Horses of Iron

[sk8norcal]

cool thread, Lock

if you like the autoped, check this..
http://wackyboards.blogspot.com/2010/05 ... toped.html


seen this?



check vid and link,
http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2009/ ... -vehicles/

[Lock]

Ooooh... I'm likin' this:

Autoped_ ad_1915.jpg (48.76 KiB) Viewed 362 times

Taylors one wheel... eh? I'm more a fan of the hybrids... human-electric... wheels with exercise built in as an option

l0Ck

[michaelplogue]

http://gizmodo.com/5634743/why-ride-a-b ... de-a-horse

[amberwolf]

I was disappointed when I looked around for pics and it apparently is only a non-moving head and tail end decoration. What it really needs is actual moving legs attached to the bike wheel so that it appears to actually be running as you ride.

Now I know one more thing I can add to the Junkyard Wolf idea if I ever get to doing that: running legs.

[Lock]

...running legs.

That would be pretty funny.

Horsey_Horseless_1899.jpg (19.42 KiB) Viewed 519 times

LoCk

[JennyB]

I was disappointed when I looked around for pics and it apparently is only a non-moving head and tail end decoration. What it really needs is actual moving legs attached to the bike wheel so that it appears to actually be running as you ride.

Now I know one more thing I can add to the Junkyard Wolf idea if I ever get to doing that: running legs.

For a moment I thought it was neon. That would be cool!

[sk8norcal]

50cc speed records

http://www.elsberg-tuning.dk/recordbikes.html

[sk8norcal]

[Lock]

The Electric Wheel.— If multitudinous patents and numerous improvements go for anything, the road electric cycling machine will soon be an accomplished fact. One electric tricycle, "built, for durability, comfort and every-day business and pleasure use," weighs complete, without motor or batteries, 47 pounds; with motor and batteries, 160 pounds. The machine is designed for a maximum load of 500 pounds, riders and baggage. The battery case, and motor are spring mounted, and the seat is of leather, hammock style. Another electric
tricycle is peculiar in having the forward wheel as the driving wheel. The current is obtained from two cabinets of battery, each 24x8x8 inches, which are fixed on either side of the driving wheel. The weight is 100 pounds. The carriage part of the vehicle is a light structure consisting of a simple framework, with a wide comfortable seat and two pneumatic tired wheels hung in ball bearings. Each wheel is independently journaled, so that all extra friction on curves is avoided. The peculiar feature of this tricycle is that the front wheel, being the driving wheel, and carrying within itself the entire locomotive force, is practically a mechanical horse. It can be detached from one vehicle and hitched on to another in one minute, and will work as well in front of a sleigh as when drawing a carriage. It is claimed that one filling of the cells will run the vehicle from 100 to 150 miles, according to the condition of the roads and the load carried. Enough of the concentrated battery solution may be carried for a 500-mile run. In England a tricycle propelled by a tiny petroleum motor is being used. Its weight is under ninety pounds. The petroleum vapor is lighted by an electric spark. In order to set the machine in motion the rider admits the petroleum by turning a tap, which at the same time turns on the electric current. In mounting a hill the rider can assist the speed by gearing up the pedals and using the feet, thus adding animal power to that of the motor. The latest form of electric bicycle is now running in the streets of New York. It weighs, with its electrical equipment, 64 pounds, and carries 150 pounds for twenty four hours at the rate of thirty miles an hour. The power is derived from a storage battery placed under the saddle, which is connected with a small motor geared to the rear wheel. The current is controlled by push buttons near the handle-bars. A powerful electric lamp and an electric buzzer to warn pedestrians complete the equipment.

