Indian Tadpole

PeteMcP · Oct 25, 2019

Tadpole's ride debut imminent. I'm getting excited for you Steve.
Frustrating re your chain going off radar - despite tracking info supposedly allowing you to follow its progress. I buy a lot of parts for my bikes on eBay and I know it can sometimes be frustrating. One thing eBay needs to clamp down on is those Far Eastern sellers who list items as being 'UK stock' or who put a Union Jack flag in their listings to tempt folks like me. Right now I'm waiting for a couple of aftermarket items for my Honda Solo's make-over that were purchased via UK eBay from sellers like I just mentioned and I know for a fact they're being shipped from China even though the listing said the item's location was 'England'. The giveaway, once purchased, is the sole concession to the parcel's tracking information which merely says 'Tracking Information Provided' - and that's all it'll say till the package is delivered. On the bright side, I'm not in a hurry for the parts, so no harm done. The parts will get here when they get here.
Your Tadpole's lettered tank came out super. I've used Classic Transfers before too. Great range of decals. Right now I'm busy custom painting my Solo's tank with a faux riveted paint job. Slow progress with over 200 highlighted and shadowed rivets to airbrush... Tank top and right side is done. Now onto the left.

PeteMcP · Oct 25, 2019

One story I remember regularly doing the rounds of sherry-fuelled family get-togethers when I was a kid concerned my Grandad getting the wheel of his bike stuck in tram tracks and having to push it to the depot at the end of the line to unfree it. True or not, we all laughed like it was the first time we'd heard it every time he told the story.

indian22 · Oct 25, 2019

All dressed in white lol, dang sure weren't in Indian Territory U.S.A when that Indian tri-car was photographed. In 1960 I'd hazard there were less than 100 miles of county maintained roads that were graveled let alone paved in my home county, ruts in the mud would be 6" deep after rains and when the sun came out they baked as hard as concrete. I rode these baked ruts on tiny Cushman tires and only youthful reflexes and total ignorance of danger kept me upright most of the time...there were however some spills.

Now you'd be hard pressed to find 100 miles of true "dirt" roads in this whole county...though gravel sections do still exist, asphalt is the predominate surface. The challenge riding these asphalt roads are the large "potholes" that form whereas in deep gravel it's the "washboard" sections that are tricky. Kinda' like mini "whoops" in desert racing or "moguls" on the ski slopes. Loose your pedals or pegs on these and you most likely eat gravel! The baked ruts in dirt were the worst of the lot without doubt. Think about this in 1906 rural areas anywhere in the world and I feature black tires sold like hot cakes in the country when they became available and knobby tread had to be the prevalent tire pattern swap.

Authentic early 20th. century reproduction and restored bike usually reflect an urban ideal that just wasn't a reality for most of the world of that era. Fancy paint certainly didn't stay that way in the real world of early American motor transport development.

Rick C.

indian22 · Oct 25, 2019

PeteMcP said:
Tadpole's ride debut imminent. I'm getting excited for you Steve.

Pete who knew there were so many flag waving folks in other countries. The U.S. flag seems immensely popular in mainland China. I wouldn't have thought them so proud of our flag. Nice, no? Ebay opened my eyes to the love.

Faux rivets of copper? Pete that's inspiring detail work that I've come to rather expect of you. Your work with the exquisite miniatures prepared you no doubt for just such labor and hope you'll post a photo the one side completed for the Solo tank.

Rick C.

PeteMcP said:

One story I remember regularly doing the rounds of sherry-fuelled family get-togethers when I was a kid concerned my Grandad getting the wheel of his bike stuck in tram tracks and having to push it to the depot at the end of the line to unfree it. True or not, we all laughed like it was the first time we'd heard it every time he told the story.

Click to expand...

I'm inclined to believe the story Pete. Tracks laid in urban settings sometimes have years of roadway re-pavement that builds up to actual rail height at crossings and in large depot areas the sidings were paved for loading and unloading from hard wheeled terminal wagons. It was also paved to assist passenger movement around the depots.

I have a friend who caught a bicycle wheel in the tracks a couple of years ago and he took a really hard fall at a rail crossing. The rail was laid at an acute angle to the roadway and the road bikes wheel slipped into the crack between street and rail. The top of the rail was actually below street level.
He was pretty banged up & completely quit riding as a result of this accident.

Rick C.

fasteddy · Oct 25, 2019

After so many false finishes Pete I'm there. Just need the chain in hand to see what is we have as far as the bike needing adjustments. At least I hope it's just adjustments and not major rebuilds.

I've had a few of the "In the U.S." ads myself and then it becomes evident that they are resellers trading goods out of China and the only time the parts may be close to the U.S. is if they fly over it to get to Canada.

Two hundred faux rivets. It will be interesting to see the results. Any talents I have don't stretch that far.

Steve.

fasteddy · Oct 25, 2019

Pete,

My Dad also talked about the dangers of getting the wheels of early cars stuck in street car tracks and having to ride along until you came to a junction where the tracks branched off and you could line up with the branch tracks and get up out of them that way.

It seems wagons and buggies weren't immune either.

With the wood spokes and wire wheels any attempt to wrench it out of the track could fracture the wheel and leave you stranded until you could jack it up and replaced the wheel.

Steve.

curtisfox · Oct 25, 2019

reminds me of George Wyman when he went for Frisco to New York on motor bike, most was done on rail tracks because rods were to bad..........Curt

FOG · Oct 25, 2019

I read in a book that it was bicycle guys that 1st got organized to lobby Congress to do something about the nation's roads. I think they were called the "Wheelmen's Association of America".

Between the advent of what was then called the "safety bicycle", when compared to those high wheel velocipede things, which was around 1890, and the introduction of the Model T it was the bicycle that was replacing the horse.

