Friday Night Steam

Steam powered cars? 

You 'betcha!

 What fun!

Twins Francis E. Stanley (1849–1918) and Freelan O. Stanley (1849–1940) founded the company, after selling their photographic dry plate business to Eastman Kodak. They made their first car in 1897. During 1898 and 1899, they produced and sold over 200 cars, more than any other U.S. maker.^[1] In 1899, Freelan and his wife Flora drove one of their cars to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the highest peak in the northeastern United States. The ascent took more than two hours and was notable as being the first time a car had climbed the 7.6 miles (12.2 km) long Mount Washington Carriage Road; the descent was accomplished by putting the engine in low gear and braking extensively.  The Stanleys later sold the rights to this early design to Locomobile, and in 1902 they formed their own Stanley Motor Carriage Company.


Early Stanley cars had light wooden bodies mounted on tubular steel frames by means of full-elliptic springs. Steam was generated in a vertical fire-tube boiler, mounted beneath the seat, with a vaporizing gasoline (later, kerosene) burner underneath. The boiler was reinforced by several layers of piano wire wound around it, which gave it a strong but relatively light-weight shell. In early models, the vertical fire-tubes were made of copper, and were expanded into holes in the upper and lower crown sheets.^[3] In later models, the installation of a condenser caused oil-fouling in the expansion joints, and welded steel fire-tubes had to be used. The boilers were reasonably safe, since they were fitted with safety valves. Even if these failed, any dangerous over pressure would rupture one of the joints long before the boiler shell itself could burst. The resulting leakage would relieve the boiler pressure and douse the burner, with very little risk to the passenger. There is not a single documented incident of a Stanley boiler exploding.
The engine had two double-acting cylinders, side-by-side and equipped with slide-valves, and it was a simple-expansion type. Drive was transmitted directly by the crankshaft to a rear-mounted differential through using a chain. Owners often modified their Locomobiles by adding third-party accessories, including improved lubricators, condensers, and devices which eased the laborious starting procedure.
To overcome patent difficulties with the design they had sold to Locomobile, the Stanley brothers developed a new model with twin-cylinder engines geared directly to the rear axle. Later models had aluminium coachwork that resembled the internal combustion cars of the time, but they retained steam-car features by having no transmission, clutch, or driveshaft. They also had a fully sprung tubular steel frame.
When they later moved the steam boiler to the front of the vehicle, the owners dubbed it the "coffin nose." The compact engine ran at considerable steam pressure, with the 10HP boiler described in 1912 at having the safety valve set at "650 pounds" (psi), with the burner set to automatically cut back when pressure reached "500 pounds". The twin-cylinder steam engines were at that time 10HP, with 3.25-inch bore and 4.25-inch stroke, and 20HP with 4-inch bore and 5-inch stroke, and made extensive use of ball bearings. In order to improve range, condensers were added from 1915.
A Stanley Steamer set the world record for the fastest mile in an automobile (28.2 seconds) in 1906. This record (127 mph (204 km/h)) was not broken by any automobile until 1911, although Glen Curtiss beat the record in 1907 with a V-8-powered motorcycle at 136 mph (219 km/h). The record for steam-powered automobiles was not broken until 2009.
Production rose to 500 cars in 1917.
The Stanley Steamer was sometimes nicknamed "The Flying Teapot". At least one Stanley Steamer found its way to Castle Hill, New South Wales, Australia where it was driven in the late 1920s.


Info taken  from here:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Motor_Carriage_Company

 :o)