[Lock]

ELECTRIC BICYCLES.
One Devised in England for Which Great Things Are Claimed.
SOME GROUND FOR GRAVE DOUBT
As to the Practicability of the Machine Until Thoroughly Tested.
THE LATEST ABOUT THE SUBTLE FLUID
[WRlTTEN FOR THE DISPATCH]
The electrical bicycle is again cropping up. This time it is in England, and its inventor promises to give the public a machine that can go from the most northerly to the southern extremity of Great Britain without stopping to have its batteries refilled. The weight of the batteries when filled with liquid is to be 44 pounds, and the whole weight of the apparatus is to be 155 pounds. The English financial papers also announce that a small company is to be brought out with a capital of $15,000 for the manufacture of electric cycles. Until, however, the practicability of the electric cycle is demonstrated beyond question, the public may be pardoned some degree of incredulity concerning it. The electrical tricycle, which was designed by a well-known electrician in this country some two years ago, failed to reach the practical stage, and although the storage battery is turned to better account in England than here, the record of English electrical bicycles is not by any means satisfactory. Whether this latest form of bicycle will be an improvement on its predecessors remains to be proved.

[Lock]

The Sunday Herald and Weekly National Intelligencer. (Washington D.C.) September 13, 1891,

BICYCLE RAILWAY.
Experiments With This Mode of Travel Made in Anacostia.
An electric bicycle railway has been in successful operation during the past week at Floral Hill-on-the-Anacostia, the estate of Dr. W. Leo White, editor of the National Free Press. On clement days the exhibitions were attended by fair sized crowds, appropriately interspersed with capitalists. The trestle on which the track is laid is one hundred feet long, twelve feet above ground and built on a row of poplar trees that stand in the middle of Minnesota avenue. Cross timbers are secured to the east and west sides of these trees and over the ends of these timbers are laid the runners. There are two rails, one above and one below. Along the top rail run the driving wheels and along tho bottom one travel the guide wheels. All this seems to render a derailment of the machine impossible. From this contrivance is suspended the carriage. The device has so far been propelled only by foot power but at the trials which are to occur perhaps next week electricity will be used. The invention was patented several
years ago but the projectors of the present scheme claim the original patent to be defective,
besides they claim to have added valuable inventions. Dr. White has secured exclusive
rights for Maryland, Virginia, and several Atlantic seaside resorts. It is in contemplation
to build a line of this railway from Harrison street, Anacostia, to Good Hope, thence along Pennsylvania avenue extended, over the new bridge, and connect with the Washington & Georgetown Railroad. The backers of this novel means of travel will this fall build a one-mile circular track at River View so that it may next season be conveniently tested by the public. Captain E.S.Randall favors the idea and has not only volunteered his grounds, but promised otherwise to aid the enterprise. The rails of this road have a history. They were made by Hushes & Patterson, of Philadelphia, for the Baldwin Locomotive Works and by the latter firm sent to China, and used there in connection with the first model locomotive exported to that country. They were returned and a few months ago bought by Mr. George V. White.

[Lock]

BICYCLES AT PARIS FAIR.
The Paris exposition of 1900 will be the great triumph of the bicycle. The portion of the exposition reserved for bicycles will be a remarkable building built according to the plans of Paul Lemay and unique of its kind. There will be no subdivision throughout the vast interior; the immense space will be devoted entirely to the exhibition of bicycles of all dates and all shapes, from the first imperfect experiments and the running machines to the graceful and perfect machines which characterize the end of the century.
What the apogee will be in the manufacture of bicycles in three years it is impossible to foresee, but no one familiar with the subject can say that the construction of bicycles has reached perfection. At the present time all the interest seems to be in motocycles, and it is increasing in the place of diminishing, many builders believing that an electric bicycle is the machine of the future.

