We use the telephone today almost as an extension of our right hand without a thought to what goes into it. Or the history of its development. Want to call to the other side of the world? Not a pause or a thought about the intricacies of long distance calls. It was not always Read More
Goldie McCulloch Wheelock Engines In 1854, Scottish immigrant John Goldie was hired at the Crombie foundry in Galt, Ontario as a millwright. When the owner put the foundry up for sale, Goldie and his friend and fellow employee put up $4000 as a down payment to buy it against total price of $50,000. The new Read More
In the late 1940’s, Detroit based Fruehauf Trailer Company’s Chief Engineer Keith Tantlinger developed a new semi-trailer design that has since been copied by every trailer manufacturer throughout the world. Prior to this, the semi-trailer van body was basically a covered box mounted on a heavy chassis that took the weight. Fruehauf introduced an Read More
The English village of Alvingham in Lincolnshire was settled around 750 AD. In 1537, King Henry V!!! granted land for a mill in the village, and a mile-long mill stream was dug from the River Lud to supply its water wheel with power. In 1770, the Louth Navigation Canal was built from the small town Read More
The Caterpillar Track Story We have all read that the caterpillar track came from Holt who later merged with Best to form the Caterpillar Co. of Peoria. Holt had been experimenting with a chain track design in the first decade of the 1900’s. What is not so well known is that in Grantham, England, the Read More
The Champion Engine In the mid 1880’s, David June of Ohio designed what turned out to be one of the most popular of the early threshing engines, the Champion steam engine. With a vertical boiler mounted between the two rear wheels, it was of a very simple design, although somewhat cumbersome in appearance. The centre Read More
Logos before Political Correctness The city of Brantford sits just across the River Grand in Southern Ontario from the extensive Six Nations Iroquois reserve, one of the largest first nations reserve in Canada. One of the major manufacturers in the city was the Brantford Coach and Body Ltd, one of Canada’s largest semi trailer manufacturers. Read More
Last week, I drove to Kippen, some 40 miles north of London, Ontario where the Sad Iron Engine Show was having its annual get together. Turning into the driveway of this lovely farm, its location marked by an old engine at the entrance, I drove through into a grassed parking area. As I climbed out Read More
In late 1959 I was Chief Engineer for Crane Carrier Canada, manufacturer of heavy duty truck chassis for crane installations. We had just completed our first 8 x 6 crane carrier chassis designed for mounting of a 35 ton crane, and equipped with tandem rear drive axles and tandem front axles, one of which was Read More
James Tudhope was an aggressive industrialist, building a thriving carriage business from that originally founded by his father in 1874. By 1902, the Tudhope Carriage Co. Ltd. factory occupied a full three city blocks in the downtown area of Orillia. A separate company, Tudhope Anderson Co. Ltd. was formed, and used part of the existing Read More
