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The Official Eleanor Roosevelt (And Anything Else Non-Topical) Thread

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 20, 2011 10:41 AM

Modelcar

....Another incident that mixed things up in automobiles....The distruction by fire of the Hydra-matic plant in Mi., back about 1953

Pontiacs with Powerglade trainsmissions....Believe it even extended to Oldsmobile's using Dynaflow transmissions as well, and perhaps a few other different combinations in GM cars.

Can't remember if it spread to others like Kaiser / Frazier....and a few others using the Hydra-matic transmission.

Morning Quentin:

Both Nash and Hudson used Hydramatics' in their respective models.  Ramblers of the newly created American Motors Corporation (AMC), formed from the merger of Nash and Hudson, also used Hydramatic's, I believe, through 1956 or 1957.

On a side note, Ramblers were built by AMC, but between 1955 through the 1957 model year, they were badged as either Nash's or Hudson's.

I believe Packard may also have used the Hydramatic as well for a time.  I do know that by the mid-50's Packard was calling their automatic transmission the "Ultramatic".

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 20, 2011 3:26 PM

Murray

 Modelcar:

....Another incident that mixed things up in automobiles....The distruction by fire of the Hydra-matic plant in Mi., back about 1953

Pontiacs with Powerglade trainsmissions....Believe it even extended to Oldsmobile's using Dynaflow transmissions as well, and perhaps a few other different combinations in GM cars.

Can't remember if it spread to others like Kaiser / Frazier....and a few others using the Hydra-matic transmission.

 

Morning Quentin:

Both Nash and Hudson used Hydramatic's in their respective models.  Ramblers of the newly created American Motors Corporation (AMC), formed from the merger of Nash and Hudson, also used Hydramatic's, I believe, through 1956 or 1957.

On a side note, Ramblers were built by AMC, but between 1955 through the 1957 model year, they were badged as either Nash's or Hudson's.

I believe Packard may also have used the Hydramatic as well for a time.  I do know that by the mid-50's Packard was calling their automatic transmission the "Ultramatic".

Actually, I stand corrected...The Ultramatic was a uniquely Packard product.

Here is some background information on it:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,2495513

And here is background information on the Hydramatic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydramatic

 

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 20, 2011 3:34 PM

tree68
The problem was that the car had been used for "cold start" tests.  In order to simulate what would happen to an engine if the owner only drove it short distances all the time, they would start it up and drive it until the "Cold" light (remember them?) went out.  It would then be parked for a period of time and the same thing done over.

Larry...I remember the green "Cold" LIght in the Pontiacs we had in the family.

Ford also had a blue "Cold" light...from '65 until (I think) '67.

 

 

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Posted by Modelcar on Monday, June 20, 2011 3:55 PM

Murray

 Murray:

 Modelcar:

....Another incident that mixed things up in automobiles....The distruction by fire of the Hydra-matic plant in Mi., back about 1953

Pontiacs with Powerglade trainsmissions....Believe it even extended to Oldsmobile's using Dynaflow transmissions as well, and perhaps a few other different combinations in GM cars.

Can't remember if it spread to others like Kaiser / Frazier....and a few others using the Hydra-matic transmission.

 

Morning Quentin:

Both Nash and Hudson used Hydramatic's in their respective models.  Ramblers of the newly created American Motors Corporation (AMC), formed from the merger of Nash and Hudson, also used Hydramatic's, I believe, through 1956 or 1957.

On a side note, Ramblers were built by AMC, but between 1955 through the 1957 model year, they were badged as either Nash's or Hudson's.

I believe Packard may also have used the Hydramatic as well for a time.  I do know that by the mid-50's Packard was calling their automatic transmission the "Ultramatic".

 

Actually, I stand corrected...The Ultramatic was a uniquely Packard product.

Here is some backgorund information on it:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,2495513

And here is background information on the Hydramatic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydramatic

 

Yes.........and after the Hydra-matics, AMC came to Warner Gear of BWA to use our automatics.  I worked in the Lab that developed them.  That was the Lab the Warner Gear Over Drive {for a manual transmission} originated and was developed from.  Also the WG  T-10 manual 4-speed trany.