[Lock]

STARTLING SCIENTIFIC FACTS.
There's a cunning young bacillus and a natty
little germ,
Or some frisky diatoma or a microscopic
worm,
Or some scientific wonder dragglng 'round a
Latin term,
In our food and air and water, and, by jigs!
It makes me squirm.
And the sun will be much colder in about a
million years,
And a portion of earth's moisture slowly
dries and disappears,
And its crust is slowly cooling and excites our
human fears,
So, by jigs! you needn't wonder if it fills my
eyes with tears.
In a hundred generations man will have no
teeth at all,
And his skull will be as naked as a shiny
billiard ball;
His superfluous toes will vanish, he will be
but four feet tall,
So, by jigs! you cannot wonder if my flesh
begins to crawl.
He will travel with electric bicycles and
cable cars;
With his airships he will wander like a meteor
'mid the stars;
He will open navigation on the waterways of
Mars,
And, by jigs! where will you stop him when
he once lets down the bars?
And now Edison's inventing patent food, and
I'll be blessed
If it won't knock out the farmers and the
wheat fields of the West ;
And this baby incubator - and perhaps that
way is best,
But I'll go to Philadelphia, where my brain
can take a rest.
-Judge.

[Lock]

Bicycle Notes.
Tighten up the front gearing and stop wobbling.

A New York manufacturer is making a bicycle which will accommodate fifteen riders.

Charles W. Ashcroft, of Cincinnati, has invented an electric bicycle. Attached to the sprocket spindle of an ordinary bicycle is an electric motor one-horse power. Storage batteries in a triangular case under the seat supply this motor with electricity. Buttons for controlling the bicycle are placed on the handle bars. The machine will make ten miles an hour over ordinary roads.

That bicycle heart disease is no joke and is proved by the fact that in the examination of candidates for the Ohio naval reserves at Toledo last year, 50 per cent were found to have hearts affected by bicycle scorching.

[Lock]

A New Jersey man has invented a sort of electrical bicycle which is to run on two heavy wires suspended in the air. Perhaps it wont be long until you will see people flying all over the country, on wires. It is said that "necessity is the mother of invention," so it won't be out of place to hint that the desire of that New Jersey man to get away from the plesiosauran mosquitoes of that region might have prompted him to this novel method of flight.

[Lock]

BORAX BEDS OF INYO.
One Hundred Acres of Vats Going — Lively
Politics and Need of a Railroad and Canal.
Among the arrivals at the Lick House is W. M. Richards of Inyo County, who has been agent for the Carson and Colorado Railroad for over seven years at Keeler and Independence. He has resigned to engage in mining in Nevada County, where his father, Captain Henry Richards,
has been prominently connected with the mines for nearly forty years.
Mr. Richards is enjoying his visit to San Francisco, after his seven years' work on the desert.
He is an enthusiastic bicyclist, and intends making a tour of the mining counties of the State on his electric bicycle this month.

[Lock]

A NEW LIGHT 0N ELECTRICITY.
A Chat With Professor Ayrton, F.R.S.
From Cassell's Saturday Journal.
Electricity is in the air, and half the world seems to be electrically mad. Since the debut of the motor car, almost every topic of conversation - North, South, East and West has had some reference to electricity.
Prophets have arisen, and if they do not belie their name, we are going to have electricity in everything. Electric boots to propel our legs, electrical clothes dusting machines, dummy servants run by electricity - these are a few of the devices which are promised us.
There is some danger, however, in our expecting too much from the mystic current, and when I wrote to Professor Ayrton, the celebrated scientific expert, requesting an interview with, him, I had it in my mind to ask him for some definite information on the subject of the uses of
electricity. Professor Ayrton most kindly acceded to my suggestion, and with rare good nature permitted me to question him for a full hour.
...
...
I now turned the professor's attention to the subject of electric cabs, of which so
much is expected.
"I don't think the electric cab has any future," he replied,"that is, unless we have some wholly new invention. No electric vehicle which does not get its power of propulsion from overhead wires or underground conductors can compete with steam or petroleum traction. If I wanted a motor car I should buy a steam or petroleum one. I shouldn't dream of getting one whose power was drawn from accumulators.
"You can see my point for yourself. To develop a board of trade unit of energy in a motor car driven by means of accumulators would, after allowing for the wear and tear of the cells, etc. cost about a shilling. If the same work were done by means of
coal it would cost something like a penny.
You see, the cost of the renewal and repairing of the accumulators, which electric cabs must use to move their wheels, is the very serious obstacle."
"Now as to electric bicycles and tricycles, professor. Are they possible?"
"If you ask me if I can make one, I answer 'Yes.' But if you mean will I use one I say emphatically 'No.' In 1882 I constructed an electric tricycle and I used to run it in the streets near my office in the city during the evening when the traffic was small, and when the police were less imperative about its being preceded by a man carrying a red flag. That electric tricycle was sent over to Paris and it may still be in existence. But nothing will make electric bicycles and tricycles worth using of course, in comparison with those driven by
steam or petroleum. They haven't the chance."

