Horses of Iron

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...defeated in September 1942 on the same road by a (small) CGE Tudor Electric from another famous engineer, JA Gregory.

BTW, Tutor Electric:

Gregoire_CGE_Tudor_electric_1941a.jpg

(72.96 KiB) Downloaded 3 times

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Public charging station, 2010:

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Public charging station, 1915:

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*Real* public charging, 1914/2010:

Bailey_Recharging.jpg (64.92 KiB) Viewed 254 times

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This gas/electric hybrid used gas for lift and electrics for the propellers... Tissandier brothers, 1883:

Tissandier_electric_1883.jpg (42.68 KiB) Viewed 492 times

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Turns out batteries were invented about 2000 years ago... dates vary from about 250BC to 640AD. In theory this cell was used for electroplating, but may also explain why there is no soot from oil lamps found in Egyptian tombs...

Tks
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[thewmatusmoloki]

Far out, 2000 years ago. Sometimes it seems like there's nothing new under the sun.

The first steam engine was invented by an ancient greek (maybe,could've been someone earlier!), Heron, I think his name was. (without checking).
Didn't take off though even he thought it was just an odd curiosity.

Weird.

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I am quite certain that some of the illustrious denisons aboard ES today will someday be remembered as famous ancient geeks...

The first steam engine was invented by an ancient greek (maybe,could've been someone earlier!), Heron, I think his name was.

Had to look that up... from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile

An aeolipile (or aeolipyle, or eolipile), also known as a Hero engine, is a rocket style[1] jet engine[2] which spins when heated. In the first century AD, Hero of Alexandria described the device,[3] and many sources give him the credit for its invention.

and:

Both Hero and Vitruvius draw on the much earlier work by Ctesibius (285–222 BC). Since it is unknown whether or not Ctesibius himself was the inventor, awarding proper credit for creating the first aeolipile may never be achieved.

Vitruvius's description
Vitruvius (c. 80 BC – c. 15AD) mentions aeolipiles by name:
"Æolipylæ are hollow brazen vessels, which have an opening or mouth of small size, by means of which they can be filled with water. Prior to the water being heated over the fire, but little wind is emitted. As soon, however, as the water begins to boil, a violent wind issues forth.

Hero's description
Hero (c. 10–70 AD) takes a more practical approach, in that he gives instructions how to make one:
â„– 50. The Steam-Engine.
PLACE a cauldron over a fire: a ball shall revolve on a pivot. A fire is lighted under a cauldron, A B, (fig. 50), containing water, and covered at the mouth by the lid C D; with this the bent tube E F G communicates, the extremity of the tube being fitted into a hollow ball, H K. Opposite to the extremity G place a pivot, L M, resting on the lid C D; and let the ball contain two bent pipes, communicating with it at the opposite extremities of a diameter, and bent in opposite directions, the bends being at right angles and across the lines F G, L M. As the cauldron gets hot it will be found that the steam, entering the ball through E F G, passes out through the bent tubes towards the lid, and causes the ball to revolve, as in the case of the dancing figures.

The University of Rochester has a nice translation of Heros treatise on Pneumatics here:
http://www.history.rochester.edu/steam/hero/index.html

I see so much in the ebike world today that parallels the period of time in the late 1800s to early 1900s when steam, petroleum and electrics were all vying for domination in motorized vehicles... EVerybuddy knows the story. Even the pedal bicycle was virtually run over by the gas-powered horseless carriage.

So it's great to see bikes making a comeback. It's great to see electrics making a comeback. It's awesome to see electric bikes `cause they combine the two. And the really great thing about ebikes is that they are small - meaning they are cheap to acquire and experiment with. Almost EVerybuddy can do this. And they are (still?) fairly unregulated compared to almost all other forms of motorized transportation. The future is so bright for ebikes!

And just as in the early daze of motorized transport we (ebikers) are still struggling with low(-ish) power and energy densities in motors and energy storage...

I don't see steam though as EVer making a comeback for road transportation.
Still useful for stationary power generation though in the right circumstances (geothermal, solar.)

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A few of my fav steam vehicles:

Zadock Dredericks Steam Man, 1868:

ZadockDrederick_SteamMan_1868.jpg (37.02 KiB) Viewed 448 times

Steam Bus, 1935:

SteamBus_1935.jpg (66.94 KiB) Viewed 464 times

Stanley Pacer Bike, 1899:

Louis S. Ross Woggle Bug, 1905:

LouisSRoss_WoggleBug_steam_1905.jpg (24.45 KiB) Viewed 613 times

Copeland Velocipede, 1884:

Copeland_Steam_Velocipede_1884a.jpg (49.58 KiB) Viewed 629 times

Boynton Bicycle train, 1891:

Boynton_train_1891.jpg (29.41 KiB) Viewed 613 times

Tks
L0K

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From here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10987606

How the UK's first fatal car accident unfolded
By Andrew McFarlane
BBC News Magazine



Mrs Driscoll, circled, was said to be bewildered by the car's approach Almost 4,000 people are killed on the world's roads every day, according to the campaigning charity RoadPeace which is marking National Road Victim Month. So who was the UK's first fatal car accident victim - exactly 114 years ago - and what happened?