And on Packard's Ultramatic and Twin Ultramatic units of their own...Future Chevrolet General Mgr., John DeLoren back then, helped develop those Ultramatic units.  They operated some what similar to Buick's Dynaflow units....Multiple turbine units in the torque converter multiplied torque, and effectively made an infinite higher ratio as speed increased.   Could also be put in "Low" to use a gearset to provide a low ratio for "rapid" starts.

Quentin

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Posted by AgentKid on Monday, June 20, 2011 6:35 PM

Murray

 

On a side note, Ramblers were built by AMC, but between 1955 through the 1957 model year, they were badged as either Nash's or Hudson's.

That was the continuation of how it was before AMC was formed, for those three years, until AMC could get its' act together. Rambler was a model name of Nash cars, like Impala is to Chevrolet. Rambler was the model name under AMC. Hornet was a model of Hudson.

Those Hornets of the '60's, '70's, '80's, and '90's are in a category unto themselves. They are the only model sold under three different brand names. The first year that body was built was in '68, and sold as a Rambler Ambassador, the last year the Rambler name was used. Then of course it was the AMC Hornet. Finally, after Chrysler bought AMC, it was sold for a couple of years as an Eagle something or other.

I've often thought that if a guy could find and restore a '68 Rambler Ambassador, it might actually be worth real money.

Bruce

 

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

"O. S. Irricana"

. . . __ . ______

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 20, 2011 7:13 PM

AgentKid

 Murray:

 

On a side note, Ramblers were built by AMC, but between 1955 through the 1957 model year, they were badged as either Nash's or Hudson's.

 

That was the continuation of how it was before AMC was formed, for those three years, until AMC could get its' act together. Rambler was a model name of Nash cars, like Impala is to Chevrolet. Rambler was the model name under AMC. Hornet was a model of Hudson.

Those Hornets of the '60's, '70's, '80's, and '90's are in a category unto themselves. They are the only model sold under three different brand names. The first year that body was built was in '68, and sold as a Rambler Ambassador, the last year the Rambler name was used. Then of course it was the AMC Hornet. Finally, after Chrysler bought AMC, it was sold for a couple of years as an Eagle something or other.

I've often thought that if a guy could find and restore a '68 Rambler Ambassador, it might actually be worth real money.

Bruce

 

Bruce, I have some friends down here that restore Hudson's.  Hudson collectors will tell you that that(AMC) Rambler cars built by Hudson and badged (for example the 1955 Custom) as such are referred to as "Hash's".

 

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 20, 2011 7:18 PM

AgentKid
I've often thought that if a guy could find and restore a '68 Rambler Ambassador, it might actually be worth real money.

Bruce

Every once in a while you can find one on eBay.  In the past I've come across some nice '65 Ambassador 990 sedans and convertables.

Even found some Rambler Marlin's:

http://tinyurl.com/3hjzvlk

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Posted by AgentKid on Monday, June 20, 2011 7:34 PM

Murray,

That one '68 that was highlighted was a Rambler "American", the lower priced model to the Ambassador. I don't know what AMC did with that "American" model name and body.

Bruce

 

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

"O. S. Irricana"

. . . __ . ______

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 20, 2011 8:10 PM

AgentKid

Murray,

That one '68 that was highlighted was a Rambler "American", the lower priced model to the Ambassador. I don't know what AMC did with that "American" model name and body.

Bruce

 

Ooops...  Sorry, my mistake...  just showing what eBay had to offer under the Rambler name.

Her is an listing of AMC cars:

http://tinyurl.com/64dz8c4

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Posted by AgentKid on Monday, June 20, 2011 8:56 PM

Thanks Murray, that was a great trip down memory lane. I see they were still calling them Ambassador's in '69. That '69 4-door certainly had a nicer roofline than the one they stuck with from '70 until the end. But I think they reached back into the parts shed to put that '69 roof on that '77 Matador.

You read the histories of Nash and later AMC, those companies never let anything go to waste.

