[Heading North On] The City of New Orleans

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swestoyz

swestoyz

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Cedar Falls, IA
Long time AW friend Todd from NOLA recently decided to sell off some of his collection. The first hit on the AW radar came through Shoppers Square, and shortly after he made a post letting folks know what he was selling off, etc.

I reached out to Todd to get the skinny and we worked out a deal for three of his washers to uproot and move north to the cornfields of Iowa.

Now, if this transaction had been done about 5 decades ago, a trip south via Illinois Central would have involved a passenger line, made famous by a folk song from the 70's...



(astute readers will note that the trip would have also involved getting to Chicago from Waterloo, via the Land-O-Corn route, eastbound, as seen below from Cedar Falls, circa 1967)

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A few days ago, and green grass in NOLA!

Instead, and in this day and age, it is much easier to hire someone with a Mercedes van to haul the items for you. (for anyone who is looking for a reasonable and reliable shipper to move washers send me a PM and I'll relay over the contact info for Al).

All packed up and ready to head north!

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And in the spirit of old AW, it's time to guess which washers made the trek based on the backs of them!

The far right should be pretty easy, but any guesses on the left and middle?

I'll post the reveal shortly....

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Not much gets past you guys these days! Yes Paul, the one on the left is a Hotpoint, and Bob is spot on with the center being a Philco, and obviously the far right is a Frigidaire. The cabinets on these Philcos are strange; you almost have to lift the top to access the hoses on the water valve.

Overall these machines are great examples of their make and brand, oddly all being built within about 4 years of each other.

I had a chance to wipe down each yesterday afternoon. The porcelain cabinet and top are really nice on the WI-65 Frigidaire, and thankfully I have a minty tub and an NOS Jet Cone kit that will go in. I found a spare push button assembly last night in the parts stash but unfortunately of all the spare control knobs that are present in the stash, I didn't have the correct one. The one installed bottoms out and rubs on the porcelain top. It needs one with the longer threaded shaft. Mechanically it sounded great!

The 1966 model year Philco (but probably made between '67 - '69) is mechanically in wonderful shape and the rubber parts are in great shape. Todd wasn't kidding about the rust though. Eventually it would really benefit from full sanding and filling of the low spots, and a fresh coat of paint. The timer needs some TLC and hopefully with a few I have in the parts stash it shouldn't take much to get this one up and going, as-is. Even as a BOL machine, the panel on these is really stunning.

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Taylor Ave Chicago Hotpoint!

And finally, the Hotpoint. All I have to say is - W O W. This machine certainly was barely used and it is very apparent it sat dormant for decades. I pulled the control panel off last night and it appears a light can be installed fairly easily. It no longer agitates nor spins, which will require disassembly of the clutch/pulley and brake assembly for inspection. BUT - it has all of the bits for the filter! Oddly, it appears to have a 1968 model number but it clearly has a brake, so I'm not sure exactly when this one was built. The model number arrangement is pre-1971, so maybe it's a hold over into the '69 model year. Who knows - documentation on these is SCARCE.

As I work on these I'll keep you posted on the results!

Ben

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Ben, I have to admit I "cheated" a bit. I remember what all Todd had in his collection and I took a guess as to what of the unique ones you would want and I guessed correctly. I remember when he got the Philco. I think this is the same model that is used in a POD Borateem commercial.
 
That Philco is very similar to the model my folks bought in 1969. Ours may have been MOL because it had another knob to the left of the timer knob (maybe normal/gentle?) But the very attractive styling and color scheme was the same.

Our machine lasted all the way to 1986. I’m stoked to see this one saved!
 
Very nice. Enjoy.

Does the Hotpoint use the same 2 speed clutch as the GE Filter-Flo did to give normal and gentle speeds?
 
Loved seeing The City of New Orleans pulling out of the train shed!  That brings back memories of traveling by train between Chicago and the Bay Area when I was a kid.  There was an air of excitement and anticipation when arriving and departing Chicago, where day turned to night once you entered the shed.  On track after track there were trains coming, going, and waiting, with exteriors painted in their signature colors or bright ribbed stainless steel,  lit up inside with passengers headed in every direction. 

 

I guess this still happens in Chicago today but with commuter lines, since Amtrak is the only longer haul game in the U.S., and a lame one at that.

 

P.S.

I used to enjoy the false sensation of moving when actually it was the next train over that was pulling out while ours was still open for boarding.

[this post was last edited: 12/21/2018-21:29]
 
great score x3

Any of those 3 would be a great addition to any collection! :). Re:reply#11,these hotpoints,1958-72 design,used a 2 speed reversing motor-later version was GE filter-flo design.
 
The Hotpoint is my favorite of the three by far, I'm surprised to see the color of tub being speckled like that so late in the 60's for Hotpoint.

I may have some service documentation for the brake and clutch assembly of the final design of the solid tub Hotpoint if you need.
 
wish i could time travel..

...back to 1981 and fetch "my"Hotpoint before it was buried in the landfill:parents bought it new in 1970-HG with white tub and light blue agitator,coppertone accents on the control panel-a real beauty!No trouble at all for the first 9 yrs,then had to repair leakey pump-next problem was one of the 3 friction pads came off the clutch-a ~1965 parts machine provided replacement parts-final breakdown was when the"sediment ejector tube(of aluminum)corroded and broke apart,achunk lodging in the pump and jamming it.In 1981,new pumps were stil avalible,but nothing else.A white Rollermatic was at its side in the landfill grave :)
 
Thanks for the kind comments, everyone! I started a new thread about the Hotpoint -----

www.automaticwasher.org

The Hotpoint - Part 1

I've had some time to dig into the Hotpoint since it first arrived last Thursday. But first, I figured it was time to recap some history regarding this machine. Back in 2004 (yes, 14 years ago), this washer, along with a somewhat matching gas dryer popped up on eBay. Todd down in NOLA won the...
www.automaticwasher.org www.automaticwasher.org
 

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