Tractobile

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1901 Tractobile Tracto-Surrey (1901)
Tractobile advert from 1903 depicting 1901.

Tractobile was a US vehicle brand.

description

The products also included a device for retrofitting horse-drawn carriages, called the Avant-Train . The manufacturer, the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company in Carlisle (Pennsylvania) , also offered complete vehicles, which were also sold under the brand name Tractobile . The company was Edward Joel Pennington (1858-1911) involved, which deals with various projects the reputation of a charlatan had acquired.

Tractobiles were built from 1900 to 1902. No Tractobile has survived, but it appears that the few that have been built have not worked reliably. Avant-Trains have been used with great success by other manufacturers, especially in the commercial vehicle and fire service sectors. One of the largest of these manufacturers in the US was American LaFrance .

The Tractobile consisted of a frame with two bicycle wheels individually attached to bicycle forks , a small steam engine for each wheel including a boiler and accessories for the drive, as well as a primitive steering device in which the right front wheel was acted upon by a lever; this in turn was connected to the other wheel by means of a tie rod . The device replaced the original turntable front axle of the motorized carriage.

The manufacturer advertised that "a vehicle currently pulled by horses can be converted into a contemporary automobile - with numerous patented improvements that cannot be found on any other automobile." Special attention was also drawn to the fact that the machine pulled the vehicle , not pushed it. It does not need a differential and transfers its power "like a locomotive" to the drive wheels.

The delivery program included:

  • Tractobile self-assembly device, US $ 450
  • Tractobile Stanhope , 2 seats, US $ 500
  • Tractobile Surrey , 4 seats ("Tracto-Surrey"), US $ 625
  • Tractobile Depot Wagon , 6 Seats, US $ 800-850

A pair of wheels with rubber tires for the rear axle was US $ 25 extra.

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 .
  • Beverly Rae Kimes (ed.); Henry Austin Clark Jr. Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 2nd Edition. Krause Publications, Iola WI 1985, ISBN 0-87341-111-0 . (English)
  • George Nick Georgano : Cars. Encyclopédie complète. 1885 à nos jours. Courtille, 1975 (French)
  • Richard J. Evans: Steam Cars (Shire Album). Shire Publications, 1985, ISBN 0-85263-774-8 . (English)
  • Anthony Bird, Edward Douglas-Scott Montagu of Beaulieu: Steam Cars, 1770-1970. Littlehampton Book Services, 1971, ISBN 0-304-93707-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. Newcomen Society of the United States; Paperback. 1st edition. 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)

Web links

Commons : Tractobile  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f B. R. Kimes, HA Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. 1996, p. 1476
  2. ↑ a b Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 (Tractobile).
  3. ^ BR Kimes, HA Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 3. Edition. 1996, p. 1476; Fig.
  4. ↑ a b c d F. Clymer, HW Gahagan: Floyd Clymer's Steam Car Scrapbook. Literary Licensing, 2012, p. 37 (advertisement)
  5. ↑ earlyamericanautomobiles.com: Edward J. Pennington .