Britain's 'last typewriter' produced

UK's 'last typewriter' produced

Five reasons to still use a typewriter

We (that is, the family) had a Brother electric typewriter back in the early 1990s, prior to the advent of affordable personal computers.  'Fraid I can't remember the model though (could have been an early Wrexham CM1000, in fact - they all look alike to me!  Not as huge a fan of electric types as I am of the good old manual typewriter.).  Still ours was used fairly frequently, mainly by mother for work but also by me for schoolwork (always enjoyed the auto-correct function, I must admit!) and to give the old Imperial a bit of a rest now and then!

Britain's 'last typewriter' produced

The demise of British typewriter production does have a personal aspect then, as it also seems to in a wider sense for a great many Britishers who remember using [manual] typewriters and the U.K.'s manufacturing heyday.  From my point of view (and, I suspect, a number of my readers') it has the added layer of interest tinged with sadness as the sphere of the typewriter grows slightly smaller still.  As such it may not be the kind of jolly story this blog values and is known for, but it is a little bit of noteworthy technological history in the making and deserves to be documented here.

The typewriter will no doubt continue for many more years to come both in its existing modern form and in its previous incarnations thanks to the concerted efforts of the Typosphere.  From now on, though, only the latter will exist in Britain.

Heritage Lottery grant to restore world’s first electric autocar

Heritage Lottery grant to restore world’s first electric autocar

Now, while I am all for steam locomotives over modern electric trains I'm not against all electric units, particularly if they're anything like this example!

The North Eastern Railway's petrol-electric railcar was the ancestor of today's diesel-electric locomotives and incredibly advanced for its time when it was introduced in 1903.  When steam was still the primary motive power for locomotives throughout the world this "autocar", as NER called it, was plying its trade around Yorkshire and shared more in common with the trains we travel on now than anything else of the time (it had two cabs, was capable of being operated in either direction and was later uprated to pull a coach - making it resemble even more the carriages we use today).  Sadly, as with many of these pioneering technologies, the established machines retained their dominance and no more than 2 of these forward-thinking engines were ever built, spending their entire working lives in the Yorkshire area before being decommissioned in the early 1930s.

Image courtesy of the NER 1903 Electric Autocar Trust

As this article explains, thanks to the tireless efforts of local railway enthusiasts, the luck of one of the railcars surviving (albeit as a holiday home!) and the good fortune of a Heritage Lottery grant, an autocar will once again soon be seen on the Yorkshire [heritage] railway lines as this fresh injection of cash allows a full restoration to go ahead.

While there is, and always will be, an inexorable romance surrounding the steam locomotive the renovation of this innovative engine comes as a welcome fillip to those of us whose experience and knowledge of electric trains has perhaps been limited to the 0715 to London.  Would that it could look like one of these "autocars" instead of the anonymous plastic tube we are forced to travel on today!  Now, thanks to the NER 1903 Electric Autocar Trust, we may have the chance to experience early electric rail travel for ourselves.

Porsche builds replica of century-old hybrid for Geneva Show

Porsche builds replica of century-old hybrid for Geneva Show

With all this talk nowadays of global warming and environmentalism the word on the street (pardon the pun!) is "hybrid", used to describe a car that has a secondary power unit (usually electric) to supplement its internal combustion engine (usually petrol).  For many this is seen as the future of motoring, but look, it is also the past!

Yes, like so many things that are in vogue at the moment, hybrid cars can trace their beginnings back to the past - in this case over 100 years to the very dawn of motoring.  One such example was the Lohner-Porsche Semper Vivus (Latin for "always alive" - what a great moniker!) which as the name suggests was partly engineered by Dr Ferdinand Porsche, who famously later went on to design the original VW Beetle and create the sports car company that still bears his name today.  Back in 1900 the goal was not so much eco-friendliness but rather mechanical simplicity, as this accompanying article explains.  Nevertheless it was a remarkable attempt on a variation of what was then still a very new powerplant and the fact that it, in many ways, essentially operated in a similar fashion to today's hybrids says a lot for Dr Porsche's technical savvy.

Now, in order to celebrate the forward-thinking of its founder and draw a comparison with its newest hybrid models, Porsche has spent the last 4 years building an exact replica of the 1900 car and has just unveiled it at the Geneva Motor Show.  Behind all the corporate tub-thumping there is a very real and commendable appreciation of the company's (not to mention wider automotive) heritage and the drive (sorry, again!) to create and show an extraordinary ancestor of the latest hybrids.  If nothing else it goes to prove yet again the truth of one of my favourite sayings - "there's nothing new under the sun"!

Brighton Belle Pullman returns

Brighton Belle Pullman returns

Happy news for those of us who are fans of 1930s-style Art Deco luxury travel (even if we may never be able to afford it ourselves!) with this report from the B.B.C. detailing the plan to restore the famous Brighton Belle Pullman engine that first ran almost 80 years ago.

Although not a steam engine it deserves an honourable mention, and certainly preservation, for being the first example of an all-electric Pullman service anywhere in the world when it began travelling up and down the Southern Railway in 1934.  The carriages are the last word in beautifully opulent Thirties design and many of them have since found their way onto the current Venice-Simplon Orient Express service (above).