That same book said the average horse drops 22 lb of manure a day and they think there were as many a hundred thousand horses in New York City? I wonder what that smelled like ....

Tom from Rubicon · Oct 26, 2019

FOG, you are thinking of. League of American Bicyclists.
Originally League of American Wheelmen
I was a member in the 70's and 80's, our lobbying is how bicycle lanes and trails became available to the public.
Paved railroad beds were while I was still pedaling the only benefit I realized. But the goodness goes on.
Tom

Tom from Rubicon · Oct 26, 2019

I don't know how it could happen Steve as I follow you. But I had the pleasure of playing catch up today on all your progress and travails.
The graphics on the CamelBack. are great. Take care of yourself. Misery is poor company.
Tom

PeteMcP · Oct 26, 2019

Much as I'd like to share progress pics of how my Solo's make-over is turning out, I'm stymied due to not being able to unearth my camera from the storage facility. When I packed things up prior to the house move back in February I had a bunch of stuff in collapsible plastic crates as well as umpteen sealed carboard boxes. My camera was in one of the crates - but unfortunately, once delivered to the facility, the moving men decided to unpack my crated stuff and repack it into cardboard cartons which they securely taped-up. Despite several trips to the facility in the meantime, I have no clue which sealed carton my camera is in. I gave up last week after another half hours fruitless search with help from one of the storage facility's staff.
Sooo....I figure it best if I just buy a replacement camera. Then I'll be able to post some progress pics. Incidentally, I'm old school. Lived/worked from home for the last 21 years in remote Northumberland where we had no phone signal, so I never did jump aboard the mobile phone bandwagon. Land line and a lap top were good enough for me. My trusty Nikon digital camera had never let me down - till now. I'm looking at a direct replacement - used but mint - on eBay costing less than a tenth of what I paid new. (who needs a camera in this age of mobile phones?) Hopefully I'll win the auction next week and get back to being able post pics and build updates.
Can't wait to share pics showing how my Solo's airbrushed riveted tank is turning out. Not copper rivets Rick. More in the style of riveted aircraft sheet metal. After following a couple of how to videos on YouTube, I always wanted to have a crack at this technique. I'm really satisfied how '3D' the results are. Even close up the highlighted and shaded effects fool the eye into believing the rivets are raised. Touching the tank is the only give away the rivets aren't for real.

FOG · Oct 26, 2019

Tom from Rubicon said:
FOG, you are thinking of. League of American Bicyclists.
Originally League of American Wheelmen
Tom

I'm sure you're right Tom. I get a little foggy now and then ...

Tom from Rubicon · Oct 26, 2019

No worries Steve, I expect our fathers lived in different worlds. My father was born in 1921 in a very rural farming community, Hillsboro, Wisconsin. Trolley lines didn't exist in his world except at a cinema.
Tom

fasteddy · Oct 26, 2019

My dad was born in Kenora, Ontario in 1906. His grandfather was the manager of the Rat Portage Lumber Co. He moved to Toronto, Ontario when he was 16 with his family. He talked about the surprise of going from a small town to a large city. It seems it took a lot of adjusting.

Dad's father was the superintendent at the International Falls Paper Mill. Many of our family lived in Minnesota but I don't think anyone lived in Wisconsin. I'll ask my brother since he's on Ancestry.Com.

Steve.

Tom from Rubicon · Oct 27, 2019

Steve, my wifes paternal grandmothers father and his brother surname of Eklund ran logging camps and mills in and around Brookston Mn. on the St Louis river. They asked the Chippewa if they could do some logging and they told the Eklund's to go ahead there plenty of trees.
When the Eklund's were done there wasn't hardly a stick standing. Kind of ruined the hunting for many years.
Tom

curtisfox · Oct 27, 2019

Tom from Rubicon said:
Steve, my wifes paternal grandmothers father and his brother surname of Eklund ran logging camps and mills in and around Brookston Mn. on the St Louis river. They asked the Chippewa if they could do some logging and they told the Eklund's to go ahead there plenty of trees.
When the Eklund's were done there wasn't hardly a stick standing. Kind of ruined the hunting for many years.
Tom

LOL seen that, but now they can't have to jump and leave standing spots, like a section at a time........Curt

fasteddy · Oct 27, 2019

Tom, that describes what my dad saw in Kenora. He said you couldn't see a marketable tree anywhere for miles unless it was on an island that they couldn't get to easily and even those weren't safe against a determined logger.

Steve.

PeteMcP · Oct 29, 2019

American logging? Amazing, the thread shifts that pop up on this forum. My main modelling interest these last 25 years was centered around obscure US narrow gauge logging railroads and their motive power and rolling stock. Odd that, considering I'm located in the UK. Spent many a happy trip exploring some of the old railroads in the Pacific North West and elsewhere with US pals.

indian22 · Oct 29, 2019

Pete I'm a miniature fan and a like trains large and small tool Not a hobby just always liked them steam, diesel-electric powered all fascinate me running or not. I spotted an old baggage cart, oak flooring a rot, on my recent ride in a collection of old farm tools of all places and took photos of the entire affair. Odd timing as I'd mentioned these carts in a post just recently.

I've used trains as transport from my earliest years to my last ride about a decade ago. I recall even the worst of these as notable adventures and some of the ones in South America truly were, as was the Copper canyon trip in Mexico (not the full length, just a section) quite memorable.

Rick C.

curtisfox · Oct 29, 2019

Old side shaft Shay, my brother built one of these for some guy through his work place. Working garden way railway, group out in CA. See if i can locate some pictures.

Also my dad worked for the NP rail road, and was a wrecking crew engineer, used a old steam crain, pull fully loaded out of a swamp back on the track.,Most were pulp cars, up by International Falls........Curt......Memories

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