A Rare 1907 ~FRENCH~ Westinghouse? ? ?

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Yeah I was SHOCKED when I saw it too because I had NO idea just how far or wide the Westinghouse name spread! 

 

I toured this privately owned collection today (but open to the public and free).  They have 260 cars in the collection, but only about 200 on display at any one time.   They also have large collection of hood ornaments, among other things, including a 1937 Canadian Pacific steam locomotive and a 1912 pullman rail car.

 

It's the Nethercutt Collection.  The link is their website.   

http://www.nethercuttcollection.org/

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

Aside from all the absolutely STUNNING cars in the collection, I think the highlight is all of the mechanical musical instruments and especially the music room on the 4th floor.

 

They have a Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ (from 1918) with 5000 pipes!   Also a number of music boxes, musical watches, pianos that will play them selves and orchestrions!  Along with all the cars in the collection, Every one of the musical items are 100% functional and playable.  The played a number of them for us, including 4 selections on the Mighty Wurlitzer!   Everything sounded amazing!

 

The orchestrion in photo #10 is the largest standing about 12 tall and about 20 feet wide.  This one has essentially a full 108 piece orchestra inside it, in addition to the two accordions you can see at either end!

 

I could post more photos, but these are some of the highlights.  

 

I hope you enjoyed my little tour!    

 

Kevin

 

http://www.nethercuttcollection.org/MusicRoom.aspx

 

[arbilab]

Westinghouse CAR? I had no idea.

I'm a mechanical musicologist, albeit rather narrowminded. I only want a Wurlitzer 165 band organ. A working one only costs a quarter million $. I'd love to have a collection of orchestrions, but even if I had that kind of money at some point I'd have to feed the starving and save the whales.

 

[petek]

Wonderful collection

I've never heard of it before and free as well. Can't beat that. Of course I'm partial to that CPR Royal Hudson locomotive as I worked my whole career at the CPR. You can instantly recognize a Royal Hudson over a regular Hudson because of the royal warrant on the front fenders. One other of the remaining few used to pull a tourist train out of North Vancouver up the coast to Squamish back in the 70's and 80's which I took advantage of a few times.

 

[firedome]

The Nethercutt Collection...

is among the best known collections among car aficianados, up there with Black Hawk, and Harrah's before that was dispersed. I believe J.B Nethercutt was a good friend and contemporary of Bill Harrah, as well as the nephew of Merle Nethercutt Norman, of cosmetics fame, and he ran that company. I'll take that Cad V-16 Phaeton in pic 6 or the silver custom body Duesenberg in pic 9, please.

 

[tomturbomatic]

In my electrical industry magazines from the 40s, there are lots of ads for electric milk trucks, silence being their great virtue, as well as other delivery vehicles. like the electric utilities are hoping for here, they were charged on off peak power so that boilers could be kept firing and generators running instead of costly tapering down which is easier to do with hydro power than steam.

There was a market for electric cars here when women started to drive since there was no dangerous cranking which could break an arm if the cranker did not let go of the rod fast enough. I have told before about the Timex ad when electric watches were introduced in the early 60s and the lady is walking out to her car saying that an electric is not such an innovation; she had been driving one for 50 years and with that she turns on a tall spare vehicle that looks like Macbeth on Bewitched and drives off into the night with a Carson Pirie Scott Store in the background.

Incidentally, I found this early television commercial archive that you might enjoy.

http://m.buffalolib.org/archiveplay.php?moviecat=77

 

[a440]

Fun Commercials Tom!!

Thanks for the link. 

 

Here is a appliance safety PSA.

 

http://ia600500.us.archive.org/6/items/PrudentialSafetyPSA/PrudentialSafetyPSA_512kb.mp4

 

[tolivac]

Automatic musical instruments!!Cinema Orfgans--Esp Wurlitzer!!!Love these-wish I could have a 165,too!and a Decap and Ruth to go with the Wurlitzer.Strange--sometimes I have dereams about owning such devices-wish those dreams would come true!To buy ANY automatic musical instrument you will need to be a lotterywinner!Knew a person that collected this type of equipment,and let me play his Mortier dance hall organ.WAs fun!!Load the music book in the book player in the back-then run around to the front to listen.Would consider any of these to be the ULTIMATE HI-FI!!REAL instruments playing for you.I can't play usual instruments-but these arfe better for me.There is a Wurlitzer 165 organ on the merry-go-round in Lenn Echo Park,near Wash DC.So miss going to the park on the weekends and listening to the organ and riding the Carrosel.So now I have many recording of these organs and listening to them on YouTube.

 

[arbilab]

You have "Breezes" I and II? Juzzso happens I has the tunes I remember from Kennywood Park Pittsburgh when I was ~5. Hearing them again almost 50yrs later regressed me, 10min nervous breakdown. Had I not known what was happening, would have terrified me. Rolled up on the floor laughing and crying uncontrollably at the same time.

This is why psychologists don't regularly practice regression; it's the most dramatically effective therapy but it's too intense for all but the sturdiest patients. Yeh, I've been different since then. What with Aspy, I'm intensely aural and I never had time to assimilate those tunes.

Only trouble with the 165, it's meant to broadcast to an entire midway. In a confined space it would be deafening. How did they get an entire organ in such a small space? Well it's not an entire organ. It only plays in the key of G, which required some tapdancing arranging for the rolls. 'Stars & Stripes Forever' has some real questionable notes trying to accomodate its range.