J. M. McPhail.

The writer of this article has been requested to tell the readers of Amateur Work how he built a steam-propelled carriage at an expenditure of about three hundred dollars and a year's labor at odd times.

Having seen several of the different makes, and deciding to copy as nearly as possible one of the standard designs and leave the freak carriages to those caring to experiment, I started to take measurements of the different parts from the machines I saw in the streets and at the different exhibitions when they were to be seen. I managed to get all the correct measurements and lines of the standard vehicles.

The hubs were made first and were turned out of bar machine steel and made to be fitted with ball bearings. The cups for the balls were made out of the best tool steel that could be obtained, and were hardened, tempered and ground inside and out and then pressed into the hub. The hubs were drilled with holes for the spokes, and, after being nickel-plated, were ready for the spokes.

The rims were bought from a dealer for a small amount and drilled for the spokes to correspond with the hubs. These are 30" in diameter and fitted' with a 21/2" tire, which latter being built up, made a nice set of wheels, and being fitted with heavy spokes made them very strong.

The axles were procured from a manufacturer of drop forgings. They were turned in a lathe and fitted with the cones for the ball bearings.

The next and hardest part of the work was making the wooden patterns for the different castings of steel, for connecting the frame of steel tubing.

There are so many manufacturers who now make drop forgings, that there is no need of making patterns. Simply buy the forgings and machine them. This is cheaper than making patterns and having them cast.

The frame was designed to have, and fitted with, two long reaches, which strengthen the running gear of the vehicle.

The tubing for the frame of the running gear was 11/2" in diameter and heavy No. 10 gauge. Having cut and bent it to the proper shape, it was brazed into place and filed and finished up. The wheels and elliptical springs were then put on.

The running gear was then ready for the body. I purchased the body of a carriage dealer and finished it myself.

A body for a steam vehicle can be bought for from fifteen to twenty-five dollars for a one-seated carriage and thirty to fifty for a double or surrey. This price is in the white, and the finish is extra.

Most of the readers of this article will think that the boiler where the steam is generated is very difficult to make, but in reality it is very simple. The boiler was made from a fourteen-inch piece of copper water-tank and is fifteen inches high, with two steel flanges or rings slipped over the ends, and then taken to a coppersmith and the ends of the copper shell flanged over to fit the steel rings. The two pieces of copper for heads were fourteen inches in diameter, by one-quarter of an inch in thickness. These were first drilled with three hundred half-inch holes and were then riveted on to the shell. The copper tubes, No. 20 gauge, were set in and expanded on the ends so as to make them tight under pressure. The boiler was next wound with three layers of piano wire one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, which gives great tensile strength. This boiler, on a cold-water test, stood six hundred pounds pressure, and the writer has had three hundred pounds steam pressure and it has held tight.

On the subject of engines, it is useless for an amateur, unless very well equipped, to try and build one, as it takes so many special tools and patterns that, unless one has the time and money, it is a great deal cheaper to buy one. A good one can be procured for about eighty-five dollars, all ready to take steam. The engine should be large enough to furnish about four horse-power at a steam pressure of one hundred and fifty pounds.

The next process was to get a water-tank built to furnish water for the boiler, which was set in the back of the carriage. The one I used holds thirty-five gallons of water. There are also required two tanks to set under the footboard, to hold about nine gallons of gasolene. Also a copper tank to hold air to force gasolene to the burner, and a common bicycle pump to pump up the air pressure.

The next work was the assembling the different parts and fitting the piping to the steam and water gauges and burner for use under boiler. The latter is a stock article and can be procured from dealers. After everything was assembled and made to operate satisfactorily, the carriage was taken to pieces and the different parts painted and varnished, and the frame enameled the same as a bicycle frame.

The seat was upholstered in black leather, the bright works were nickel-plated, and the carriage again put together on the street as the work of construction was done in the cellar of the writer's house. Water was put into the tank and boiler, gasolene in the fuel tank and everything gotten ready for a start. The burner was lighted, and in a very few minutes there were eighty pounds of steam. The writer then stepped into the carriage, took the throttle in his right hand and the steering lever in the other and gently gave her steam. The carriage immediately started up a small hill and proceeded to the stable under steam. The thrill of delight as the carriage moved off was one of the most pleasant that can be imagined, as it meant that the work had been successful. The carriage was taken out on the road for several nights following and tuned up, and the little adjustments made that were needed, so that, in the short space of a week, it was running smoothly and with very little noise.

As the writer has said before, such a carriage can be built for three hundred dollars, not counting labor, and will weigh eight hundred pounds and carry three persons. It is one of the most satisfactory investments of time and money I ever made, and I am well satisfied with the results of my labors.