"1903 1st transcontinental auto trip begins in SF; arrives NY 3-mo later"
Saw a documentary on this a few years back. The driver and his mechanic made the trip, nothing pre planned, just loaded up and headed out...
They mostly followed rail road tracks, asked directions, got lost a lot! No drivable roads, no gas stations, tires were constantly flat, car ran on a dry cell battery ignition, which required a steady supply of fresh batteries. They would telegraph ahead to where they thought they would be to have supplies shipped ahead.
Constant break downs! They would have to get a farmer and his horse to drag them to the nearest blacksmith shop to hammer out a new part.
They would have to cross rivers, charge into the water full speed, block and tackle the car out the other side, drain the oil and gas, separate the water, put it back in! Once a rod went through the block doing the water charge... Had a blacksmith make a new one, hammer weld the block, back on the road!
The driver was Dr. Nelson Jackson, a newlywed. Being madly in love with his wife, he wrote her daily letters, detailing every event, so inadvertently documenting the entire trip! He kept the car running into the '40s, even used it as a daily driver! It's in the Smithsonian, hr donated it shortly before his death.
Very interesting documentary, caught it on PBS, not sure if it's available, if anyone can find it I'd sure like to see it again!
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