Re: Newbie...need research material.
Posted by:
SSsssteamer (IP Logged)
Date: November 01, 2004 02:49PM
<HTML>Dear Andy, You made a good reply to why Doble failed. HJowever, the White's last year for their steam car was 1910. The first year for an affordable electric starter was in 1912 when Louis Kettering designed the first starter for Cadillac. One of the downfalls for the steam car in the earlier years was that the steam car needed more attention while driving. A gas car, as long as it had fuel, the driver could go on about any trip from start to finish without the driver looking at any of it's gauges. Not so with the steam car. That is why for commercial use especially, that the gas vehicles flourished. It took more time to educate the new teamster to operate a steam vehicle than it did to educate him to operate the Otto cycle (internal combustion) vehicles. Another factor too, were the roads. The steam car operated with more control on the earlier rough roads than the cas cars did. As the roads improved, the cas cars no longer had as many problems with their grabbing clutches and resulting broken axles.</HTML>