Figure 13. — J. Frank Duryea looking over the Russell shop lathe on which 

 he turned parts for the first Duryea vehicle. Photo taken about 10,44. 

 (Courtesy of the Springfield Union.) 



bicycles in the same area, but who occasionally 

 assisted on the carriage. Russell Company records 

 show time charged against Charles Duryea by six 

 other Russell employees: W. J. Russell, P. Colgan, 

 C. E. Merrick, T. Shea, L. J. Parmelee, and A. A. 

 Poissant. 



It is Frank Duryea's remembrance that he started 

 work on Monday, April 4. He first removed the 

 body, with its springs, and placed it on a pair of 

 wooden horses where it remained until the summer of 

 the following year. The next step was to remove 

 the rear axle and take it to a blacksmith shop where 

 the old axle spindles were cut off and welded to a 

 new drop-center axle. Following this the front axle 



spindles were removed, the ends of the axle slotted, 

 and a webbed, C-shaped piece carrying the kingpin 

 bearings was fitted into each slot, braced from under- 

 neath by short brackets which were riveted and brazed 

 in place. The old spindles then were welded to the 

 center of offset kingpins which in turn were mounted 

 in their bearings in a manner similar to that in which 

 the frame of the Columbia high-wheeled bicycle was 

 mounted in its fork. Arms welded to the lower end 

 of the kingpins were connected by the tie rods to an 

 arm on the lower end of the vertical steering column, 

 located on the center of the axle. 



While work on the running gear advanced, some 

 progress was made in the construction of the engine. 



10 



BULLETIN 240: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



