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New York, June 1906. "REO Mountaineer, New York to San Francisco and back." Percy Megargel and David Fassett pass Huber's Hotel on 162nd Street in the Bronx at the end of their 10-month, 11,000-mile trip in a 16-horsepower touring car. Note the unpaved street at the present-day location of Yankee Stadium. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The young man in front of the car is holding a "portable" camera. Looks like a single lens reflex large format camera. Working pretty much like a Hasselblad, but with much better resolution than a medium format camera like the Hasselblad. Very cool to see such a camera in action.
Can be found in the comments for the previous post on the trip. Including this article. And interestingly enough, Percy Megargel wrote "The Car and the Lady," a fictionalized account of his journey wrapped in a love story.
Back in those days, a car would need major maintinance after 11,000 miles. Rods and main bearings needed adjusting and valves needed lapping. Most likely these vary things were done on the trip. No telling how many tires and how much oil they went through.
Mr. Megargel appears to be suffering a bit in the sacroiliac.
It appears they were ready for serious trouble with the rifle in the side holster. Or maybe a little game hunting?
[The gun was for wolves. Details in the comments here. - Dave]
Back in those days, before steel belted tires, it was not unusual for cars to experience flat tires every few miles. I wonder how many tires they took with them for that 11,000 mile journey, especially driving through Death Valley.
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