The “Tractobile”: How Carlisle Almost Eclipsed Detroit as an Automotive Center

Carlisle was an optimistic town on the move in the early 1900’s and as the new century dawned it was welcomed with “Such a clanging of bells, blowing of whistles, shooting of guns, etc., as was never heard before, even on mornings of the glorious fourths.”¹²

In 1901 Carlisle’s population was nearing 10,000 and the town’s leaders were actively promoting the growth of business and industry by means of a group referred to as the Board of Trade. The Fifth Ward, an early example of a planned community, included a number of industries, while on the east end of town the Manufacturing Company, the Chain Works and others factories were busy.

The primary means of local transportation was the horse while long distance travel was provided by two railroads and two trolley lines. The dominant railroad was the Cumberland Valley Railroad which operated 23 passenger trains each day during the week on High Street and numerous freight trains on the by-pass line. The smaller Reading Railroad served Carlisle via a branch that ended on East High Street near Spring Garden Street. The Reading operated 15 daily trains into and out of town and the railroad thought enough of Carlisle to name one of its ocean going tug boats after the town in 1901.

By the summer of 1901 a trolley line was in operation between Carlisle and Mechanicsburg with branches to Cave Hill and the Indian School while another company operated trolleys between Carlisle and Mount Holly.

The town was also home to three newspapers, The Volunteer, The Herald and The Sentinel. Each provided their own perspective on local, state and national events, and as will be seen, the events that unfold below.

Carlisle celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1901 and few realized as it did so that they were on the verge of a major revolution in transportation that would drastically change not only their town but also the American culture in the coming decades. The automobile age was upon them.

The roots of the American automobile industry can be traced to 1772 when Oliver Evans conceived the idea of an internal combustion engine. By 1787 he had shifted his efforts to building a steam powered wagon and in 1805 he built the first vehicle in America to move under its own power on land. It was actually a harbor dredge that propelled itself on land.

The development of the automobile progressed by fits and starts between 1805 and 1896 – the latter year considered by many to be the birth year of the industry. By 1899 there were 30 manufacturers producing 2,500 cars per year. Not all the early automobiles were successful and it took some time for the industry to shake out the winners and losers. It was not until 1908 that Ford, started in 1903, began production of the Model T. From that point the industry would start to consolidate, although this process would take many years. Also in the formative years there were three types of power: steam, electric and internal combustion. Here again it took a little time for a clear winner, obviously internal combustion, to emerge.³

While we take cars for granted they were not warmly accepted by society at the time. An article from the Sentinel in June 1903 provides some insight:

The Automobile in Cumberland

There are only six automobiles in Cumberland County. Every Auto must be registered in the Prothonatary’s office and regularly licensed. Thus far five have registered here, and one, Mr. Etnier, in Phila., by Arthur Etnier. Those registered are as follows:

No. 1 W. H. Newsham

No. 2 W. M. Henderson

No. 3 Geo. Welty

No. 4 J. W. Plank

No. 5 Hon. E. W. Biddle

No. 6 Arthur Etnier

When once licensed the machine has the right to use the public highways in all parts of the state subject however to certain restrictions. They may run at a speed not exceeding 14 miles per hour in the country and not exceeding eight miles an hour in boroughs. They are required to slow up in meeting a team and to use due care in trying to prevent driving accidents. Each auto is required to display its registered number in large figures at the rear of the machine. So if a machine rushes past you at the rate of twenty to sixty miles an hour, you need not try to learn the offender’s name – just see what number is displayed at the rear of the vehicle and you have the identity required. Besides this a police officer can stop an automobile anywhere and compel the driver to show his registration certificate.

Up to this time Cumberland leads in the way of automobiles and the adjoining country of Franklin has not yet introduced the horseless carriage.⁴

While this article was written in 1903 it provides a backdrop for the story that unfolds below starting in 1901. It should be noted that one of the key players in the events below was J. W. Plank, owner of the fourth car registered in Cumberland County.

A New Industry

The main headline in the American Volunteer of May 3, 1901 proclaimed “A New Industry Promised Carlisle” with a tag line that read “Automobiles of a Novel Type Will Be Manufactured Here”.

The headlines in the Sentinel were just as optimistic: “Carlisle May be the Location of a Great Industry” – “Automobiles to be Built Here”. It would be about a year until the town truly understood how unique the company was, the details of which are revealed in this narrative.

