THE COLLECTION 



Automobiles and Motorcycles 

 in the United States National Museum 



ROPER STEAM VELOCIPEDE, about 1869 

 Lent by John H. Bacon in 1956 (USNM 314809) 



The oldest self-propelled road vehicle in the National 

 Museum collection is the steam-propelled velocipede (fig. 

 23) built in the late 1860's by Sylvester H. Roper of 

 Roxbury, Mass. 



Although the machine appears to be a converted veloc- 

 ipede, examination reveals that the frame is a forging made 

 expressly for the purpose. It is mounted on two 34-inch- 

 diameter wooden-spoked velocipede wheels having wooden 

 felloes and iron-band tires. The front wheel is supported 

 in a forged wrought-iron fork surmounted by a straight 

 handle bar with wooden grips. Foot rests are placed at 

 the bottom of the fork. The wheelbase is 49 inches. 



A vertical, fire-tube boiler is suspended between the 

 wheels, and a chimney projects backwards at an angle 

 from the top of the boiler housing. The lower half of the 

 housing is the firebox, the grate of which is now missing. 

 A small circular door on the left side of the firebox allows 

 charcoal to be placed inside. The housing is suspended 

 from the center of the frame by means of a spring-loaded 

 hanger intended to absorb some of the road shock to which 

 the vehicle was subjected, and is braced at the bottom by 

 two stay rods connected to the rear of the frame. 



A hand-operated water pump is mounted vertically on 

 the left forward side of the boiler housing. Three water- 

 level cocks are located nearby. A drain valve is placed at 

 the left rear of the base of the boiler. 



387610 O -57 -3 



33 



