Sunday, March 1, 2026

Powr Kraft V58 anvil


 Just a little anvil from the Montgomery Ward line of hobby level tools. The anvil has the same styling licks as their vises of the time.



 

Sidecar Sunday

Wartime R75 BMW with drive to sidecar wheel . The helmet shaped thing on the tank is an air filter. 18,000 units were made before production ended in 1944.



 

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Excelsior 2 stroke twin


 How do you create two separate airtight crankcase chambers with an inline twin throw crankshaft. Most Japanese engines were simple horizontally split crankcase halves with a drop-in built-up crankshaft.   

 Excelsior did it earlier by bolting three sections together vertically and coupling two crankshafts together. In 1958 the engine was  developed into a 500cc triple that was used in the Berkley sports car.


 

Packard V8


 After WW2 Packard knew they had to develop an engine to replace their straight 8 and by 1949 they had settled on a cast iron V8 of 269 cu in displacement. It soon became apparent that more was required and by it's release in 1955 it had grown to 352 cu. in. and under pressure from Cadillac (331 cu in) and Chrysler (354 cu in) it was bored out to 372 in 1956. With twin four barrel carbs, the 698 lb engine in the Carribean produced 310 hp. But it all came too late, Packard closed up permanently after 539 units were completed.



 

Ohlsson and Rice Model 1 chainsaw


 A cute little chainsaw from the 1960s. Ohlsson and Rice were manufacturers of a line of tools, utilizing a 22 cc 3/4 hp gas engine as an interchangeable powerhead. This is an adaptation of that concept. a chain saw with a 9 "bar.
The company started in 1946 and died in the late sixties.




Power Transmission system

Louis Jensen and William Brazier, Related Science for Automotive Trades. Delmar Pub. 1958

 The artist must have had fun making this unusually oriented "Flying Car" drawing. 

Thursday, February 26, 2026

The wreck of the T. P. Leathers

Joan and Thomas Gandy, The Mississippi Steamboat Era in historic photographs, Dover Pub. 1987

 Sailing down the Mississippi river on October 22, 1896, just north of Natchez, the hull of the overloaded T. P. Leathers opened up and started filling with water. The pumps couldn't keep up and the crew was jettisoning bales of cotton as it ran onto the river bank where it sank. A nearby steamboat, the J. B. O'Brien, arrived on the scene and took the passengers into Natchez. Much of the cotton was rescued. The boat was raised on the 29th, and by November 21, the boat was back in business, hull repaired, boat refurbished and freshly painted.



1934 Hupmobile


 One of famed designer Raymond Loewy's first automotive designs, the Aerodynamic line was introduced in 1934, the cars featured dramatically faired-in headlamps, a three-piece windshield, and a fastback rear design. Introduced at the same time as the Chrysler Airflow, the designs were just too radical for buyers.
 Hupmobile closed in 1939. 
 

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

West German padlock

 These things turn up all over the place online and seem to be considered collectable. They're stamped with a size 35mm or 45mm and Made in West Germany (which means between WW2 and 1990) but no manufacturer name. Too bad this one came without a key.



 

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Wapwallopen


  Candidate for the best locomotive name ever. This freight engine was built by Baldwin in 1865 for the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad. Note the auxiliary roof over the coal section of the tender, probably provided for the fireman's protection.
 PS, "Wapwallopen" is actually a town in Pennsylvania, and is a native word for "place where the wild hemp grows".