Replica Victorian carriage makes debut on Snowdon Mountain Railway

Replica Victorian carriage makes debut on Snowdon Mountain Railway

From New York subways to Welsh mountain railways now, in what is fast becoming a rail-themed weekend here at Eclectic Ephemera.

While Lily the Heritage Carriage may look several decades older than the New York Transit Authority's 1930s stock, its main body is in fact brand new - only recently completed by a group of highly-skilled workers who have pulled out all the stops to ensure a truly accurate replica of a carriage that would have travelled along the picturesque Snowdon Mountain Railway back in the 1890s.  That it is mounted on an original 1920s chassis is, as the accompanying report says, a splendid amalgamation of old and new.

Looking every inch the true Victorian carriage, with details to die for all beautifully crafted by expert engineers, Lily is now ready to take passengers on the equally beautiful journey to the top of Wales' highest mountain.  It certainly looks absolutely glorious and one can just imagine the same trip being undertaken 120 years ago, although the idea of there originally being no windows is less appealing! 

Congratulations to Snowdon Mountain Railway and their associates in getting this wonderful carriage designed, built and running on the line.  The beauty of the Welsh mountains, which I can certainly attest to having been there myself, has only been enhanced with the introduction of this 19th century replica and I hope one day to return to Snowdonia and experience a trip up the mountain in it myself.

Biplane design could break the sound barrier

Biplane design could break the sound barrier

I've always said biplanes would have their day, but who would have thought they may be the answer to the future of supersonic flight?  A successor to the technological marvel that was Concorde is long overdue, and if it is to have two wings then so much the better!

It may not look like any biplane we are familiar with but the design that is suggested by MIT as mentioned in this article is basically a two-winged aircraft, which owes much of its layout to a 70-year-old concept.  Even back in the early days of aviation when biplanes were prevalent it seems that the theory of faster-than-sound flight was being explored.  At the time, though, technology was limited and the new-fangled monoplane was seen as the future of aircraft design.  The fastest biplane was, and remains, the 1938 Fiat CR.42DB (above) which had a top speed of 323mph.

Despite employing principles from as long ago as the 1930s the MIT design, whilst having shades of retro-futurism about it, is very much grounded in the 21st Century.  Although the idea of a "supersonic biplane" has the right ring to it, this is a particularly modern take on the layout.  So to end with and in keeping with the vintage feel of this blog here are some biplane airliners from the '20s and '30s which, while certainly not capable of exceeding the speed of sound, at least look like the sort of aircraft we would associate with double-winged aeroplanes.

source

The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was Imperial Airways' (the precursor to British Airways) first multi-engined airliner, entering service in 1926.  Seven examples plied the European (and later the Empire links to South Africa and India) for ten years until 1936.  The luxury Croydon-Paris service was named the "Silver Wing" and boasted a bar with steward.  Seating was for twenty people and the cruising speed was a heady 90mph.

The Handley Page H.P.42 was introduced in 1930 to complement the Argosy and to extend Imperial Airways' long-distance routes.  Eight were built in all, 4 for the European flights and 4 for the Empire routes.  Capable of seating up to 24 passengers the H.P.42 enjoyed an enviable safety record - never losing a single life whilst in [civilian] service - unmatched by any other contemporary aircraft.  Its low cruising speed of 100mph may have had something to do with it; as one commentator of the time put it "it's as steady as the Rock of Gibraltar - and about as fast", adding that it had "built-in headwinds"!

The Short S.17 Kent was one of many early flying boat designs used by Imperial Airways on their Mediterranean routes during the 1920s and early 1930s, before the advent of the more well-known large monoplane Empire flying boats.  The four-engined Kent was a development of the three-engined Calcutta, designed to have a longer range and so eliminate the need to stop at Italy en route to Eygpt.  Only 3 were built (although a couple of land-based versions known as the Short Scylla, were also used on the European routes), capable of carrying 16 passengers at a cruising speed of 105mph.

Sadly none of these amazing aircraft made it through the Second World War (although they were not all lost to enemy action - three of the H.P.42s, for example, were destroyed in incidents where they were blown over or against other aircraft in strong winds).  An attempt to build a replica of an H.P.42 foundered a few years ago, so all that remain of these giants are photographs and cine footage.  But their legacy will live on, perhaps to find a new lease of life in this potential supersonic biplane of the future.