At the turn of the 20^th Century a number of Carlisle’s business leaders were actively promoting the development of the town and working to attract new industry with the goal of creating good paying manufacturing jobs.

With this end in view correspondence was started with the financial agent of Mr. E. J. Pennington, Philadelphia, who has been the most successful of the different automobile inventors and manufacturers. Matters were finally brought to such a conclusion that Mr. Pennington has asked to place his new inventions for the automobile in a company that will manufacture the same and will be located in Carlisle.

Before matters are finally concluded Mr. Pennington has agreed to demonstrate the success of his patents by building the same in town and has for that purpose undertaken today the work superintending their manufacture.

Mr. Pennington’s patents are at present in use in many of the factories of America and Europe and his gasoline automobile which was placed upon the market in England some time ago has been the most successful of its class.

Mr. Pennington has just returned from England where he has been interested in the manufacture of machines under his patents and has undertaken to enlist capitalists in America for the placing upon the market his new inventions. By means of those, the automobile will become a much simpler and cheaper machine and has every prospect of becoming the leading machine on the market.

The inventor is best known to the people of this vicinity by reason of his war ‘automobile’ which is considered to be the greatest invention of its kind and has aroused the interest of the officials of various governments.

Mr. Pennington will be domiciled at the Hotel Wellington during his stay in Carlisle. He is a man of striking physical appearance, being six feet in height and wonderfully well proportioned. There are concerned in the enterprise a number of our most energetic business men and the successful completion of the project will be a lasting benefit to the community.⁵

It is important to note that as this was written the automobile was in its infancy and visionaries could see the potential wealth to be derived; it was a time not unlike the beginning of the Cyber Age at the turn of the 21^st century. In mid-June 1901 the Volunteer published a lengthy article on the new company which was named the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company.

The Sentinel added some additional details:

Mr. Pennington has been one the most successful inventors of the century and has disposed of various patents to large manufacturing companies in both this country and in Europe.

Mr. Pennington has recently perfected his celebrated war machine which has caused so much stir in military circles all over the world. Russia and Japan have both secured at a high figure the right to use the invention in their countries. These machines are being manufactured by the Anglo-American Rapid Vehicle Company.⁶

And not to be outdone the Daily Herald also picked up the drum beat on the same day.

Mr. Pennington has recently taken out patents for a motor tractor which can be applied to the ordinary vehicle by the removal of the front wheels and can be made at a much lower figure than the locomobiles or automobiles upon the market. It is his intention to construct several machines which will demonstrate the efficiency of his patents whereupon a company will be formed with a large amount of capital to manufacture automobiles and motor tractors. This company will locate its factory in Carlisle and will employ several hundred men.⁷

Description of the Tractobile to Be Manufactured Here

The inhabitants of Carlisle are awaiting with interest the development of the new industry of building automobiles, which is making its headquarters amongst them, and which promises to make the name of Carlisle not only well known all over the United States, but throughout Europe and the civilized world. Already an initial order of considerable magnitude has been received from abroad, while leading stores in some of our largest cities are negotiating for the application of the ‘Tractobile’ (by which name the steam motor built here is known) to their present delivery wagons. Among the many points of excellence which the ‘Tractobile’ scores over rival motors is one which instantly commends it to express companies, to stores, and to present large users of vehicular traffic – the ‘Tractobile’ can be attached, as a whole, and in a few minutes, to any horse drawn vehicle, the only thing necessary for the conversion to a motor vehicle being the removal of the front wheels and axle and the substitution therefore of the ‘Tractobile’. Further it is interchangeable, that is, the same Tractobile can be used for several different types of carriages, and can be attached as easily as a horse is hitched up. When thought is given to the immense aggregate capital locked up on vehicles, the system which enables this plant to be utilized starts with much in its favor.

An output of 10,000 Tractobiles the first year will be arranged for. When the strength, simplicity and adaptability of the Tractobile is considered, combined with its very moderate price, even this output may very probably be exceeded….

