small gas engines were advertised in Union magazines as kits to motorize handcars. These had to be purchased by the men themselves and installed on their own time. Eventually, railroad management realized that motor cars would permit substantial savings (fewer men to cov- er the same amount of track, increased productivity because no need to tire out the men pumping handcars to the work site) and began buying them for their section gangs. The first attempt at a drop-down
A COLUMN BY OUR READERS where they may express their own free opinions. Please keep letters to one page or less if possible, typed or very clearly written. Print your complete name and address. All letters submitted are read. Those deemed of great- est general interest will be printed, but none can be answered by mail. Mail to Safety Valve, RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN, Box 700, Newton, NJ 07860.
Rubber tires Reading over the article “Rubber
Tires Meet Steel Rails” in the May is- sue of RMC, I noticed that the author David Lustig makes the common error of confusing camp outfits (bunk, kitchen and dining, commissary cars), which are usually parked on sidings, with work trains, which are given trains orders by the dispatcher to oper- ate as an extra train within specific limits to do work out on the line. Only a few work trains towed the camp cars along with the train, usually when work was progressive along the line and the work train might “tie up” in a different town each evening. Some history is in order. While still a question, it now appears that the first maker of motor cars was Daimler Mo- tor Company. It started serial produc- tion in 1894. The company abandoned other products in favor of automobiles in 1900. By then, however, other car manufacturers were in the field. The new products were first used by rail- road officials, but soon after the turn- of-the-century, they were beginning to be used by section gangs. A number of
steel wheel attachment was made by Mack Trucks in 1921. The first mod- estly successful one was made by Evans Products around 1937. They ran headlong into the Great Depression and few were sold. In 1948, Fairmont, already the
biggest maker of motor cars (actually speeders) came out with a simpler and more reliable drop-down device which became the basis of all the ones sold since. Ironically, Fairmont was the last maker of motor cars when they shut down their production line in 1993. They are still used outside of North America and there are several foreign makers. (This is covered in the fine publica-
tion Work Extra, which examines rail- road non-revenue equipment. A sub- scription is $10.00 for four issues and may be ordered at the address below.) JOHN C. LaRUE
27491 Duvernay Dr. Bonita Springs, FL 34135-6029 Lichen Thanks for the May issue and espe-
cially Keith Albright’s article on pro- cessing Lichens. I see lichens in most parts of North America and the quality often exceeds the commercial products. I have found that lichens like a little sunlight. Keith is correct about finding them on or near the top of embank- ments and in other locales. Commer- cial grade glycerin is fine for preserv- ing lichens.
JOHN SNIDOW Hardy, Virginia
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RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN includes TOY TRAINS, combined wrih ELECTRIC TRAINS and HOBBY RAILROADING, MINIATURE RAIL ROAD- ING, MODEL & RAILWAY NEWS, THE O GAGER and THE MODEL MAKER (est. 1924) magazines.
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