A small redesign...

What ho, one and all! 

You may have noticed a slight change to the layout of Eclectic Ephemera.  Yes, I've switched to a 3-column look in order to free up a little bit of room on the blog - I felt it was getting a mite overcrowded.  And all done in an instant, without any fiddly resizing or formatting!  The wonders of Blogger - well done chaps!

Here's hoping you like my attempt at redecorating...

Cord's grandson honours his work

Cord's grandson honours his work

This year marks the 75th anniversary of what, in my humble opinion, is the most beautifully-designed [American] car there has ever been - the 1936-37 Cord 810/812SC.

As always, there is a healthy fan-cum-drivers club in America today as well as a museum and it is the former which has this year organised its annual run around the Cord 810.  I also like the great idea of baseball-style cards being handed out to the local youths of Auburn, Indiana where the cars were originally produced.  It's an inspired way of connecting them with an important aspect of [their] motoring history, in a fun and tangible way.  Well done to Mr Hummel, and here's hoping the 2011 Auburn Cord Duesenberg reunion was a great success.

The Cord Corporation built it's first car in 1929 - the L-29.  This ground-breaking automobile had a front wheel drive layout at a time when every other car in the States was driven from the rear; indeed it was the first such car in America ever and with the exception of the later Cords fwd would not be seen again on a US car until the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado. The L-29 was produced for 3 years until 1932 before a break of another 3 years whereupon the 810 arrived.
Founder of the Cord Corporation, Erret Lobban Cord, had already bought the Auburn Automobile Company and Duesenberg during 1925-26.  Until their untimely demise in 1937 Auburn, Cord and Duesenberg (under the design direction of Gordon M. Buehrig) produced some of arguably the best looking cars of the decade, such as the Auburn 851 Speedster and Duesenberg Model J (below).

The Cord 810 was another innovative design.  Front-wheel drive again, it was the first car anywhere in the world with retractable "pop-up" headlights (which were actually originally landing-lights from a light aircraft, and were operated by two hand cranks inside the car).  Other pioneering features included electrically-operated variable-speed windscreen wipers and a radio as standard (the latter offering not seen again for another 20 years).

The next year, 1937, saw the introduced of the supercharged 812, which would prove to be the last hurrah for E.L. Cord's empire.  No other car so perfectly captures the 1930s aesthetic of Art Deco/ Streamline Moderne and the glitz & glamour that such designs continue to evoke.  An example of the Cord 810 was later displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art, surely forever answering the question "Can a car be art?".

*These two fine examples, below, are probably about as close as I'll ever get to having my own Cord 812SC and Auburn 851 Speedster ;-)*

Vintage look for Jersey Airport

Vintage look for Jersey Airport

This is a rare event - a building being redesigned to look the way it did when it first opened. The fact that the building in question is Jersey Airport's Art Deco 1937 terminal makes it even more of a welcome occasion.

With the bulky and ugly Seventies additions removed the geometric lines of the arrivals building will once again be visible for all to see and appreciate, hopefully for a long time to come thanks to the planning authority arranging for listed status.

Jersey may be one of the smaller airports in the grand scheme of things and so be more readily able to accommodate such a change (not to mention lucky to have the original building still standing) but it is still a great triumph for a beautiful design style, applied to such a commercial building. If only more airports could look like this, travelling might not be such an unpleasant experience. In fact I feel a trip to Jersey coming on right now!

Historic wooden car floated at auction

Historic wooden car floated at auction

Wood has long been used as part of automobile manufacturing, although these days it tends to be reserved for the dashboards of higher-end luxury cars. The exceptions to this rule are the likes of Morgan, who still use ash wood as part of the frame in their cars, Rolls-Royce - whose Phantom Drophead Coupe has teak decking as part of the roof-covering mechanism - and the bizarre Splinter concept from a couple of years ago. It's all a long way from the old Morris Minor Traveller of the 1960s, isn't it?