The article went on to relate the history of how railroad technology had quickly developed and the parallels of that industry to the developing automobile business. After mentioning J. P. Morgan and the United States Steel Company the article went on to note

….and foreign capital is, we hear, behind our Steam Vehicle Company. It is to the alertness and enterprise of our townsman, J. W. Plank, that Carlisle is indebted for the location of this new industry here. Knowing that a manufacturer which would employ an intelligent, well paid class of mechanics was the particular need of Carlisle, he entered into communication with the people who control the patents and their financial backers, and by his representation of the advantages offered by Carlisle – competing railroads with cheap transportation, low rates, abundant building material, reasonable value of real estate, and his offer to take a substantial interest in the business, secured the new industry for Carlisle, and if incidentally, he has secured a good investment his townsmen will be very pleased to know it. Mr. Plank’s efforts were ably seconded by Mr. G. E. Mills.⁸

John W. Plank was a successful Carlisle businessman and at the time was President of the Imperial Dry Goods Company which traded as Plank’s store, then at the site of what later (1910) became Bowman’s Store, and the J. W. Plank Company which manufactured ladies and children’s wear. That company would later become the Carlisle Garment Company and under different owners, operated into the 1960s. He was also President of the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company being discussed here. He resided at 25 East High Street. George Edward Mills, a local attorney, was Secretary and Treasurer of the Vehicle Company. His offices were located at 18 Courthouse Avenue and his residence was 14 West High Street.

The Volunteer’s reporter became very much enthused with the prospects of the new company and the same article continued with more hyperbole:

When we consider the vast field open before the automobile, not merely for pleasure vehicles but for real business purposes, where their economy and efficiency will lead to wide adoption, it is not too sanguine a forecast to say, if the entire manufacture of the “Tractobile” is centered in Carlisle, the population within a few years will be doubled or tripled. Practically a new town will be built up, with its prosperity based upon an industry having wider applications and ramifications than the electric railroads….

The article which ran two full columns on page one was continued in two columns on page four.

The ‘Tractobile’ of course, is a steam engine, a wonderfully powerful weight considered, single one, with few parts, easily understood and manipulated; and as the power is direct acting without intermission of gears, there is no loss from friction, all the power generated gives effective service, and the ‘Tractobile’ is in consequence, the most economical engine in existence. There are many technical points we might dwell upon, particularly the unique method of generation of steam, but abundant opportunities will be afforded of learning these points by practical demonstration….

The article than veered off on a tangent that discussed the impact of the ‘Tractobile’ on the horse raising business of the area, part of which follows:

Instead of growing horses on the farm, and taking three or four years to do it, they will spring up in the factory in a couple of days, have sinews of steel, and be ready to untiringly obey the behest of man when he wishes to move quickly from place to place….It would be interesting to know what the horse, if endowed with speech, would say about its ‘friends,’ some of whom boast of their going twelve to fifteen miles an hour and keeping up the pace for several hours. Apart from the fact that those tales of phenomenal speed are generally fish stories, the horse might well say “Save me from my friends.” No, real lovers of horses may be glad that the poor animals are to be relieved of much drudgery and hardship thoughtlessly inflicted on them by their self-named friends.

The few indications we have thrown out, while not nearly exhausting the subject, will give our readers an idea of the possibilities, practically of the certainties of the movement which shall be developing before our eyes, and which will assuredly mean an era of prosperity for Carlisle.⁹

The War Automobile

While the plans for the ‘Tractobile’ plant were being finalized another of Pennington’s creations, the War Automobile, came to Carlisle. The Daily Herald had given a preview of the machine back in early June.

In addition to the forgoing machines that have been patented by Mr. Pennington he has also secured the patents in all countries of the world for his celebrated war automobile and has arranged with Russia and Japan for the purchase of a large number for use in their war departments. This machine carries two rapid firing guns, has 34 horsepower and develops a maximum speed of 70 miles an hour. It is now on exhibition in Philadelphia and will shortly be taken before the government officials for the purpose of demonstrating its usefulness.¹⁰

The Evening Volunteer wrote on June 21^st:

The war automobile devised by Mr. E. J. Pennington, which is now in town for the purpose of being supplied with armor plate, is a most wonderful machine. It weighs well-nigh 2,220 pounds but is extremely compact. The motive power is derived from an engine of 28 horsepower, gasoline being used in its propulsion. There is a hollow prow which contains the water used in cooling off the chambers of the motor. Mufflers are provided by which the sound of exhaust is reduced to a minimum.