[Lock]

Probably In less time than many persons
suppose bicycle riders will skim over the
streets upon wheels propelled by electric
power. If plans now proposed do not miscarry,
such wheels will be seen before the
riding season of another year opens. It
develops that to become the working members
of a manufacturing company and to
direct the building of these wheels is the
mission to America of two Frenchmen recently
arrived In New York City.
These Frenchmen brought with them an
electric tandem built by themselves. This
pair and their tandem have been much
sought after. It has been learned that the
Frenchmen were bundled off to a secluded
neighourhood immediately upon their arrival,
and that their machine is closely
guarded , pending the granting of certain
American patents already applied for.
On the authority of one intimately acquainted
with them , it is stated that a
company is now practically organized to
manufacture electric bicycles under their
patents , and that articles of incorporation
are shortly to be applied for. One of the
Frenchmen is a practical electrician and
machinist, and it is claimed that he has
invented a storage battery for use on bicycles
ridden by one or more persons that
will revolutionize the trade. The invention
is shrouded in much mystery at present,
but a little Information vouchsafed by one
who is interested in the formation of the
company is interesting. The weight of the
bicycle will be about 100 pounds and the
cost will run from $200 to $300.

[Lock]

A young man not quite twenty years of age, and
living not many miles from Printing House Square,
has been experimenting with electricity with the
idea of applying that power to bicycles and tricycles.
Heretofore motor machines of this sort
have been propelled by gasolene. The young man has
spent a good portion of two years experimenting
with an electric battery, and he has already turned
out an electric tricycle, which he has used on the
roads the last two weeks. He is convinced that his
scheme will prove to be all right. He Is now at
work on an electric bicycle, which, when completed,
will not weigh over one hundred pounds according
to the Inventor.

[Lock]

ELECTRICAL ODDITIES
Over three miles of copper wire is used in
the construction of an ordinary railway
motor.

The largest searchlight ever made will
be up at St Louis. The lens is seven feet
in diameter.

A representative of one of the large manufacturing
concerns said the other day: "The
country has gone turbo-crazy and hardly
any consulting engineer dares to advocate
reciprocating engines for fear he would be
considered behind the times."

Improved form of mercury vapor lamp
has been shown in France which gives a very
satisfactory white light but the efficiency is
said to be not so good as that of the Hewitt
lamp.

Since the adoption of electricity for power
purposes in one of the great English shipyards
in 1901 the output of the yard has
doubled but the expense for power has not
increased.

A 21-foot electric launch now on the market
that is capable of travelling thirty miles at
seven miles an hour, has a weight of only
1,600 pounds; a 30-foot boat will travel sixty
miles with one charging, and a 36-foot boat
seventy-five miles. A 60-foot launch with a
combined electrical and oil engine equipment
develops enough power to travel at the rate
of fourteen miles an hour.

One of the large manufacturing companies
has just shipped to Japan forty small electric
motors running from 2 1/2 to 15 horse-power.
Each of these is fitted with a grooved pulley
for carrying a wire or rope cable. The greatest
haste was made over this shipment, and a
special vessel from Japan awaited them
at San Francisco. It is surmised that the
Russians will know the purpose of these
motors before we in the United States learn it.

