, the race was cancelled for 1907. Some forward thinking people in Savannah, Georgia saw a chance to have race in their city. They set up an race event run on public roads in spring of 1908 as a test and a showcase. When it was run successfully they attempted to get the Vanderbilt Cup race run in the fall, this failed but they contacted the newly formed Automobile Club of America and secured an even bigger race, the International Grand Prize race which was run on Thanksgiving weekend 1908. There was a Light Car race run as a support class and everything was well organized and run. The event was well attended and the event was considered to be a complete success.

Convicts hard at work doing track prep, banking the curve.

 

There was no Grand Prize race held in 1909, the Vanderbilt Cup was run in conjunction with the American Automobile Club's Gold Cup race on the newly constructed Long Island Motor Parkway. The race suffered a spectator fatality and several injuries, making it apparent that racing could not be organized at that site and the Gold Cup race was cancelled.  The Savannah Automobile Club immediately lobbied for and got the race for 1910. A new course was laid out, and the whole city worked to get everything ready. Once again everything worked as planned and races ran successfully, this time David Bruce-Brown won in his Benz. 

1910/1911 course

David Bruce-Brown in the winning Benz.

By now, Savannah was becoming known for hosting multiple successful racing events and the city finally got the Vanderbilt Cup as well as the Grand Prize race in 1911. once again everything worked as planned and everything went off without a hitch.

Bruce-Brown's Fiat runs hot while being serviced.

Ralph Mulford winning the Vanderbilt Cup.

Bruce-Brown winning the Grand Prize race in a Fiat this time.

And that was it for the Savannah Races. The city had run all their races very successfully, but the thought was that there was nothing to be gained by doing it again. The huge amount of work in planning and running of the events as well as a growing local resistance to the disruption and magnitude of the events put an end to the races. Everyone was content to say, we done good, let's move on. 

Julian Quattlebaum, The Great Savannah Races, University of Georgia Press, 1957, 1983

Sidecar Sunday

RM Sotheby's auction

 

Safety first

   The Vanderbilt Cup was held on Long Island between the years 1904 and 1909. It was very popular with a quarter million spectators attending and only 16 police officers per mile to control the crowds. Here fans have taken up residence on buildings, fences and a telegraph pole to watch Louis Wagner corner on his 110 hp Darraq.

Ratchet action Speed Wrench

This wrench was based on 1973 patent number 3762244 for a wrench with ratcheting action accomplished with the shape of the jaw rather than moving parts. In other words, they lock while turning one direction and slip the other. The name SW seems to stand for Speed Wrench, not much info on the company name Specialty Tools Inc. mentioned in the patent.

 

Bonneville speed record machine, The Quiet Kid

Speed record contender in the early 1960s. This machine is built around a Scott Atwater outboard motor (displacement unknown) and apparently achieved a speed of 145 mph. No footpegs, the rider laid prone with his legs dangling out back like the famous Rolly Free bathing suit pic.

ebay  Larry Mandreal

Post drill by Champion Blower and Forge

These old flat belt-driven devices show up on occasion. Heavy and awkward, with too many handwheels, levers and cranks etc. for me they're too much work to hook up to a motor and try them out. And what is that escapement device on the top face gear in the image below? One day I will actually spend some time to experiment with one. This one is from Champion Forge and Blower, this well-known maker of blacksmithing machinery was founded 1875 by 17 year old Henry Keiper to manufacture the rotary forge blower he had invented. They started manufacturing drill presses by 1889; the first models were hand-powered post drills.

 These drilling machines were popular in the early part of the last century, electric motors and self standing drill presses replaced them. 

Ascott Pullen

 Probably not much of a motorcycle (it wasn't a commercial success and in business only from 1928-1930).  The company closed up after the manufacture of about 500 units, but it's a great name, isn't it...?

Schermuly rocket flare cross section

 

Canadian Pacific wooden cabooses

Nicholas Morant's Canadian Pacific, Footprint Pub. 1992

Apparently the name caboose is derived from the Dutch word Kabuis meaning ships galley. When we were kids we always counted train cars on a train and the caboose was the period on the sentence.  Sad to see them replaced by the awkward acronym EOT, End of Train device. In Canada that probably happened about 1990, someone will know exactly when...

 

Blackhawk Nugget bullet toolbox

 That's a distinctive shape for a toolbox. From what I've been able to find these sets were first manufactured in the 1930s and on sale through the 1950s, but that's not confirmed, more info welcomed. 

They are understandably desirable today, these pictures came from an ebay listing a few years ago, the set sold for $1650.

 

 

Planes in formation, Otters

 de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otters with skis, flying over Yellowknife...

Thayer Combination Tack hammer

This is a nice looking little brass and wood handled tool, about 9 1/2 inches long, a combination of hammer, puller, flat screwdriver and rule. Patented in June 24 1862, Thayer described it as a “shank or bar graduated to form a scale” with a “screwdriver and a claw on the ends of said shank or bar,” with an adjustable “handle or sleeve” and an adjustable “hammer-head.” 

The idea is to slide the handle/sleeve and the hammer head away from their respective ends to use this as a screwdriver and claw, and back down into their end positions to use it as a tack hammer and tack puller. I'd just hang it on the wall.

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