All I got was Coal in my Christmas Stocking this year

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

All I was asking Santa for was one 700 x 21 inner tube with a center metal stem. Not this year. I hope in 2022 so I can get the old buggy on the road again !!!!

[edinmass]

Considering the cost of energy today, and the fact you live in the frozen tundra, coal in your stocking it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

[37_Roadmaster_C]

I was kinda thinking the same thing if one of the old buggies was a Stanley.....

[BHWINCVAP]

 

Sure do Wish I would have received a ton or two of the black rocks,   it would have saved me a hundred plus

mile trip to the breaker about mid week and a few Franklins to boot!

[JamesR]

 

55 minutes ago, 37_Roadmaster_C said:

I was kinda thinking the same thing if one of the old buggies was a Stanley.....

So what were most steam powered cars fueled by? I know some had liquid fuel, but how many used coal? Why would car makers opt for a fuel other than coal? I know that during my grandparents' era most houses had coal chutes and received regular deliveries for home heating, so I'd guess coal would be widely available to consumers back then.

[Gunsmoke]

you said "All I got was Coal in my Christmas Stocking this year"

I thought you mis-spelled Cole! Now that would be a good present!

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

Will work for just only one new 700 x 21 innertube with a straight metal stem

[edinmass]

Asking for your tube to be straight is not very "woke".

[wayne sheldon]

32 minutes ago, JamesR said:

So what were most steam powered cars fueled by? I know some had liquid fuel, but how many used coal?

 

Originally, most steam powered automobiles burned some type of fuel oil, usually something akin to kerosene. Other types of fuel oil were sometimes used, as was crude gasoline (which originally wasn't a lot different from kerosene!). Today, many steam car hobbyists run with either regular gasoline or diesel, both of which require a minor alteration in the burner design to work efficiently and (more or less?) safely. (Don't get me wrong, don't worry, I know several very active steam car owners that drive their cars quite a lot, they are really not dangerous if one knows about which they play!)

Some really early steam powered automobiles (wagons?) did burn coal or even firewood. Most recent years on the annual London to Brighten Veteran Car Run in November, there is an 1896 (the Salvesen) steam powered wagon/cart. If I recall correctly, I read several years ago that it was burning coal. I have watched a number of videos of it taken on the Run!

 

34LaSalleClubSedan, Have you looked into Blockley inner tubes out of England? I am needing very soon a bunch of inner tubes for my model Ts, and also a couple for my 1927 Paige. My experience with newer inner tubes for antique automobiles in the past ten years  is such that I do not want to buy any of the readily available tubes for my model Ts. One of the model T forums has had several discussions about Blockley tyres and tubes. They are a bit more expensive, but well worth it if they are as good as they have been reported so far. I have been dragging my feet as I need about $600 worth of inner tubes for my three projects. With shipping and delivery issues lately coupled with an international transaction, I have been hesitant to proceed. But I need to jump in soon. When I checked about a month ago, it appeared the tubes for my Paige were available, and may even be the same size you need.

 

Generally, so far, the reviews I have seen have been very favorable for Blockley's quality and materials. Which is where the problems have been for twenty years now for the generally available model T size inner tubes.

If I do not hear anything negative about them, I hope to order some in the next month.

[TerryB]

2 hours ago, BHWINCVAP said:

 

Sure do Wish I would have received a ton or two of the black rocks,   it would have saved me a hundred plus

mile trip to the breaker about mid week and a few Franklins to boot!

My grandfather worked at the coal breaker in my hometown. Note old truck in background.

 

[3macboys]

11 minutes ago, TerryB said:

Note old truck in background

That looks like it could be a 39 Dodge

[BHWINCVAP]

23 minutes ago, TerryB said:

My grandfather worked at the coal breaker in my hometown. Note old truck in background.

 

My Grandfather was a coal miner from the time he was 7 years old thru his 30's in his 60's Marlboro's and Black Lung killed him..

[46 woodie]

The picture of the old guy with the overalls and lunch box reminds me of a story a co-worker told us.  In the '30s and '40s, his Grandfather was a bricklayer in Brooklyn and worked on several big projects. Every day he would abscond with exactly four bricks that neatly fit in his empty lunch box. At the end of the project he had enough bricks to build a backyard barbecue grill with a pizza oven that is still there.

[TerryB]

17 minutes ago, BHWINCVAP said:

My Grandfather was a coal miner from the time he was 7 years old thru his 30's in his 60's Marlboro's and Black Lung killed him..

Same here, grandpa died in 1962 from black lung and cigarettes (Camels).  Grandpa was Irish and a well known singer.  Interesting trivia, he never owned a car.

[edinmass]

Blockley inner tubes are nice. They are expensive. They are well made. Shipping will make you think they are billing Bill Gates. The stems are often not what you think. Call them, and have them send you photos of the actual tubes you are buying.......we,got very nice tubes that were a bit different from the web site. I do think their tubes are 300 percent better quality than anything I have seen in the last fifteen years.......expensive, nope......quality. Any painted wheel should use them, and they are much better than the Asian junk being sold.

[wayne sheldon]

Thank you Ed M!

I have a family medical issue going right now. Hopefully in a couple weeks I can pay some attention to what I need.

[JamesR]

18 hours ago, TerryB said:

My grandfather worked at the coal breaker in my hometown. Note old truck in background.

 

Great old picture! America the way it used to be. Do they still mine coal in PA? I know it was a huge deal there at one time.

[TerryB]

8 minutes ago, JamesR said:

Great old picture! America the way it used to be. Do they still mine coal in PA? I know it was a huge deal there at one time.

Deep mining with men working underground declined from the 1950s on.  My father worked in the mines at times but it was not the best of jobs and the pay was low.  We lived in the anthracite hard coal area of north east PA.  Hard coal in PA is only found in this area, Pottsville, Scranton, Hazelton and Jim Thorpe make up this area.  Mining in that area is now mostly done by strip mining.  A few miners still try to get by working in deep mines.  Western PA is soft coal country where more underground mining is still done along with strip mining.  My dad gave up underground mining when the worker next to him was killed in a mine accident where a big lump of coal crushed the guy.  The son of the dead miner was in my grade school class.  Dad made the right choice in my judgement. 

[JustDave]

Both of my grandfathers and my father where coal minors in West Virginia,my dad was forced to quit school in the 8th grade and work the mines,that was late 30s in early to mid 40s my father went to driving coal truck,after a confrontation with his father he packed us up and moved us to ferndale Michigan,then a couple years later he brought the family to southern calif the golden state, calif in the 50 s was hard for a guy with little education,he worked in a steel factory and the oil fields,when he was 62 they tried to put him on a forklift he wasn’t used to that so he quit and went to work for a truck stop mounting semi truck tires,at 65 he was told to work the warehouse because working the island didn’t look good for the company,three months later his home was sold and he moved to Montana where he got a job stripping logs for a log home builder,stripped logs till he was 81 years old retired and died four years later