Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 107, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1915 — AUTO RUNS ON TRACK [ARTICLE]

AUTO RUNS ON TRACK

CAN BE EASILY CONVERTED INTO RAILROAD CAR. Ono Is In Use for inspection Purposes on a Loading Line—Steel Tire Made to Fit Over the Pneumatic. The latest feature in railroad Inspection cars is a flanged steel tire that can be fitted securely over a pneumatic tire, thus making an ordinary automobile suitable for running on a railroad track, and a seven-pas-senger touring car equipped in this way is already in use on one of the leading American railroads. The steel tire has the tread and flange- of a standard railroad tire, but is provided with a deep groove on the inner surface into which the pneumatic tire fits. The pneumatic tire'is first partly deflated and the steel tire is slipped over it, after which the pneumatic tire is inflated until it comes to a firm bearing in the groove of the steel tire. With this arrangement, the pneumatic tire serves its original purpose of absorbing the shock and vibration. When operating on the railroad track the steering gear is locked by clamping the steering knuckle, with the wheels lined up for going straight ahead. —Popular Mechanics.