Fairbanks Morse railroad equipment catalog

[Iain]

http://storage.lib.uchicago.edu/pres/2015/pres2015-0191-52-01.pdf

[davefoxx]

Those Velocipedes and Motor Cars towards the bottom of that catalog are cool!  But, someone needs to explain to me how those three-wheeled Velocipedes stay on the rails.  Obviously, they work, but it looks iffy.

DFF

[nkalanaga]

I've wondered that myself.

[nickelplate759]

On page 206 it says this:

CONCAVE TREAD-The steel tires now used
on our velocipedes are rolled with concave instead of straight tread, which practically does
away with the tendency of the wheels to leave a
wet or frosty rail.

[johnb]

Oh if I could buy things at 1905 prices....the wife would still kill me....

[C855B]

Those Velocipedes and Motor Cars towards the bottom of that catalog are cool!  But, someone needs to explain to me how those three-wheeled Velocipedes stay on the rails.  Obviously, they work, but it looks iffy. ...

They are. Faded (47 years!) memory recalls my tipping one over after a bunch of us decided to "try out" the trolley museum's collection of handcars after a late evening, beer-fueled bull session in the "club" caboose. It might not have been my fault, tho', as I also recall something about a four-man "pumper" handcar going at great speed... as it were... and considering the dark they were on me before I could complete "STOOOOO...p". 

What I like in the catalog is the four-wheel "bicycle" version on page 210. Maybe spindly and fragile, but you could certainly make some speed on that thing.