The definitive article on Alcos was written by Beverley Rae Kimes in the 1973 Volume Number 2 issue of Automobile Quarterly.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
The Mighty Alco- A History by Beverly Rae Himes
Winner of the 1909 & 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Races
Mechanician for the Alco Black Beast- winner of the 1909 and 1910 Vanderbilt Cup Races
First two-time winner of the Vanderbilt Cup Races (1909 and 1910)
The six Vanderbilt Cup Races held on Long Island from 1904 to 1910 were the greatest sporting events of their day, and the first international automobile road races held in the United States. The races had a far-reaching impact on the development of American automobiles and parkways. This site provides comprehensive information on the races, the Long Island Motor Parkway and current Long Island automotive events, car shows and news.
Comments
The automobile Quarterly, Second Quarterly 1973, Volume XI, Number 2. I have it.
I’m fascinated by chain-drive automobiles, but have never seen a schematic of one. Is that a transaxle under the seats? Was that the norm for chain-drive?
I have downloaded the PowerPoint so I can read it later. My old eyes can’t read it off the website.
Wow! Missed this one. Love the letter to Tante; weird! OK, I’ll bite - where are the “chassis drawings of the Alco six”? As to what they did best, the later WWII-era Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive may well be the most famous ALCo (or any) loco of all time, with several surviving and one (#4014, attached) restored and running again! Sam, III
Al Prete, You might have better luck finding a chain drive schematic if you consider looking at trucks. The Mack Truck Co. offered a chain drive option as later as1946.
Al P., here you go - top and side views of an Austin 25/30 chassis. By having the transaxle and differential bolted to the frame, you reduced the unsprung weight, thus achieving a smother ride. Sam, III
Al, Sam-III: Download the article so it’s big enough to read, and scroll down a few pages. There are top views of chain-driven and shaft-driven Alcos. The chain-driven one looks like it has a tranny-diff unit under the seat, while the Austin has tranny and diff connected by shaft. I wonder if this design was unique to Alco.
Al P. - thanks but I fail to find a download link. Sam, III
Sam - Right-click in the vicinity of the Triumph sports car and select “Save As” if you’re running Google Chrome. It’s a PDF file.
Al P. - Aha! No link; never occurred to me to right click. Bingo! Excellent comparison. Thanks. [Of course, trying to get the full images ended up fruitless; they aren’t full - well, duh!] Sam, III
Speaking of “duh” - that was dumb - I should have posted the image for all. Here ‘tis. Sam, III