History Bring Out Yer Board Track Pics!

No idea, no info on the pics. I sure appreciate all the info . . . . HAMB is great!

 

The government contractor there now is Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technology. They are building a new plant about 5-10 miles south of the present site. All of the land is government owned and there are still a few government agencies housed there. The track was still somewhat visible from the air in the 1940's even though it was broken up and dismantled shortly after the last race in 1924. I'm an amateur student of the history of the KC Board track and have some articles and other data about it. Photos and memorial related to the track are very hard to find.

 

Here are some early 1920s Philbrin catalogues & brochures. They made coils, ignition switches and distributors, single & dual spark. The brown catalogue is filled with beautiful full page images of numerous types they manufactured. Still have it in the original 1923 stamped Philips-Brinton, Kennett Square, PA., mailing envelope. If searching or Googling, remember that "philips" has only ONE "L".

 

What's the story on the frames with the rear section with a swoop (and parallel leafs)?

 

while not entirely on topic of this thread but since we talkin old harleys, i though some of you guys might enjoy the artcle on my dads 1924 Harley JD 1200 recently written. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2010/10/22/247861_enthusiast.html

 

another view of Charlotte Board Track on an old post card I have.

 

The one they built in N. Miami (Fulford) was only used for one race before it was destroyed by a hurricane...
SO, how many track locations have you visited....
I have been to 7 track locations. Buffalo still had burned posts in the ground. I checked with the city directory and verfied that no other construction had been on the site since the track burned.

 

A point to ponder done in the days before skill saws and air nailers all done by hand !! As a carpenter that is an amazing feat to see and my shoulders ache thinking about it. Man the splinters during a crash must have been horrible. Braver men than I or just plain fearless. Rob

 

I was in Syracuse at a vintage dirt track/ speedway meet and met an old board track racer that was introduced to me as Splinters (I can't remember his last name). Well I foolishly asked him why they called him Splinters. Apparently he had a spill and ended up going to the hospital as a result where they removed over 200 splinters the longest being 14 inches!

 

My new Board Track Racer replica. She's only 50cc, but a lot of fun to ride.

 

Two of my favorite bikes I love the Excelsior Big X

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Last Sunday night the midnight movie on TCM was "Speedway", a 1929 silent black and white film. The plot was the prototype for a Michael Fox movie and the dialog was worse.

BUT!

The movie ends with the 1929 Indianapolis 500 and features film clips from the race.

Millers everywhere! The bad guy drives a Miller FWD with the finned supercharger intercooler on the right side. It shows as black on the film but that must be one of those old film anamolies because it must have been bare aluminum. The good guys drive a Miller rear drive. I thought I glimpsed a Duesenberg or two but most of the cars were Millers.

The visual impact of that Miller FWD is incredible. It's low and set to go. The upright rear drive next to it looks like the last dinosaur.

Several 1929 era drivers are listed in the credits and Leon Duray was one of the stand ins.

Guest appearance by a Ford Trimotor.

 

One of the themes at the Glenmoor Gathering this year was front wheel drive and one of the invited cars was:



This is one of the two cars Leon Duray took to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. He set the track record in qualifying but broke the transmission case on both cars in the process. Ettore Bugatti was so impressed that he bought both cars on the spot.

When the Bugatti factory came up for auction in 1955 Griff Borgeson was there. He lifted a dust sheet covering two cars and found MILLERS. After several transcontinental phone calls mortgaging his house and putting the touch on several friends he managed to buy the two Millers and bring them back to the U.S.

More pics of the Miller 91 straight eight FWD currently in the Indianapolis Speedway Museum's collection are on my photobucket page:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/1003/midpoint/Miller 91 straight eight FWD/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ20

 

subscribed.. I,ve got some pictures .... nowif I can find them

 

Tacoma 1916.

Dario Resta - Peugeot.

 

John, Welcome to the HAMB, thanks for the MILLER info. Kurtis, thanks for the above photo, one if the best close up photos of the boards I've seen. Here is a Culver City program from April 19, 1925, that fold line was made when car owner H.D.Carpenter put it in his pocket that day. He owned car #19 the R&J Special that Ira Vail drove at INDY in 1924 and would drive for him a month later. This was a 122 MILLER.

 

Kurtis, that is a great picture. I am quite sure it is a Boland photo taken at Tacoma in either 1918 or 1919, I would have to check my notes. There has been some debate as to this car and how much Peugeot it is. It is the Resta Special, and I have some print media that says it was grey and was of his own design. I would have to dig out the old notes I have on this but it would be great if it sparked some discussion so that more on the car would surface.-This thread has been a bit lethargic lately.-Jim

 

Jim, the photo was tagged as 1916. I haven't checked to verify this but i'll take your word for it. In regards to the 'Resta Special', i don't know much about this car other than what you and others have discussed on the AUTORACING thread and some snippet's on the Nostalgia Forum. Perhaps there will be a day when all is revealed.

Cool program Bob.

 

Hey, don't remember if I ever thanked those that gave me some info on the Comet race car (post 166 in this thread). I appreciate the contribution - the HAMB is the greatest!


Props to furbiscuit and the 37 guy.

 

Ok, then you'll love this one! Great cover art by Mon Randall as well, the bios on all the drivers is really detailed, I never knew Pietro Bordino was a mechanic for Ralph de Palma, his FIAT was rebodied after the April 19th race to make it lighter and more competive. Does anyone have befor and after photos?