Rather diminutive rubber tired wheels are supplied the running gear, but they are capable of withstanding great weight. The machine has seats for four persons, viz. the steerer, two men to operate Maxim guns and the engineman. A speed of sixty miles per hour is claimed for it and a speed fully two thirds as great can be made over rough roads and grades of high percentage. A few maneuvers given since its arrival have demonstrated that it is no ordinary affair and that it will be a most valuable acquisition in the science of modern warfare.

A battery of these formidable machines would put entire columns to flight if properly managed.

At present this machine is housed at the property of our townsman, Mr. J. W. Plank, the recently elected president of the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company. It is probable it will be given a test on roads in this vicinity in the near future.¹¹

That demonstration took place later the same day and was reported in the next day’s Volunteer.

Last evening our citizens were given a rather unexpected demonstration of the speed of the E. J. Pennington war automobile. In the early part of the evening pedestrians and others along South Hanover street were amazed to see whizzing by at tremendous speed what seemed to be a boat on wheels. A shining prow was all that could be distinguished, so swiftly did the machine move. Trolley tracks were zig-zagged and crossings jumped with impunity. There were several horses frightened and bicyclists gave the newcomer the right of way with the utmost alacrity. The initial speed was kept up to Holly and back, and the heavy grades of the turnpike hills were easily climbed.

Although the speed in town seemed great, yet it was less than one-half the record which was attained in the open country. There a speed of fifty-three miles per hour was reached, but the machine ran quite smoothly and did not vibrate much. It was in charge of the inventor and one of his assistants.

The article included a sketch of a boat like structure with two large guns facing fore and aft. The design sketch shows some likeness to a military tank which was then still over fifteen years in the future.¹² If the amount of front page space allocated to the ‘Tractobile’ and the war automobile is any indication the town must have been in near hysteria over the new company. But one has to wonder if these tests actually took place.

Not a word of the test was printed in the Sentinel or the Daily Herald, Carlisle’s other two newspapers at the time, which seems odd. Did the test run really occur? It may have. Pennington had been arrested in Philadelphia in May 1901, while testing his ‘war automobile’.

Before police could stop him, he had caused several runaways, almost killed half a dozen pedestrians and barely escaped several collisions with street cars. The next morning Pennington and his two assistants were fined $7.50 each, which he cheerfully paid. Pennington said that the Russian government had sent agents to see his new invention. The ‘war automobile’ was a skeleton steel frame nine feet long, with seats for five soldiers, an engineer, and a speed regulator. Pennington claimed it would go 75 mph on smooth roads, 130 on rails, and 30 in a ploughed field.¹³

Back to the ‘Tractobile’

Tomorrow work will begin on the establishment of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Company’s Tractobile plant in this place. Despite all the rumors to the contrary, Carlisle has finally been chosen as the site of this new industry and all fears of its location elsewhere may now be set at rest.

After much careful consideration the gentlemen connected with the Company in an official capacity have decided to locate in some of the buildings of The Manufacturing Company in the eastern part of town near Gettysburg Junction. Sufficient inducements were held out in the way of low rates of rent, etc., on the part of The Manufacturing Company’s representatives that an agreement was reached. This agreement resulted in a ten-year lease between John Hays, Esq., and Mr. J. W. Plank, presidents of the respective companies. The portion of the shops leased includes the large buildings used as the machine shops years ago when railroad cars were still built here. They will be at once gotten into shape for the work of the new business and will prove a boon for many local workmen. The company will secure the steady services of as many men as can be secured here before seeking machinists elsewhere.

For some time to come it will not be possible to turn out machine work here and it will be done at some larger establishments in the city until machinery and tools adequate for the plant can be secured and set up here.

Necessarily there will have to be a number of skilled workmen employed for the delicate and complicated parts of the Tractobile and the majority of them will have to be gotten in the cities.

The most of the work to be done here for some months hence will be that of assembling, erecting and testing the new machines. However, when the necessary machinery is once here all, or nearly all of the work will done at home. The benefits to local business men can hardly be overestimated for the new plant will place considerable money in circulation. This is a new and growing branch in the line of manufactures and competent workmen readily command excellent wages….

At present the experts who will superintend the operations are in town and local machinists desiring positions should see or correspond with President Plank or Attorney Mills in order that their requests may receive proper attention.

The Tractobile proper is fast nearing completion and will soon be subject to a crucial test. At that time we expect to give our readers some information concerning it.

