Early version of the Sperry Detector Car

[dmdrake]

I was visiting with my parents this morning. They gave me another box of family photos. Deep in the box was this photo of my grandfather, Harcourt C. Drake, and his testing crew, c.1930, with an early version of the Sperry Detector Car which he developed.

Dave

 

[LVman]

wow, so i guess you actually have a part in the sperry rail car's developement!
Nice shot too!

 

[arum]

Very nice picture! It is cool that your family helped in the designing!

 

[seeseeme]

So David rails in one way or the other is in you blood, excellent photo. I love looking at my family photo's but sometimes find it hard to think I look great when young compared to now.

 

[nbrettoner]

So David rails in one way or the other is in you blood, excellent photo. I love looking at my family photo's but sometimes find it hard to think I look great when young compared to now.

Dave,

So then.
Nerves of steel, & rusty blood eh?

Hi Craig,
Did you send that email to me??. (Have I missed it)?
I only use the back of the mirror these dayz.
The front's just too scary!

 

[ish6]

WOW Dave!!! I bet that's a great feeling to have, when we might discovered that one of our family members did something we enjoy now playing with ...


Ishie

 

[colhad]

Hey Dave, have you ever tried making rollingstock, the Sperry would be a good project for you.

 

[dmdrake]

A bit more history.

For those of you who are interested in a bit of history about the development of the Sperry Detector Car this link will take you to the site I built about my grandfather and his work at Sperry. I built the site in 1996 so some of the external links may be broken.

 

[chrisracer8903]

Wow! That is great history there Dmdrake! Be proud of that! The only history my family has on the railroad is how my great grandpa got killed on the job on GTW. -Chris

 

[drewman]

And then how Chris almost got a job on CSX

CSXy BEAST

 

[perry_weekley]

Dude feel lucky your family was in the railroading more then mine. All i know about my family is that 1 of my gradpa's in the past worked for the railroad switching tracks in a yard. But you! You got a real piece of history in your family I mean he went to all those places testing. You really are a lucky dog. All I can say is Cherish those photos and letters and most of all don't sell them. They are worth more to the family who wrote/took them then someone who buys it.

 

[LVman]

My hfamily has a history of railraoding too!
on my fathers side, my grandfather(his dad) worked in a Car Shop in Rochester NY. My Great Grandfather worked as a track worker, or 'gandy dancer' in a section gang.
on my mother's side, Believe it or not, i am related to Ezra Cornell, the man who single handedly started Cornell University, and he had a tie in the delevopement of the LEHIGH VALLEY!
BTW, Ezra, is, erhm, well, was my great great great grandfather.

sorry to hi-jack your thread Dave!

 

[ZapperJet]

My Uncle worked for the Pocahontas lumber company. I think if you go to the database at www.shaylocomotives.com and go to S/N 1603 there's a picture of the shay he worked on, uploaded by myself.

Cheers,
John

 

[PVincent342]

My uncle was on the Pheonix Cardinals

Also my Grandfather was an engineer on the Boston&Maine and the MBTA