So when I was a kid (8 or 9) My dad finds this train built on a Ford truck chassis that had been sitting for some time. You will note that it is old number 9. My says a guy by the last name of Gibbons built nine of these. It was flathead powered and had a two speed rearend. The back portion or observation deck was made from an old school bus. My Dad painted it and used it as a novelty in parades and advertising. One day on his way back from and event in Creston, Iowa these guys in this station wagon kept trying to get him to pull over. This was a common occurence, it would spin people out in their tennis shoes when they saw it coming down the road. finally these guys in the Station Wagon pulled in front of him and slammed on the brakes, Dad thought he wasn't gonna get "ol chooch" stopped and wondered what these guys were up to. These guys come running up in the train and my dad is about half scared not knowing what they are up to. They tell him that they are from Hollywood and they are scouting Iowa to make a movie about people trying to stop smoking. Dad thinks they are messin with him and kinda goes along with them. The one guy asks my dad for a card and says they will be in touch. So dad takes the guys card and doesnt pay much attention, it was Norman Lear. So if you ever see the Movie, Cold Turkey, that is the train that is in it. I figured this wasn't to far off topic after all it is flathead powered.
A flathead powered train and a steam powered model A in another thread, haha. Cool story, thanks for posting
Just FYI, there were hundreds of real, working, flathead powered industrial locos, or critters, made by a wide variety of manufacturers. Unlike the item above, they worked real jobs in real places. In the day, all the major auto makers supplied industrial engines for such uses, from air raid sirens, to pumps, for saw mills, and even for SR-71 starter carts. Gary
Reminds me of the Look Park Streamliner, a replica of a Union Pacific Diesel streamliner with 3 or 4 cars depending on the season. This train was powered by 2 flatheads and the sound it produced was pure Hot Rod power as it pulled a load of mesmerized kids and adults 1/2 mile around and through the woods. There was also a short tunnel and the sound from those engines pulling up a slight grade and through that tunnel was enough to get a rise in the jeans of any hot rodder. Alas I'm looking back at least 50 years and that train has been long replaced by a clownish looking plastic thing.
By the way, I forgot to mention the Author of the article, the late Bob Trostle from here in Des Moines was a well known Sprint Car racer and builder!
That's cool. What does the train have to do with quitting smoking? On the subject of locomotive/auto hybrids, I recently read a great book called Tin Feathers, Wooden Trestles, and Iron Men about the Galloping Geese built by the Rio Grande Southern Railroad in the 1930s. It provided great detail how they modified used cars to haul the mail on a dying railroad line. Any Hamber should appreciate the mods.
The Galloping Geese of the RGS are a testament to engineering and determination. They started as Pierce Arrow sedans fitted with flanged railroad wheels with extended frames to allow for a large box trailer. When the Pierce engines wore out, Ford flatheads were swapped in. The Fords ran so hot up the hills, the motormen unlatched the hood sides and rested them on the fenders. At speed the hoods flapped in the breeze prompting the people along the rails to nickname them Galloping Geese. The last engines used were surplus GM truck inline sixes. All 7 geese survive today. #3 lives at Knotts Berry Farm, and is brought out on special occasions. Their story is worth reading if you are interested in backyard engineering.
In the movie Cold Turkey a cigarette company bets this small town 25 million that they can't stop smoking for ... I think 30 days, and the movie is about all of the shannangins that go on during those 30 days . Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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