|
|
10/12/97:
Wow what is this thing doing in our garage? Looks like a
Fairmont MT14H if I had to guess. Yep that's what it is.
There was a popular saying about he who dies with the
most toys wins.... well I must say, we sure do seem to
have a lot of toys. This little guy was built in 1956 and
needs a lot of TLC. The engine is a Fairmont one
cylinder, two cycle, 5 horse popper. In it's working days
it would haul 4 people to the job site, and it might even
haul a trailer of gear too.
|
02/28/99
Well a year and a half and over a thousand miles later
and look what we have! The front wheels are new, turned
out the ones that came with it were a bit thinshall we
say. The red handle you see about in the center of the
bumper is a reverse crank I made. Yes, you crank the
engine to start, and to go backwards, you crank it
backwards, or get a rolling start. The engine is a riot,
it is rated at 9 horse power intermittent and 5 horse
continuous. Well I have learned to respect that and climb
most grades at 3/4 throttle instead of flat out, cuz she
will over heat.
|
 |
 |
| Well if it weren't for my
partner and good friend, Jim Price, I would have never
known about the Motor Operators West. This is a club of
people who own speeders and run them on excursions. Boy look at all that rust, now would be a good
time to buy stock in WD40, as I think I will be using a
ton of it getting things loose.
If you can't tell, this is a side view
of the speeder.
|
You know the original
speeder did not have seats you sat on the motor box. The
driver might have had an optional seat in the right rear,
but this speeder was not ordered with that option. If you
look real hard you can see the ham radio just in front of
the drivers seat. Also the side curtains that are rolled
up in the back. Boy they sure come in handy when it
rains, or is just plain cold. Notice too seat belts, just
like a car, but no air bags yet. |
 |
 |
| I have been told that
driving one of these little guys is very tricky as
everything is variable. See all the levers? Well lets see
you have your throttle, your ignition timing, your
brakes, your belt tension, and your gear position (its a
two speed). Got it? yeah a lot to remember for sure. |
Well driving is really
not that tricky after you get a little practice. It can
get a little dicey when you have to make a sudden
unexpected stop, and don't want to kill the engine, you
need 4 hands to do it with any finesse. The fuel mixture,
intrestinally enough, is very temperature dependant. |
 |
 |
| Hardly looks like the same machine does it,
well this picture is taken 3 months later, in fact on Christmas
day 1997. |
Hey check this out! this is the kind of engine
I used to see at the county fair down in Paso Robles. They were
so cool... pop...chugga chugga chugga...pop.. chugga chuuga..
pop. I never dreamed I would own one. All we need now is new piston rings, and a carburetor.
Oh an a gas tank too. Jennifer came out into the garage and said
the engine looked like a big coffee grinder. You know, she's
right it does. The water tank is up at the machine shop, they are
trying to figure out how to get the broken studs out of it. |
 |
 |
| I had no idea what poor
condition the engine was in. I can only guess that the
speeder had been out in a field somewhere for many years,
as critters had built a very cozy nest is the engine. The
water jacket was full of fuzz, like nesting material.
Thankfully there was enough oil still in the bearing that
they were not ruined. I found the cylinder bore to be 14
thousands out of round, and was going to have it bored
out, but a wise old friend of mine said hey, why not put
new rings in it and see how she runs, you can always bore
it later if you feel it needs it. That was over 1000
miles ago.. Thanks Jim. |
Well this is not exactly
the same angle, but it does show a few interesting
features. I put a 12 volt electrical system in the car
since I was going be running ham radios and lights. So I
had to make my own alternator mount. Mac, my neighbor
supplied the alternator. The aluminum thing to the right,
with a little air cleaner on it is the C5 carburetor.
What an odd piece of work that is. The orange thing
behind the big flywheel is the drive belt. This would be
black, if it were a true authentic Fairmont belt. If you
visit a factory with conveyor systems, you will see this
type of belt. |
 |
 |
| I decided to maximize the useable
storage space, so I floored in the area behind the engine
as I could. Above is the electrical section. The black
box is a model T buzz box. The yellow plastic box is a
snake bite kit. I am not sure how that got in there. The
wooden box is a spare buzz box. The blue thing is an
emergency 12 volt dry cell that I can use to power the
buzz box and get us home if all else fails. |
This is just to the rear of the
electrical box. You can see the garden tractor 12 volt
battery with he pink tie down. The black box with the
ribbon cable coming out of it is the computer. Computer?
yes I decided it would be fun to have a speedometer,
tachometer and other instrumentation, so I built and
programmed a driving computer for the car. The little
black box in the foreground with the gray cable
coming-out is the interface between the intercom and the
ham radio. |
| After countless hours here it is
at last rolling out for our first adventure on the rails. The
trailer you see behind our truck was custom made up in Roseville
just for motorcars. Gosh look at how white those seats are, what
an awful choice of colors that turned out to be. |
 |
 |
Can you believe it, the darn thing
actually runs!
|
|
As
you can see, Jennifer just hates this hobby hahahaha.
|
 |
 |
If you ever see us at a road
crossing be sure to wave to our brakeman, chances are good he
will wave back. He is a permanent crew member and loves kids.
|
|
December 1998
Since this project was completed,
we have logged about 1000 miles on some of the prettiest rail in
the west. That was just in 1998, we are sure looking forward to
our 1999 runs to come. |
June
2000
Well we are up to owning 3 motor cars now, but I have
to admit the Bear buggy is my favorite car, it is loud, rough riding, and has a personality
all its own. We have logged over 2500 miles on it and last year I broke down and
overhauled the motor and re-built the transmission. Boy what a difference that
made. The little motor now pops with authority and pulls much harder than it
ever did before. Everything that appeard white in the above pictures is now gray
from use.
|