Monday, December 03, 2018
Dumb turntables, smart lath
This 1916 'Cyclopedia' is a rich source of info on electric cars. Lots of clear pictures of the cars, chassis, motor and circuit details. Gives guidance for driving electrics so you can imagine how a driver felt in the road and traffic conditions of that era.
The book also includes plans and discussions of garages. Some were for rich folks, with separate quarters for the chauffeur, and some were simple. Uniquely, the plans include a turntable as in a locomotive roundhouse. Allegedly the turntable saved the trouble of backing the car out of the garage.
I suspect the turntables were never built because the dimensions don't work. This plan is 14 feet wide, and the typical upper-class car was 14 feet long.
One of the garage plans shows an interesting form of construction that would work nicely for a small house.
Steel frame, steel slats, concrete on and around the slats. Totally bugproof and fireproof and rainproof.
= = = = =
Looked up the Hy-Rib tradename. It wasn't just slats, it was a complicated ridged mesh system. Albert Kahn owned the company and used Hy-Rib extensively in his famous buildings. Hy-Rib could form arches and domes of any shape.
Detail 1:
Detail 2:
Main building at SMU in Dallas when new:
Still there:
Hill Auditorium at UMich when new:
Still there:
Best of all, Hy-Rib construction was war-resistant.
[The last picture led to another interesting story.]
¶ 10:13 AM 
I suspect the turntables were never built because the dimensions don't work. This plan is 14 feet wide, and the typical upper-class car was 14 feet long.
One of the garage plans shows an interesting form of construction that would work nicely for a small house.
Steel frame, steel slats, concrete on and around the slats. Totally bugproof and fireproof and rainproof.
= = = = =
Looked up the Hy-Rib tradename. It wasn't just slats, it was a complicated ridged mesh system. Albert Kahn owned the company and used Hy-Rib extensively in his famous buildings. Hy-Rib could form arches and domes of any shape.
Detail 1:
Detail 2:
Main building at SMU in Dallas when new:
Still there:
Hill Auditorium at UMich when new:
Still there:
Best of all, Hy-Rib construction was war-resistant.
[The last picture led to another interesting story.]
¶ 10:13 AM