An electric bicycle touring car is arousing
interest in Wisconsin. This car carries six
passengers, is equipped with a 24 horse-power
motor, and carries a charge for a seventy-five
mile run.
Its peculiarity consists in its running on
two wheels as a bicycle. Two other wheels
are arranged on the sides, in such a manner
that they may instantly be lowered to support
the car when standing, or raised when
travelling.
Double sprockets and chains on the rear
wheels take the power-- the steering being
done by means of the forward wheel. Private
speed trials have been made and are said to
show a marvellous rate.

[Lock]

BicycleLight.jpg (19.16 KiB) Viewed 416 times

Any small dynamo is available, provided it have a round pulley. This should be securely lashed to the back fork and to the saddle. Get a spool about the width of your tire. On one end of this cut a groove. This is for the belt that is to run from the pulley of the dynamo. Cover this with leather or rubber, the former being the better. This is supported by two metal or wooden
arms, pivoted. To these arms are attached fairly strong brass springs. This is to keep the spool on the tire. It may be pushed up when not in use. A belt is then run from the pulley to
the spool. Wires are then run from the dynamo along the cross bar to a miniature lamp which is tied to the front of the bicycle. A reflector is then constructed from a piece of tin or sheet brass bent conically, then riveted. Paper fasteners may be used as rivets. The reflector is held in place by eyes punched in it and a wire around the bar. The voltage of the lamp is determined by the power of the dynamo. It is best to have the lamp of higher voltage than
the dynamo, as this guards against burnt out lamps. If it is necessary to insert resistance is circuit it may be done by winding a broomstick with iron wire and thread and binding the whole to the cross bar.

[Lock]

This is the first image/news I have seen of Jenatzy on two wheels...

CamilleJenatzy_1899.jpg (53.43 KiB) Viewed 430 times

[Lock]

Hachenberger_1885.jpg (90.61 KiB) Viewed 430 times

[Lock]

No suitable matches were found.

Found a new word for ES...

`Been wondering for a while now where early EVs got electricity to charge their batteries...

From here:
http://einhornpress.com/electric.aspx

The Gülcher Thermopile, being more convenient, less costly, and cleaner than primary batteries, was a popular means of charging storage batteries in the nineteenth century. It gave on a short circuit about 5 amperes of current at 4 volts. However, this thermo-electric generator hardly compared to the power output of the improved Clamond Thermopile of 1879, which produced 109 volts, with an internal resistance of 15.5 ohms. It could easily illuminate bright electric lights and also deliver a lethal dose of energy! In 1893, Dr. Giraud’s Thermo-electric stove, 3 feet high and 20 inches in diameter and fired by coal, not only could charge batteries but could also light several electric lamps, as well as heat a room 21 feet square. It was an expensive unit to build but cost would have been no obstacle for a wealthy ruler of any ancient city like Alexandria. The ancient Greek kings ruling that city may well have relied on similar types of thermopiles to charge powerful lead-acid batteries hooked to the arc light on the Pharos lighthouse, an essential element for shipping safety and the city’s commercial survival.

Found this page:
http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/POWER/thermoelectric/thermoelectric.htm

One example:

The Improved Clamond Thermopile: 1879.
The EMF of this pile was no less than 109 Volts, with an internal resistance of 15.5 Ohms. The maximum power output was therefore 192 Watts, at 54 Volts and 3.5 Amps.

This pile was fired by coke. The hot junctions were at C, while the cold junctions D were cooled by sheet iron as in the original design above. What purpose was served by the tortuous path T-O-P taken by the hot gases is unclear, because there seem to have been no hot junctions in the inner sections.
This beast was 98 inches high and 39 inches in diameter.

It was a serious piece of machinery, quite capable of delivering a lethal voltage.

Tks
Lock

[Lock]

Louis KRIEGER traveled 307 km without recharging, October 12, 1901.

Kreiger_1901.bmp (89.7 KiB) Viewed 416 times

Brilliant engineer, he worked thereafter to partner with Thomson and Milde (large battery manufacturer as well as Fulmen and Dinin).
The record stood for forty-one years before being defeated in September 1942 on the same road by a (small) CGE Tudor Electric from another famous engineer, JA Gregory.