The Hempstead Control in the 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race
The 1904 Vanderbilt Cup Race consisted of ten laps of the 30-mile course with controls in Hicksville and Hempstead.
At the controls, the drivers were required to stop between two tapes 25 feet apart, and, upon doing so, their arrival time was recorded and handed to an escort, who was on a bicycle. If a driver failed to come to a halt between the tapes the clock kept running until they backed up and stopped. Then cars were then inspected and allowed to proceed slowly over railroad tracks led by officials on bicyles.
In Hicksville, the cars were required to spend 3 minutes in control and in Hempstead 6 minutes. After that their departure time was recorded on the card and dropped in the box. The entrance and exit times were then reported to the officials’ grandstand by telephone for consolidated record keeping and race tracking.
As you can see here, the Hempstead Control made a wonderful photo opportunity.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Comments
Do you know exactly where these old pictures were taken?
Thanks.
-joe o
As always,it’s amazing what you find and keep us all informed about it,there’s always something interesting ,that’s why this is one of the top rated sites and most used. Keep it coming.
Joe, that will need a little more research. Who is up for the challenge?
I’ve been searching and found something. The #17 Simplex breaking down near the end of the race at Hemstead Control,it lost the left rear tire. #16 is the Gray Wolf and there’s the Fiat filling station. How’d I do?