Sadly upon the service's closure in 1972 the engine cars were allowed to go to ruin (left) until a special preservation trust was set up in 2008 with the intention of restoring the service to its former glory.  Work apparently started in 2009 and the intention is that 5 engine cars will be completely renovated over the coming years, with one maybe running in time for the 2012 Olympics!

The Brighton Belle was a watershed in the history of locomotion as well as a shining example of 1930s luxury and travel ethos.  It's great to see an effort being made to put these delightful pioneers back onto the tracks.  I wish the Trust every success and hope that one day I, and many others, may be lucky enough to travel on one of their Pullman services.

Family's fridge is still going after 63 years

Family's fridge is still going after 63 years

There seems to have been a spate of "oldest appliance" stories in the news lately but this one should certainly take some beating! It's become something of a cliche to say that "they don't make 'em like they used to" but in this instance it's well worth saying. I'd like to see what modern electrical appliances would last long enough to be able to still be used on a daily basis in 2073; these days you're lucky if the thing lasts beyond 5 years. Today's throwaway culture has a lot to answer for!

Although I can't imagine that the manufacturers of the fridge had envisioned their product lasting for more than six decades it says something for the quality and build of electrical devices from the mid-20th Century, not to mention the pride and assurance that the makers had in the designs.

I'm sure that the materials used back then had something to do with it; solid woods, metals (and Bakelite, of course!) always lend objects a more sturdy, durable feel than flimsy plastics and MDF. The bonus is they look more stylish and impressive too.

The Ashley family's fridge is a refreshing reminder of long-lost engineering skill and here's hoping it lasts for another 63 years, and more.

Close-up look at London's 19th century electric cabs

We often think of the electric car as a very modern development, only now coming to prominence as a serious alternative to petrol and diesel cars, but in actuality over a century ago electricity vied with internal combustion and steam power to be the predominant motive power of the automobile. Of course 100 years ago electric technology was not quite as advanced as it is now and shortcomings such as slower speeds and shorter ranges probably went some way to giving the lead to petrol but for a time there were a surprising number of electrically-powered vehicles available at the beginning of the 20th Century, as this clip from the B.B.C. shows. Several companies, both in Europe and America (such as Rauch & Lang, below), manufactured electric cars right up until the late 1920s. It just goes to prove the old adage "nothing new under the sun" and it is fascinating to see that the same concerns and options existed so long ago and that, as the presenter says, we have come full circle and are once again looking at electric cars as the future of motoring.

Sparebots: little figures made from LEDs, resistors, capacitors, wire and other electronic spare parts

Sparebots: little figures made from LEDs, resistors, capacitors, wire and other electronic spare parts

Now this immediately took me back to my schooldays, fiddling around with LEDs, resistors and so forth during Physics and Design & Technology lessons. It also, rather naturally, made me laugh and marvel at the way this chap and his wife have turned such electronic items into life-like displays, albeit with a humorous twist. Only a Britisher, looking at a pile of electrical components, would have come up with such an idea! It is also, I think, an interesting insight into the human mind, in that we seek to see something of ourselves in the unlikeliest of objects. All in all, most amusing!

'Silent' electric cars should carry cowbells

'Silent' electric cars should carry cowbells

Electric cars, so we are told, may well be the future of motoring. It is entirely possible. In the form of the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight we already have two petrol-electric hybrids that can be used for everyday driving. The electric Tesla Roadster is proof that the future of the sports car is secure. General Motors will launch the Volt and Ampera petrol-electric hybrids within the year. The technology is advancing all the time and I feel sure that the day is not too far away when we will see more and more purely electric vehicles on every street.

However there is a problem with fully electric cars, above all others, that we may have overlooked in our excitement. As they do not have a traditional internal combustion engine with moving parts, or an exhaust from which gas escapes, they will not make any discernible noise when they are going along. So how are pedestrians to know when one is coming? It's all very well to want to save the planet and to lessen our dependency on the fast-dwindling supplies of fossil fuels, but such concerns must surely pale into insignificance when compared to the worry of having an electric car hit you in the small of the back as you're walking down the street. Well, I can reassure you that the best minds are working on it as we speak. Most likely what will happen is a small but powerful loudspeaker will be placed somewhere on the car and it will produce the sound of a running engine, so that you may hear it coming as you would any normal car.

I can't help but think, though, that this is all a bit too obvious and unimaginative and I'm glad to see that some of our politicians feel the same way. So when the time comes for us all to be driving around in electric cars you'll know which is mine, for it will have a cowbell on it and be preceded by a man carrying a red flag.

Moo.

John Surtees becomes first person to drive through Channel Tunnel

John Surtees becomes first person to drive through Channel Tunnel

Right, now we're well and truly motoring! This is quite often the way with interesting newspaper articles, I've found - there is a sudden glut of them within one or two days, then absolutely nothing for days - sometimes weeks - on end. Still, I'm not complaining if it means my shiny new blog gets populated nice and quickly!

So on the subject of motoring here we have Mr John Surtees, former British F1 and motorcycle GP champion, driving a British car, the Ginetta (which showcases possible future electric vehicle technology) through that marvel of Anglo-French engineering - the Channel Tunnel. Huzzah! A triumph for British ingenuity and pluck, all wrapped up in a story that we can look back on with a smile about our lips.