# railroad bike



## rickyd (May 8, 2014)

railroad bike and indian with sidecar both owned by a friend in springfield mo


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## mre straightbar (May 8, 2014)

*could you get close ups of railbike*

Thinkin of building one


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## John (May 9, 2014)

mre straightbar said:


> Thinkin of building one




I want to build the Indian side car.


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## rickyd (May 9, 2014)

*pics and info*

i will try to get more pics and info on both rail bike and sidecar when i can, this fellow is kinda hard to catch. rick


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## rollfaster (May 9, 2014)

*Lovin that railroad bike*

You just don't see these anymore. Rob.


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## wasp3245 (May 16, 2014)

*Teeter Cars*

Hello all

The railroad bike was made by Teeter in Hagerstown Ind .  Teeter formed the Light Railway Inspection Car Co ..in 1895  name changed a few times ..the company was donated to the local High School who continued manufacturing the railway bikes till 1977 .  They are great fun ..... even more so if you have permission to  ride on the rails.... which is not always the case.    Teeters were sent all over the world ...    no doubt some are still being used ... on railroads and mines .    Tandems and singles were made. Here we have Charles Teeter on his invention .  His company went on to made the perfect piston ring ....  Cheers Carey


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## wasp3245 (May 17, 2014)

*article about Teeter cars  ( rail bikes)*

Hello all here is an article I wrote about Teeter cars for the Wheelmen magazine a number of years ago.   All rail bicycles / velocipedes can be great fun ...but riding them legally is an issue ...unless you own a railroad ...    be-careful a rolling train leaves no survivors.   
Cheers Carey Williams 

Charles Newton Teeter (1870-1937) was a mechanic in a New Castle Indiana
bicycle shop built a bike for his wife in 1894. Charles Hartley,
division superintendent of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad and
cousin of Mrs Teeter admired the bike but suggested the construction of
a bike to be used in the rails. Dec 1st of the same year the prototype
was ready for trial, pedaling from New Castle to Charles' home town
Hagerstown 11 miles in 55 minutes a success!
    Feb 16th 1895 the Railway Cycle Manufacturing Co.  was incorporated
in Hagerstown , production commenced in the Stonebrakers warehouse on
South Washington St producing one rail cycle a day initially.  The rail
cycle found an immediate market heavily marketed and promoted in the
various railway periodicals around the world. Scientific American June
12th 1897 reports " a car load was recently sent to Moscow Russia".
"The Railway Age" July 2nd 1897 describes the cycle . " the problem
that met the inventor at the very outset , was how to produce a frame
sufficiently light , and which possessed the necessary strength . The
well -known princle of strength contained in triangle was utilized and
placed in combination,this forming a true truss. All weight applied to
the frame is evenly distributed to the points directly over the
bearings, which prevents their bindings. The frame is made of cold
drawn steel tubing, braced diagonally , transversely and
longintudinally with spring steel. The axle forms no part of the frame
construction, the transverse sections being strong steel tubes, into
which the axles proper are inserted. The bearings in the car are of the
ball pattern and consist of but two parts, the cone and cap. The cycle
has adjustable handle bar and seat , and is propelled by pedals which
turn a sprocket on which a chain runs to a sprocket on the rear axle.
The gearing may be constructed to meet the conditions of the road upon
which the car is to be used. The wheels have steel hubs and rims,
tangent spokes of best quality wire, which are fitted with specially
designed corrugated rubber tires which prevent slipping upon any kind
of rail and the passage noiseless."
   Scientific American June 12th 1897 illustrates the 60 pound rail
cycle carrying 8 men and a boy to demonsate it great strength. These
men must have been very carefully placed as most found examples of the
cycles today have the connecting rods bent in many directions.
   Charles Teetor worked for 4 years to perfect a single cylinder gas
engine to power the car. Motorized cars out sold the bicycle power cars
prompted a name change of the company to "Light Inspection Car Company"
in 1900. Continued engine development with in the company to supply the
emerging automobile industry in 1905 engines for the American
Automobile Co and later to Auburn, Stutz, Willys-Overland, Franklin,
and Marmon. Name change again in 1914 to Teeter - Hartley Motor Co. .
1918 the engine business was sold off to specialize in the production
of piston rings forming " The Indiana Piston Ring Co."  with brand name
of "Perfect Circle" , again changing the company name to Perfect Circle
Corp in 1926.  Dana Corp of Toledo Ohio bought the company in 1963 .
Through all the changes the humble Rail Cycle  or "Teeter Car" was
still produced  by V-plex substainary of the parent company. In 1968
the rights , machining ,and tooling to produce the "Teeter cars" was
given to the Hagerstown High School as a trade school project and
business. The basic 1897 design was manufacted till the final Teeter
car rolled out of production in 1977 .  Press claim some 10,000 of the
"Rail cycles" were produced during the 82 years run, I have yet to find
a serial number to prove otherwise. Some of the head badges are dated
with year of production on the cycles.
   The real success of the rail cycle was the design placing the rider
safely in the center of the wheels  unlike the multitude of other
designs attaching an out rigger 3rd wheel to a conventional type
bicycle frame.  The Rail Cycle found immediate use as an inspection ,
emergency , transportation vehicle for railroads and mines around the
world. You are just as likely to find a survivor in Austrailia ,
Scotland, South America, as in the America, standard gauge or narrow.
The 60 pound "Rail Cycle" was one of the lightest and delicate pieces
found on a railroad or mine environment hence their realitive scarcity
today. Additionally the width of the car at   54" makes storing a
social tricycle indoors seem easy.
   Riding a "Teeter car" :  you are suspended by thin rods floating
above the rails , rolling restaince about none, the rail stretching out
before you just begging to be tranversed.  Riding a "Teeter Car"
legally in 2012: unless you have your own Railroad  , trespassing is
frowned on  and yes you can be arrested, so make friends at  a railroad
museum and beg and plead  for track rights during off hours or join
NARCO ( North America Rail Car Owners ) and attend one of their rides
with granted permission of the host railroad .
Carey Williams  2012 



A series of patents were filed and issued refining and perfecting the
design of the Railway cycle;
Patent # 537497 filed July 5th 1894 issued April 16th 1895
Patent # 569683 filed Aug 10th 1895 issued Oct 20th  1896 improved
trianglulation
Patent # 598450 filed March 3rd 1897 issued Feb 1st 1898 final version
including tandem version


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## thehugheseum (May 17, 2014)

great thread,thanks for posting!


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