Another Nothing New Under The Sun

Lady Norman zipping along on her Autoped in 1916.

That's one flash looking helmet she is wearing.

yeah, padded for her convenience.

My first thought was plenty of padding there, but you took the words out of my mouth and beat me to it! :ohmy:

Bet she didn't have to swipe an eftpos card, to ride.

It looks like the scooter has number plates?

Segway were just copy=cats.

Buster Keaton was using Segways 100 years ago.

Lang wrote:

Segway were just copy=cats.

Buster Keaton was using Segways 100 years ago.

But it doesn't have LEDs. :ohmy:

Laurel and Hardy in a workshop. Some interesting vehicles, a whole lot of stupidity but the final scene is good.

Nothing new under the sun? They have the first car CD player.



Couldn't resist this one. Many stunt men were injured and killed making these movies.


There are some serious life-threatening stunts here. Remember they never had the visual effects or graphics we have now.

Think Maxi-brakes are modern?

George Westinghouse and Air-brake History
Air is everywhere. Hydraulic fluid isn't. Trains, buses and tractor-trailers use air-brake systems so they don’t have to rely on the hydraulic fluid in car braking systems, which can run out in the event of a leak. All of these types of transportation are weighed down by heavy passenger or cargo loads, so safety is of the utmost importance. A speeding locomotive that relied on hydraulic brakes would turn into a deadly steel bullet if the brake system suddenly busted a leak.

Before air brakes, trains used a primitive brake system that required an operator, or brakeman, in each car to apply a hand brake at the signal of the train director or engineer. This inefficient manual system was replaced by direct air-brake systems, which used an air compressor to feed air through a brake pipe into air tanks on each car. When the engineer applied these brakes, the pipe filled with air and squeezed the brakes.

In 1869, an engineer named George Westinghouse realized the importance of safety in the relatively new railroad industry and invented the first triple-valve air-brake system for railcar use. Westinghouse’s system worked the opposite way of a direct air-brake system. The triple-valve system performed three functions, thus its name. Let’s take a look at those functions.

Charging: The system must be pressurized with air before the brakes will release. At rest, the brakes remain engaged. Once the system reaches its operating pressure, the brakes are freed and ready to use.
Applying: As the brakes are applied, air pressure decreases. As the amount of air decreases, the valve allows air back into the reservoir tanks, while the brakes move to the applied position.
Releasing: Once the brakes are applied and the air escapes after braking, the increased pressure releases the brakes.
Instead of using force or directed air to apply the brakes much like hydraulic fluid in our cars, the triple-valve system fills a supply tank and uses air pressure to release the brakes. In other words, the brakes in a triple-valve system remain fully engaged until air is pumped throughout the system. Pretty ingenious, considering if this type of system had a complete loss of air, the brakes would engage and stop the train. Think about that when you are zooming down the freeway and you hit the brake pedal. If your car’s brake fluid leaked out, your brakes wouldn’t work.

The triple-valve system is the basic concept at work in today’s air-brake systems in trains, buses and tractor-trailers.

Westinghouse was one of the world's great pioneers. Everyone believes Edison was the man who gave us daily electricity - not so. Edison invented a town electric system that used DC of low voltage and required generators every few blocks. Because he was so famous with all the right connections many cities in USA got sucked in to his method and spent millions electrifying with low voltage DC.

Meanwhile Westinghouse took on a young immigrant called Tesla who had invented a mass system using AC of unlimited voltage and a distribution range of hundreds of miles betweem generators. The big test was the Chicago World's Fair which was the first major event to be fully electrified. In his desperation Edison terrified the nation claiming AC would result in thousands of deaths a year, even pulling widely publicised stunts like killing a horse before assembled press. Fortunately the technical committee saw through this ploy and went with the Westinghouse/Tesla AC system. Nobody died and all the world is powered by the Westinghouse/Tesla system today.

lang