Re: racing trivia
Posted by: C Benson (IP Logged)
Date: April 28, 2003 01:07AM
<HTML>Hi Mark,,,,Forget the novel,,,,,The real accounts are at least as good [my opinion ya know]] Where are you,,,,,To find a good library w/ auto mags of the period would be a good start,,,,,,,Buying them is a uphill battle these days,,,,,,there's lots of details that have never been printed in the newer books,,,,, Lautenslauger [1908----] played piano,tho he had lost his ? thumb ,,,, 'an the Italian drivers made the rest a merry party,,,,nite before VC Race 1908 .... Did anyone know it started to rain on lap 2 and they pulled a pit stop an changed all #16 car tires,,,,,only to find the mud tires didnt work,,,,so changed em again,,,,,no mention in the newer accounts,,,,,F E Stanley planned to go[I dont know if he made it] He was assigned a box seat,,,XXXXXX Re racing steamers,,,There is little sound til the car moves,,in my case,25'' to the first sound,,,,,,90 deg= 25'' therefore,,foreward travel 100''= 4 puts /[or poofs if U wish],,,,,,The fellow withn the camera will wait for me to rev my engine,,,,I wait for the flag,,,,flag goes down,,,I open throttle,,,,put, put, put, put,put pyt put, put, an I have moved 200'' the fellow has his camera pointed where I WAS,,,,XXXX Steam emmitted is not leakage,,its exhaust,,, some drivers will blow steam through the engine to warm the cylinders etc,, The sound of the exhaust is as varied ,as in gas engines,,,,I find the steamers similar re hot--cold as a gas car of same period,,good blanket if U plan to return after dark ,,,AND PLEASE be sure to have a full gas bottle for the lamps,,, Dont also forget most of these cars were driven over the road to the race,, One of the early classes was a 1,000 Kg class,,= 2204 lbs,,,,1909 I think was the beginning of small class,,,some of these cars were over 1000 cu ins and under 2204 lbs,,,AND the weigh ins are worth the read,,,,Some were so close that the mechanic washed the dirt out of the tires, an off the body,,,I would also like to find someone who has a list of what the rules were for each year// race,,There is lots to look for,,,,Baldwin had 2 different Stanleys at St Louis race in Nov 08,,,probably shipped these,,,,its a bit late in the season,,,, Was a 3day meet does anyone know of photos,,,,Re burns,,,not usually steam,,,but touching a hot piece of tubing across the back of your hand while under the hood,,,been there done that too,,,Cheers for now Ben</HTML>