Why talk of cars on a Railway related forum? I always thought of my interests in terms of a quote by the famous CPR builder William C. Van Horne. During a lunch in 1883, in his Private Car with Father Lacombe, an important person in the opening of western Canada, Van Horne said roughly; that there are things that have his attention, his immediate attention, and his undivided attention. At the time, he said his attention was on building the CPR, you Sir (Father Lacombe) have my immediate attention, and my undivided attention is on those God *** mountains (Rocky Mountains), they're in MY WAY!

My version is; politics have always had my attention, cars have my immediate attention, and railroading has always had my undivided attention. Over the years, radio and computers have joined politics for my attention.

Bruce

 

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

"O. S. Irricana"

. . . __ . ______

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, June 20, 2011 9:14 PM

AgentKid

Thanks Murray, that was a great trip down memory lane. I see they were still calling them Ambassador's in '69. That '69 4-door certainly had a nicer roofline than the one they stuck with from '70 until the end. But I think they reached back into the parts shed to put that '69 roof on that '77 Matador.

You read the histories of Nash and later AMC, those companies never let anything go to waste.

Why talk of cars on a Railway related forum? I always thought of my interests in terms of a quote by the famous CPR builder William C. Van Horne. During a lunch in 1883, in his Private Car with Father Lacombe, an important person in the opening of western Canada, Van Horne said roughly; that there are things that have his attention, his immediate attention, and his undivided attention. At the time, he said his attention was on building the CPR, you Sir (Father Lacombe) have my immediate attention, and my undivided attention is on those God *** mountains (Rocky Mountains), they're in MY WAY!

My version is; politics have always had my attention, cars have my immediate attention, and railroading has always had my undivided attention. Over the years, radio and computers have joined politics for my attention.

Bruce

 

Bruce, I am glad to have been able to see how both CP and CN did things (both passenger and freight) in my many trips to Montreal.

I still kind of yearn for the CP Canadian and the CN Super Continental racing west out of Dorval.....

Wish they had the original train service to the Maritimes as well.

 

 

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Posted by Deggesty on Monday, June 20, 2011 9:21 PM

Murray

 tree68:
The problem was that the car had been used for "cold start" tests.  In order to simulate what would happen to an engine if the owner only drove it short distances all the time, they would start it up and drive it until the "Cold" light (remember them?) went out.  It would then be parked for a period of time and the same thing done over.

Larry...I remember the green "Cold" LIght in the Pontiacs we had in the family.

Ford also had a blue "Cold" light...from '65 until (I think) '67.

 

I had one car with a cold light--the first car I bought new, a '62 Chevrolet Biscayne. The next car I bought was a '67 Biscayne, which I ordered with full instruments. I bought the '62 two days after my '50 fastback Chevy burned a bearing out and then threw a rod on a Saturday (I was towed into Cuba, Ala., sold the car there on Monday and was given enough to pay the registration fee, property tax, and road and bridge tax on the new car).

Johnny

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 4, 2011 11:32 AM

Happy 4th of July (The 235th Anniversary of our Revolution) from the Eleanor Roosevelt Forum!!!!!

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 4, 2011 12:56 PM

1959 Corvette Test Drive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpVgmbD7D-c

 

 

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Posted by Modelcar on Monday, July 4, 2011 2:15 PM

......Beautiful web site....will get into it later.  Tricky too....Thanks for posting.

Quentin

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, July 4, 2011 4:05 PM

Quentin...Here is a '71 Corvette...Looks similar to my friends:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElMRtEKriy0

 

 

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Posted by Modelcar on Monday, July 4, 2011 9:00 PM

....Beautiful stuff Murray..!

I wouldn't need to go any further than that completely, frame off, restored 57 Corvette...Bright red...with the modern Corvette engine, and revised suspension....etc.

If money was no item....and maybe if I was a bit younger....I'd be serious about that red charmer....Just from what the fellow mentioned on the youtube video and what I see....I could take it, without driving it to check it out.

I have purchased a half dozen cars like that...Study what they are...evaluate the situation of the vehicle....and if it satisfies....grab it.