There were little more than a handful of petrol cars in Britain when labourer's wife Bridget Driscoll, 44, took a trip to the Crystal Palace, south-east London, on 17 August 1896.

So she could be forgiven for being bewildered by Arthur Edsall's imported Roger-Benz which was part of a motoring exhibition taking place as she attended a Catholic League of the Cross fete with her 16-year-old daughter, May, and a friend.

But as the Times recalled 70 years later, when giving mention to a memorial service for Mrs Driscoll at her local church, hers was the misfortune of becoming the UK's first traffic fatality.

"At the inquest, Florence Ashmore, a domestic servant, gave evidence that the car went at a 'tremendous pace', like a fire engine - 'as fast as a good horse could gallop'," it read.

"The driver, working for the Anglo-French Motor Co, said that he was doing 4mph when he killed Mrs Driscoll and that he had rung his bell and shouted."

The car's maximum speed, the inquest heard, was 8mph but its speed had been deliberately limited.

One of Mr Edsell's two passengers during the exhibition ride, Ellen Standing, told the inquest she heard the driver shout "stand back" and then the car swerved - giving her a "peculiar sensation", according to a contemporary edition of Autocar.

Mrs Driscoll had hesitated in front of the car and seemed "bewildered" before being hit, the inquest heard.

Three of the German-manufactured, French-assembled cars were being demonstrated at the Dolphin Terrace, an area at the back of the palace, according to an edition of local paper the Norwood News published on 22 August 1896.

It reported May Driscoll as claiming the driver "did not seem to understand what he was doing" and that he had zig-zagged towards them.

"The car then swerved off, and [the] witness looked to see where it was, and it was then going over her mother. (Here witness broke down.) Her mother was knocked down, and the car was at once pulled up," the paper reported, in rather equine terms.

'No outrage'

However, there were conflicting reports about the speed and manner of Mr Edsall's driving and the jury returned an accidental death verdict.

He had been driving only three weeks at the time and - with no licence requirement - had been given no instruction as to which side of the road to keep to.

The Croydon Chronicle quoted one witness as saying "the machines made a great noise" but that he did not think it would drown out the tinkling of the alarm bell.

The era's matter-of-fact newspaper reports give no hint of public outrage or hysteria at the new menace.

Melvyn Harrison, of historical group the Crystal Palace Foundation, says people would have been simply bemused at the sight of these "horseless carriages".

"It was such a rare animal to be on the roads and, for her to be killed, people would have thought the story was made up," he says.

And as Jerry Savage, local history librarian at Upper Norwood Library, notes: "The Victorians had no real sense of health and safety. They would just sort of accept the death as what they would call a horrible tragedy."

Nonetheless, the National Motor Museum's libraries officer Patrick Collins admits there was "quite a lot of anti-car feeling" in the UK at the time.

"A lot of people didn't want drivers running around the country scaring horses," he explains, adding that there were fewer than 20 petrol cars in Britain at the time.

This was reflected in the rules of the road at the time. To the frustration of early drivers, the nation's first cars were subject to strict safety laws which had been designed for steam locomotives weighing up to 12 tonnes.

Red flags

Each vehicle was expected to have a team of three in control; the driver, the fireman - to stoke the engine - and the flagman, whose job was to walk 60 yards in front waving a red flag to warn horse-drawn traffic of the machine's approach.

The flag requirement was ditched in 1865 and the walking distance reduced to 20 yards, although speed limits of 2mph in towns and 4mph in the country remained in place.

Mrs Driscoll died just a few weeks after a new Parliamentary act - designed for the new and lighter petrol, electricity and steam-driven cars - raised the speed limit to 14mph, while the flagman role was scrapped altogether.

The coroner told her inquest that he hoped hers would be the last death in this sort of accident.

Little did he know how times would change over the following century, with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents estimating more than 550,000 people have been killed on Britain's roads since then.

tks
1ocK

[sk8norcal]

CamilleJenatzy_1899.jpg

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

how did you find that?



ran across this blog,

http://motorwheeling.wordpress.com/2008 ... an-engine/

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CamilleJenatzy_1899.jpg

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

how did you find that?

Courtesy your Library of Congress! Here:
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

ran across this blog,
http://motorwheeling.wordpress.com/2008 ... an-engine/

Thanks!
10cK

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segways of 1900a.jpg (151.29 KiB) Viewed 464 times

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Those are CARs cause they have 4 wheels! So Speaketh the LAW!