 

Thank you for contributing this. As a native Marylander I have long been curious about the possible location of the Baltimore Washington Speedway in Laurel, so I wonder if you might you have more details, rumors, conjecture, or even myths about it's location? I have read on a few other boards that the board track in Laurel was located where the Patuxent Greens Country Club is today, formerly known as Laurel Pines Country Club up until 1987. As per your suggestion, I looked up Heyser's Cycle and it is due west of where Patuxent Greens is today-exactly as you wrote. Also when looking for board track remains always look for railroad tracks nearby and right along Rt 1 is a track that was the main artery between Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington in the 1920's, just as it is today. I also looked up Racetrack Road, and the only one I could find in the area is the road near the Laurel horse racing track, and that road has been next to Laurel since 1911 from what I can find....is there another Racetrack Road to the south, near Heyser's Cycle...or perhaps a road or street that was once Racetrack Road and has since been renamed? With the Laurel horse track right up the road and the then-rural location, it is not hard to imagine that the organizers envisioned a 'racing hub' for this area and perhaps there were several Racetrack Roads.

Based upon your location suggestion, I located a 1957 aerial photo of the Laurel area and while the board track remains are not visible, you can see there is quite a bit of clearing where the golf course is today....which might make one think that some of the wood to build the track may have been cleared from this same area as well as shipped in via rail?!?!? The Baltimore Washington Speedway was 1 & 1/8 of a mile, exactly the same length as the Laurel horse track to the north, built in 1911, fifteen years before the speedway. With people suggesting the speedway is where the country club is today and the nearby horse track is the same length as the speedway, I traced and copied the horse track and viola' it fits very neatly in the 1957 location of the golf course that was later finished in1957...I believe that the track is either where Patuxent Greens is today, or perhaps closer to the rail line...bear in mind that many spectators came to these races via rail, so you would not want to make their walk from the train to the race track very long-just look how close the rail line is to the horse track! Also, from photos of the track we've all seen, it looks to me that the start/finish line was on the western straightaway and that turns 1 & 2 were hard against the woods to the south and that I believe that turns 3 & 4 had a clearing beyond their walls to the north-thus I located my guesstimated location for the speedway where I think fits with the vague evidence. Also, many racetracks were built due north-south during this era such as Indy for example so I located it due north-south as well.

If anyone has any additional info, old aerial photos, rumors, conjecture etc, please do share...also if anyone has any current Google Earth images of board track remains, please share as well.

 

Amazing what you find when you go for a stroll on the HAMB. Subscribed to a really interesting thread. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and pictures.

 

Buildy although you asked the question a couple of years ago I noticed one time that I did not answer your question as to who is behind the wheel and now that the thread came back up it gives me a chance for an answer. I cannot see who is in the passenger seat but the driver appears to be Jesse Vincent, chief engineer for Packard. Jesse Vincent was a real speed nut himself although it was mostly with his Gold Cup boats. Taking a few laps with the speed cars was one of his indulgences. This was shortly after they finished the cars and they hit speed over 100mph right off the bat, which I found reported in the LA Times.-Jim

 

I don't think these have been posted. Two videos from British Pathe that feature board track footage:

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/at-americas-brooklands/query/speed

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/speeds-toll/query/speed

Add a third: midgets at the Nutley (NJ) Velodrome:

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/midget-auto-racing/query/speed

And yet another:

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/dirt-tracks-rival/query/speed

 

It's been awhile but I stumbled onto this article from the Baltimore Sun regarding the Baltimore-Washington Speedway's location. This article places the Board Track in the area where MD 197 and 198 cross one another, and puts the current Stewart Towers apartments on the same 300 acres the track originally sat upon. Please bear in mind, many people mistake the nearby ruins of the 1/2 mile Beltsville Speedway as the site of the Board Track and that's wrong. The literature of the day clearly places the Board Track southwest of the Laurel Park horse track and the Speedway's own map draw attention to the railroad bridge/tunnel that still exists today just SW of the Laurel Park horse track.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore...istory-speedway-1129-20121127,0,3538626.story

Here's a collection of images from the July 1925 meeting at the Baltimore-Washington Speedway, some of which seem new to my eyes. Enjoy and let's keep this thread alive. Pay particular attention to image #6.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore...ll-history-speedway-pg,0,5143076.photogallery

As I have family nearby, it's easy for me to visit the site, so I will keep looking. If only I could find it...I'm hoping that one day I stumble upon a piling, old framing etc but according to my looking around, nearly all the lumber was used for nearby homes. Oh well.

 

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I've been meaning to share a recent find. I have some 30-40 photos of the Uniontown, PA board track speedway from the 1910-20's that I have scanned in bunches. They are small format 2"x3" photos. I scanned them as high a resolution as I could. I don't when the last time these have been shared, it has to be some time ago. A good friend acquired these from an ol timer in that area. I told my buddy about this post in hopes he would share the photos with me. He brought them with him on a recent visit to California so I could scan and share them with you HAMBers.

A mix of cool photos of cars, bikes and bi-planes of the time. I think you guys will enjoy them.

Here's a sample of one photo.

 

Thanks Gaters, look forward to more photos. Bob

 

That would be much appreciated!