O Scale Motor Vehicle Chronicle Sep.6

I hadn't heard of Alco autos, but that touring car is beautiful.  I love the big old phaetons.

In the very early days of motorcars, there were as many as 120 brands being offered.

I Googled a bit trying to find any other locomotive manufacturer that moved into making cars. 

 

Of course, GM went the other way: first they made cars, then locomotives.  That doesn't count here - at least not to me.  I'm curious if anyone knows of any other locomotive companies that made cars or trucks?

 

Anyway, the only company I could find was Geo. D. Whitcomb.  Whitcomb built gasoline powered locomotives - generally small, narrow gauge locomotives but apparent of very good quality, starting in 1912.  In 1914 they built the Partin-Palmer 20, a basic car (tourer).  This did not last long and like Alco they went forward focusing on locomotives.Whitcomb was bought/absorbed by Baldwin in 1928 and operated as a subsidiary of Baldwin, manufacturing switchers and some moderate sized diesel electrics until their operation was absorbed into Baldwin proper in 1952.

 

 

Interesting information I did not know.  Thanks for sharing!

 

--Greg

Very neat piece of history .

Don't forget too that Walter Chrysler worked for Alco at one time as one of the erecting shop managers before he moved into the automobile industry and ultimately forming his own company.  He was in fact employed with Alco when they were still building automobiles.

 

Walter Chrysler also worked at Chicago Great Western Railway shop in Oelwein, Iowa.

And also worked for the D&RGW before that, in addition a brief stint at the Colorado & Southern and the Santa Fe.

Walter Chrysler was a railroad man and his last railroad job was for Alco in Pittsburgh PA. He left in 1911 to work for the Buick Motor Company under Charlie Nash. In 1919 Chrysler left GM for the Willys-Overland Motor Co. In 1925 he formed the Chrysler Corp. and absorbed Maxwell Motor Co. into it. In 1928 Chrysler Corp. purchased Dodge Bros. The rest is history.

 

 

  Chrysler Building New York City

I have heard of an "Alco" automobile.  Realizing that is was a very early example of automobile production, and not very long lived, it is particularly interesting in view of the RR industry and the dominance of Alco as a long time locomotive builder.  Question:  Was the Alco automobile produced in Schenectady, as were their locomotives?  Just when was the last Alco automobile produced?

 

Just as in "The men who built America" these old timers really had an influence on the development of this country in the early years of the 20th century.

 

Paul Fischer

You learn something new everyday. Thanks for that bit of history!

Alco automobiles were built in the Providence, Rhode Island plant. The last one was 1913.

Alco was headquartered in Schenectady, New York but had originally had shops in
Dunkirk, New York
Paterson, New Jersey
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Manchester, New Hampshire
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Providence, Rhode Island
Richmond, Virginia and
Schenectady, New York
They later added second one in
Paterson, New Jersey
And one in Montreal Quebec

Speaking of O-gauge vehicles, while I buy many vehicles strictly or mostly for my layout, I also collect them just to be able to compare and look at notable vehicles.  Below are five ACs that track the evolution of the Cobra.

 

Top, AC made this coupe GT - the Greyhound - using the same chassis and drivetrain as its Ace, but with a longer wheelbase (100" vs. 90"): the model is by NEO.  I have always wondered what this car could have become if upgraded like the Ace was with full 'Cobra" equipment.    Bottom, left to right: 1965 Cobra Daytona coupe (Yat-Ming), 1966 Cobra MkIII 427 - my least favorite Cobra (Motor World),  1962-64 MkII 289 (Spark), and the original 1960 AC Ace - actually a pretty nice sports car (NEO).

 

1964 AC Cobra(Ford 4.7 ltr V8) vs 1960 AC Ace (Ford 2.6 ltr L6).  Note the transmission tunnel width.

I like that Lark convertible. Back in the mid 1960s I had a '62 Lark coupe with a 289 4BBL, a Stick shift and a 373 posi It surprised many people how fast it was. Most people seemed to think it was a flathead 6. They must have been deaf because it had a pair of Cherrybombs.

 

 

This is not my car, I couldn't find a picture of it. But mine looked just like this one

My high school home room teacher had a Lark V8.  I helped him installed a cam (difficult) and headers (easier).  It was a real sleeper, easily as fast as the Hi-Po Mustang but something no one gave a second glance to.  I loved it.  He was planning to add a supercharger, which I looked forward to helping install with a lot of anticipation.  Then, inexplicably (well, not that inexplicably) he traded it on this absolutely fantastic metallic blue 396 Chevelle. . .   The 396 was faster . . .  but I think maybe the Lark was more fun.