Quentin

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Posted by Lyon_Wonder on Thursday, July 7, 2011 3:04 PM

A historic Mississippi River St Louis riverboat, the SS Admiral has been sold for scrap and is currently being stripped and gutted. The SS Admiral, constructed between 1938-1940 on the hull from a pre-existing boat, was an excursion/tourist riverboat that cruised the Mississippi River, and later turned into a stationary casino at St Louis, MO in the 1990s.  My mom has memories of her and my grandparents taking a tourist trip on the SS Admiral when she was a child.

Here's a news article on the SS Admiral from the Belleville News Democrat.

http://www.bnd.com/2011/06/30/1768931/ss-admiral-finds-new-life-as-scrap.html

And here's another article with historical pics of this riverboat.

http://maritimematters.com/2011/04/the-admiral-nearing-final-journey-to-scrapyard/

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY STEVE NAGY - News-Democrat

Workers are stripping down the SS Admiral, reducing and recycling what was once the world's largest inland entertainment vessel.

They are on the second of the top two levels. A crew of about six workers with Gateway Marine Services is removing the level that formerly held the boat's galley, buffet and poker room when it was the President Casino.

"The boat's being recycled," said Gateway Marine Services spokesman Bill Kline.

He said the job must be done carefully.

"Old boats tend to be like an archeological dig. ... The materials are in layers, so you have to be very conscious of flammable material. So, you can't just break out the torches and go at it."

Workers are using saws and other tools to pick the Admiral apart, in addition to using cutting torches, Kline said.

The work beneath the Martin Luther King Bridge will take about a month. Then the boat will be ready to go to Alton or Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis for completion of the salvage work.

"Alton is preferable, since the access is a little better and the river conditions don't change as much because of the proximity to the Alton Locks and Dam," Kline said.

River conditions might dictate which location is feasible. "When the river gets down below flood stage, we'll be able to move the boat," Kline said.

The hull of the boat was built in 1907 for use as a railroad ferry to shuttle rail cars across the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Miss. It was first named the Albatross.

It was later converted and put into passenger service in 1940 by the Streckfus family in St. Louis. It was used for Mississippi River excursions until 1979. Its propulsion system was removed and the boat was moored because of deterioration of the boat's hull.

The Admiral was put back in service in 1987 and was used as a floating entertainment venue by Six Flags, but didn't sail. That venture later failed, but in 1994 President Casinos bought the vessel and converted it into a riverboat casino. It was permanently moored just north of the Gateway Arch, but the casino closed for good in 2010 was sold for scrap.

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 23, 2011 11:47 AM

And now for somethign completely different:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztA0AJxHqQ8

 

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 23, 2011 11:48 AM

And now the entire short:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wB6c38yvVo

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 23, 2011 11:48 AM

And now....an all time classic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_K1Vju0r6Q

 

 

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 23, 2011 11:51 AM
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 23, 2011 11:54 AM
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 23, 2011 2:06 PM
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, October 23, 2011 2:08 PM
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 3:22 PM
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 3:27 PM
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Posted by AgentKid on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 4:46 PM

Are these the same links you posted over in the Cafe? The one with the dancers and GM's 1955 models was very peculiar. It would be far too suggestive and sexist to be used as a commercial today, yet it doesn't quite rise to the level of porn! You could maybe call it car-porn!

It was neat to see the Buick portion of the film. Back in high school, there was a lot of cruising done in what had been my friend's parents '55 Buick Special. That model, of course, had far fewer options than the one shown in the film, but it still brought back a lot of memories.

The clip of all of the new 1960 Fords brought back memories. Another friend had inherited his mothers early sixties Falcon. He took me out for a ride in it one day. I don't remember if those original ones had fours or sixes. This one though had an automatic transmission. He would step on it as hard as he could, but the acceleration was so appallingly bad we were just killing ourselves laughing. And it seemed to be working exactly as it should, there were no untoward or unexpected noises at all. That was just the way it was.

And our '59 Pontiac was a Strato-Chief, the Canadian base model.

Bruce

 

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

"O. S. Irricana"

. . . __ . ______

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