Thursday, May 04, 2017
Why not?
The latest item at KSHS isn't tremendously interesting by itself, but the description has an irresistible set of names.
John Henry sits in the cab of an Avery under mount steam engine being used to plow a field in Lane County, Kansas. The engine was owned by Ford Brown.
The tractor looks JUST LIKE a small locomotive, complete with cab. Gas-powered tractors didn't acquire cabs until the '60s.
Those names! John Henry. Ford Brown. And of course Lane County.
Wait. Ford never made a steam-powered ANYTHING. He never touched steam, even though steam was the most likely power source in 1895. Especially strange since Henry was chief operating engineer at the Detroit Edison steam plant when he started fiddling with gas-powered buggies. Later on, Henry and Tom collaborated briefly on an electric car, but disagreed on goals and halted the project.
For that matter, why didn't Tom build a steam ANYTHING? His power plants were all steam, and some power plants in big cities directly distributed steam for heating, but none of Edison's appliances used steam.
Why didn't these two EXPERTS in industrial steam ever use steam in their products?
Labels: 1901, Asked and unanswered
¶ 10:28 AM