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Four wheels... hehe... then I guess eight would be REALLY bad...

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Tele-motor-coasters_1929.jpg (113 KiB) Viewed 554 times

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England_1830s.jpg (88.82 KiB) Viewed 562 times

[sk8norcal]

there are a couple of vitage moto-rollerskates on my site,

http://wackyboards.blogspot.com/2010/04 ... skate.html

http://wackyboards.blogspot.com/2010/03 ... -1956.html

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The National Museum of Roller Skating website says, "Made by Antonio Pirrello in 1956, these skates feature a 19-pound gasoline motor that is worn like a backpack.

Hehe... and today we worry about strapping some LiPo on our backs...
Tks sk8norcal!
lo0k

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NYCeWheels just posted a vid about the new electric (BionX) Styriette... fun sepia tone lead-in referencing the original 1938 gas bike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9RcFBq3Y6c


Tks
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http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/world_land_speed_record_02.htm

The first recorded motoring competition was in 1894 from Paris to Rouen in which all kinds of improbable cars driven by steam, electricity and petrol engines took part.

The first race proper was in the following year from Paris to Bordeaux and back. In these early days the two main champions of the electric car were the Marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat and the Belgian, Camille Jenatzy.

The Marquis was a founder member of the Automobile Club de France in 1895, and his driver was his younger brother, Count Gaston.

The Marquis built his car, a Jeantaud, and in December 1898, Count Gaston took it to a deserted stretch of road outside Paris near the hamlet of Acheres, between the villages of St. Germain and Constans to make what became the first attempt on the World Land Speed Record.

The timekeepers operated their primitive apparatus in one direction only over a flying kilometre, and were no doubt thankful to be finished on a cold, wet day and to seek shelter.
Count Gaston was told, after due calculation, that he had achieved a time of 57 seconds, giving him a speed of 39.24 miles an hour.

This car, whose thunder was largely stolen by the much better-known "La Jamais Contente", is really entitled to a place in the hall of fame on several counts. It was the first car to hold the World Land Speed Record. It was the first (but not the last) electric car to do so, and also held the record twice.

Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat then re-built and re-bodied the car and took the record
for a third time in 1899. This car took part in, or was in fact the cause of, the three-cornered battle between steam, electricity, and the petrol engine which was fought during the first five years of the motor car and decided what the whole world would use for the next 65 years at least.

Count Gaston made his records over a flying kilometre in one direction only, before there was much control over these attempts. His car was an ugly chain-driven machine in which he sat high off the ground and steered by a vertical handle projecting from the first steering wheel on
record in times when the tiller was universal. It was strictly a sprint machine as the batteries of the day gave him only a short range without recharging.

Gaston_de_Chasseloup-Laubat_1898.jpg (37.29 KiB) Viewed 458 times

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Of course, we all know that the Act of Parliament was aimed at traction engines, steam rollers, and such like noisy but useful monstrosities, and not at the useful and natty tricycle or any other form of velocipede driven by electricity. The Court of Queen's Bench, however, in their wisdom have decided that tricycles driven by other than animal power do come within the meaning of the Act, and that any person using one except in compliance with the provisions thereof is liable to a penalty not exceeding <£10.

Still fighting this, 130 years later...

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Have to chuckle at this "steampunk" zine, the "Electric Velocipede"... first issue here:
http://www.electricvelocipede.com/htm/issue_one.htm

... with a cover pic of Copeland and his STEAM machine:

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Otago Witness, August 1900:

OtagoWitness_1900August16.gif (15.12 KiB) Viewed 923 times

Charles " Mile-a-Minute " Murphy, has equipped his bicycle with a decided novelty. It consists of an electric storage battery, the switch being fastened to the steering head, and the wires covering the handle-bars and connecting with a storage battery at the rear of the saddle post. By grasping the wires Murphy claims a sufficient shock is given his arms to penetrate his whole body and give him a sense of renewed activity when needed in a spurt. If the idea should be generally adopted (remarks a contemporary) we should have to add a new set of " shocking " records to the books.

Somebuddy get this man a pack of LiPos!

LocK

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Kinda chuckling at this design from 2008 by Israeli designer Amir Glinik (http://3d-files.co.il/Glinik_American_Bike_Virtual_Show.htm, seen here for example:
http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/if-ferrari-were-to-make-motorcycles-this-would-be-it.htm


...compared to the Majestic 500:

Majestic_500_Chaise_1929.jpg (172.08 KiB) Viewed 906 times

...from 1929


LoCk

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http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/06/help-me-honda/

After cannibalizing his girlfriend’s bike for parts, filleting the frame with a Sawzall and installing electric motors and batteries, Santa Cruz handyman Geoff Bjorgan successfully converted a 1986 Honda motorcycle into an electric, pedal-assist bike.