Trucks, the Motor Parkway and the Vanderbilt Cup Races
On Wednesday night, I will be presenting "The Vanderbilt Cup Races, the Motor Parkway and Trucks" at the Long Island Chapter of the American Truck Historical Society. The presentation will be held at the Sound Beach Fire Department beginning at 7:30 PM. For more information contact Dennis Ryan at 1-631-821-4845.
Trucks?? As shown in the above sign, the Long Island Motor Parkway was only for passenger cars. Due to the low ceilings of the bridges, all trucks were banned from the roadway. However, trucks were ever present in building the Motor Parkway and servicing the races. Here are some examples:
This photo is Al Velocci's favorite in the "Building"section of our book. The transition from the horse-powered age to the 20th century mechanical era was never more evident here. The steam-powered tractor is removing topsoil while the horse-drawn wagon is replenishing the tractor's supply as needed.
This truck from the Maxwell-Briscoe Motor Company brought excited fans to the 1906 Vanderbilt Cup Race.
Warm coffee was served at the 1909 Vanderbilt Cup Race in Thermos bottles from a truck designed especially for the American Thermos Bottle Company. Insulated Thermos bottles were first manufactured in the United States in Brooklyn in 1907.
November 26, 2009 Update: It was a fun pre-Thanksgiving celebration last night with over 30 members of the Long Island Chapter of the Antique Truck Historical Society discussing the Vanderbilt Cup Races, the Motor Parkway and trucks with me.
Denis Ryan (left) , President of the Long Island Chapter of ATHS, and Howard Kroplick
The certificate presented by Denis to me.Over $450 for Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) was raised during the evening.
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-Recent comments on the potential Motor Parkway Trailway
Comments
Howard, Howard, Howard! At your presentation before ATHS, did you mention that the Parkway owned several trucks over the years that were used by their road repair crew? The most relevant being a Fulton Truck which was built in Farmingdale and purchased in the early 1920’s. There are only 2 Fulton trucks known to have survived, one of them a 1918 model, is at the Cradle of Aviation Museum at Mitchel Field. Al Velocci
Al, Al, good point! Unfortunately, I have never seen a photo of the Motor Parkway trucks. Does anyone have one? If so, please email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).