Carhart Steam

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The Carhart Steam was an early American steam car .

Dr. John W. Carhart († 1914), a doctor and Methodist - preacher from Saratoga Springs ( New York ), had already let build a steam boat to his plans. After moving to Racine ( Wisconsin ) he opened a medical practice, but fell ill soon after. During his long convalescence , he was busy building a steam car, which was completed in 1871. For the construction plans, he got the support of his brother HS Carhart , a physics professor at Northwestern and later Michigan State University .

construction

The fire department outfitter Button Fire Engine Works in Waterford (New York) produced the steam boiler . The project was supported by George Slauson , a wealthy citizen of Racine, who used one of his barns to set up a workshop. In the iron foundry of the local JI Case Threshing Machine Company , molds were manufactured according to Carhart's plans and components, especially for the steam engine and drive parts, were cast or milled.

The vehicle quickly had a nickname: Spark ("spark"). It had carriage wheels of different sizes at the front and rear. Carhart designed the drive including the standing boiler in the rear. As a result, the light bench seat for two people was far advanced. It was steered with a lever. Since no booth was provided for a stoker, it can be assumed that the driver was also the stoker (" chauffeur ") and had to stop each time to fire. The vehicle is said to have reached a speed of 10 mph (approximately 16 km / h).

Whereabouts

JW Carhart later practiced in Texas . He announced around 1900 that he wanted to build another steam car; however, nothing more is known about this. He died on December 21, 1914. The existence of the Spark is documented until 1942. Perhaps the vehicle as part of a national scrapping actions ( "was Scrap Runs ") the recycling supplied; Such events should motivate the population to collect scrap metals that are important for the armaments industry. At least one photo of the vehicle and a somewhat humorous description by John Carhart has been preserved:

“Since then, I've heard the occasional thunder of racing engines lined up at the start, but frankly, not even Disbrow's Jay-Eye-See could match it in terms of truly disruptive qualities. Of course, the built-in steam whistle didn't make things any better. It didn't take long before we had the street all to ourselves because the citizens, no sooner had they seen the Spark , were convinced that it was about to explode. I suspect that this was the reason why we hardly met any refugees and there were no victims to complain about on our first exit. "

Apparently there was also insufficient traffic monitoring. When Spark frightened a valuable trotting horse belonging to JJ Case so much that it blew and broke its leg, the city administration ordered a ban on driving the steam car on public roads.

consequences

The Oskosh Steam Buggy with water tanker and crew

Contrary to the doctor's description, the vehicle worked so convincingly that in 1873 the state of Wisconsin offered a high prize money of US $ 10,000 for every citizen of the state who invented a "cheap and practical substitute for horses and other animals on the highway and on the farm" .

The ride actually took place in July 1878 and went down in automotive history as the Wisconsin reliability trial as the first documented competition among horseless vehicles. The reliability run with "special tests" led over 201 miles (323.5 km) and was held between the Oshkosh Steam Wagon and the Green Bay Steamer . The Oshkosh won after the Green Bay crashed out after a short time.

JW Carhart would have liked to take part in the race himself, but had to do without it for health reasons.

Appreciation

The Carharts constructed their simple but functional vehicle two years before Amédée Bollée's father (1844–1917) began his pioneering work in France .

When the JI Case Threshing Machine Company took over the Pierce Motor Company in Racine in 1911 and launched the Pierce-Racine (not to be confused with the better-known Pierce-Arrow ) slightly revised as a Case , they were happy to mention their experience with one of the first functioning ones Automobiles in the USA and even claimed to have built the first car in the USA with the Carhart Steam . However, this cannot be sustained even if one ignored the fact that Case only made parts and components. The Duryea Motor Buggy from 1893 is considered the first commercially produced car in the USA .

Early US automobiles (selection)

Remarks

  1. ↑ Louis Disbrow (1876-1939) was a well-known racing driver for the Racine-based automobile manufacturer Case . Jay-Eye-See was a Case brand.

literature

  • Beverly Rae Kimes (ed.), Henry Austin Clark Jr.: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1996, ISBN 0-87341-428-4 . (English)
  • GN Georgano (Ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present. 2nd Edition. Dutton Press, New York 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0 . (English)
  • Beverly Rae Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels: The Dawn of the Automobile in America. Publisher SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Permissions. Warrendale PA 2005, ISBN 0-7680-1431-X . (English)
  • Floyd Clymer, Harry W. Gahagan: Floyd Clymer's Steam Car Scrapbook. Literary Licensing, 2012, ISBN 978-1-258-42699-6 . (English)
  • John Heafield Bacon: American Steam-Car Pioneers: A Scrapbook. 1st edition. Newcomen Society of the United States, 1984, ISBN 99940-65-90-4 . (English) beginnings; Sylvester A. Roper; George A. Long; George E. Whitney
  • H. Walter Staner: The early days of motors and motor-driving - steam cars. Lightning Source UK, Milton Keynes UK, ISBN 978-1-4455-2487-0 . (undated reprint of instructions for operating steam cars from the publisher of the specialist newspaper Autocar , approx. 1900; English)
  • William Greenleaf: Monopoly on Wheels: Henry Ford and the Selden Automobile Patent. Great Lakes Books / Wayne State University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8143-3512-3 . (First edition 1955; English)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ BR Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels. 2005, p. 30.
  2. ^ A b c d e f g B. R. Kimes, HA Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. 1996, p. 255.
  3. ↑ a b B. R. Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels. 2005, p. 31.
  4. ^ BR Kimes, HA Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. 1996, p. 255; Fig.
  5. ^ W. Greenleaf: Monopoly on Wheels: Henry Ford and the Selden Automobile Patent. 1955/2011, p. 11.
  6. ↑ a b B. R. Kimes, HA Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. 1996, p. 658.
  7. ↑ a b B. R. Kimes, HA Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. 1996, p. 1092.
  8. ^ Smithsonian: American History; America On the Move Collection Dudgeon steam wagon.
  9. ^ Smithsonian: American History; America On the Move Collection / Long steam tricycle.
  10. ^ A b The Early Electric Car Site: Timeline.