Long before that, though, wood was being used in abundance in car design. Wood was plentiful, surprisingly strong yet able to be made into various shapes and in any number of sizes. The nautical look was also popular in the first three decades of the twentieth century as car makers tried to create a link between the then-luxuries of motoring and sailing. Sea-faring terms like "boat-tail" and "skiff" were applied to vehicular offerings, such as this ultra-rare (only 5 made) 1914 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Labourdette.


The car that features in this article, a 1932 Talbot, was originally just another normal saloon of standard Thirties design and didn't actually acquire its magnificently-built wooden body until the 1960s. Happily the chap who owned it obviously appreciated the Art Deco design of the period and found himself an immensely talented boat-builder to perform the actual transformation. What resulted is a unique piece of automotive design - even the likes of that Rolls skiff still used metal forward of the windscreen, whereas this Talbot's body is wood from the grille to the tail-light.

I find it hard to believe that such a beautifully skilled piece of construction is only estimated to make between £20,000 and £30,000 at auction (says the man who would struggle to afford a tenth of that right now!) and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it easily exceed the higher figure. Whoever ends up buying it, I hope he enjoys varnishing!

Panoz Introduces the Abruzzi at Le Mans

Panoz Introduces the Abruzzi at Le Mans


This is the new Abruzzi "Spirit of Le Mans" sports car from the American company Panoz. As well as being an interesting and newsworthy article in its own right it also allows me to talk about another aspect of it that has rather bothered me. This might turn into a rant, but anyway here goes. If you make it to the end, well done, and thanks for sticking with it.

Since it was unveiled at the La Sarthe circuit yesterday the overwhelming response on other blogs, general car forums and comment pages of the Internet has, as far as I can make out, been almost entirely negative. I seem to be in a minority of one in really liking this car. The main bone of contention appears to be the design, particularly of the front. Now, I appreciate that style, beauty etc. is subjective, that one man's meat is another man's poison and all that. People are free to find things attractive or not as they please, and tell others accordingly. What I dislike, and what appears to be the case in the majority of critiques so far, is the vitriolic fervour in which people have attacked this car, disparaged and dismissed it, without having said why they don't like it.

Let me go on record here: I like the Panoz Abruzzi. There, I said it. Now, however, I am going to do what no-one else seems to have done and qualify that statement.

I really like this car for a number of reasons. First, it is different. It is not your usual run-of-the-mill Porsche, Ferrari or Lamborghini. In this world of dull conglomerates, mediocre products and amorphous designs something as extreme as this should be welcomed and admired as a refreshing break from the norm. Even if I were not taken by the design of this car I would still appreciate it as a unique departure from the supercar template and respect the company for having the courage to make it. It has been my experience that the very fact alone of something being different from what people expect and are used to seeing is excuse enough to condemn it with no further consideration. It is an almost knee-jerk reaction by beigist people who have been brought up to accept the uninspiring designs foisted upon us by faceless corporations.
This leads me on to another point - people seem to have lost that wonderful British trait of supporting the underdog. They have been blinded by the commercial glare of the big, popular brands. The selfish attitude dominates. Nowadays it is all to easy for people to attack the little man, the Davids of this world, to say that it is not worth supporting the smaller concerns, that there is no point and no chance of success. Well I don't agree - I still root for the underdog and I'm proud to defend and cheer on companies like Panoz who wish to plough their own furrow.

Back to the design and to me there is a strong retro-futurist element in the look of this car and even perhaps a hint of Art Deco, which appeals to me greatly. Some of the [slightly] more constructive comments I've read often compare it to the early Batmobiles and to an extent I agree. That is another one of the reasons why I like it so much. It also reminds me of some of the "Cars of the Future" concepts that the big American companies put out in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Except in this case it is no concept but a fully production-ready car, albeit in tiny numbers. In their rush to censure this car many people have also overlooked the technical aspects. The fact that it is made of recyclable material that is nevertheless still as strong and adaptable as carbon fibre, or that that front end goes some way to aiding the remarkable cooling processes employed by this car. Once again people betray their superficial ideals by ignoring these factors and rush into making cheap shots at the car's looks.

Well, that's about all I have to say on that. I think the fact that this has been my longest post so far goes some way to explaining how strongly I feel about this sort of thing and I hope you have found it interesting too, dear reader.