Many orders are being received for the promising little machine and work will have to be rushed for some time to come to keep up with the demands. The projectors of the industry have bright hopes of not only a large share of orders from firms and individuals in this country, but confidently expect a similar amount of patronage from European sources. A foreign capitalist who is interested in the enterprise gives assurance that the demand for the Tractobile abroad alone will keep upwards of two thousand workmen.¹⁴

The Sentinel must have gotten the same news release as part of their article on the same day read:

….the orders for the new steam vehicle, with which the name of Carlisle is, in the future, to be popularly associated, are pouring in.

There is a probability that not only the American demand for the tractobile will be catered for here, but that much of the manufacture for Europe will also be undertaken; and, if so, it is estimated by one of the foreign shareholders, who is in a very good position to make the estimate, that the foreign business alone will furnish employment for 2,000 workmen in Carlisle.¹⁵

The ‘Tractobile’ Works

The next article appeared about a week later and reported that preparation work in the old railroad car building was continuing and that orders were being received at an annual rate of 10,000 machines. Articles in both the Sentinel and the Volunteer included photos of the ‘Tractobile’.¹⁶ Of the photos one, which somewhat obscured the drive mechanism and parts of the engine, was used in nearly all the ads for the ‘Tractobile’. No photos appeared in the Herald. Interestingly that paper was owned by John Hays who had leased space to the company in his works. After initial interest in the story the Herald stopped coverage after early May.

The photographs published in the Sentinel and Volunteer are the only two known photographs of the ‘Tractobile’. There is a small apparatus between the two front wheels, which looks like bicycle tires but no evidence of a fuel tank, water tank or boiler to produce steam. Small devices are visible on each front wheel but there is no apparent connection between the device and the wheel. The size of all the elements appears to be too small to generate enough steam to do anything but move the carriage a short distance, if it could do that.

To this point not many actual details of the design of the ‘Tractobile’ had been provided in the local newspapers. Ironically the first detailed explanation of the device was printed in The Hub a magazine related to carriage manufacture.

The Tractobile is a new departure, differing widely from anything now on the market, and as its builders are seeking the co-operation of the carriage trade we have much pleasure in drawing our reader’s attention to the new invention, the success of which, from the numerous orders booked, seems fairly assured.

In mechanical design the Tractobile has something in common with the railroad locomotive in so much as it is a complete motor in itself and can be quickly coupled up to the load to be drawn, whether passenger coach or freight wagon. It is placed in front of and draws the load. It has direct drive from the steam cylinders to the cranked axle of the driving wheels without the intermission of any gears, consequently it is economical, as no part of the power generated is lost in friction. The two Tractobile wheels, which are the front wheels of the complete automobile, are both driving and steering wheels, and each wheel is driven independently of the other by an engine with two cylinders, which cylinders are placed side by side and form a portion of the fork in which the wheel is pivoted. The main bearing of the engine is the cranked axle of the road wheel, and this wheel acts as a flywheel for the engine, the entire weight of Tractobile, its fuel, water and about half the weight of vehicle and load giving the necessary adhesion of wheel to road surface. Having four cylinders the Tractobile is in consequence one of the smoothest, quietest running motors imaginable, and in consequence of this the Tractobile puts less strain on the vehicle body it is drawing than does even the horse it displaces. Obviously none of the torsional strains inevitable in most other automobiles are brought into play here. As the two front wheels are driven independently (through the forks in which they are pivoted are coupled for steering purposes), there is no need for a ‘differential’ gear, which is one of the dangers of automobilism, as it causes much of the side slip or ‘skidding’. Another point is that if by any chance an accident happened to one motor the carriage can yet get home, though at a slower speed, just as an ocean liner with starboard and inboard engines with twin screws can reach port even if one engine breaks down or a propeller is lost.

Any carriage can be fitted up, and turned into an automobile in less than an hour. When the shield which covers the mechanism and the boilers is in place the outlines are graceful, and the original lines of the carriage are not materially departed from. There are many striking improvements, all covered by patents, embodied in the Tractobile, and we recommend that all interested correspond with the builders for further information.”

An ad for the ‘Tractobile’ appeared in the same issue of the Hub.¹⁷

The Automobile Review also had an article on the Tractobile Steam Carriage in its August 1901 issue. The article gave some details on the proposed apparatus, stating kerosene would be the fuel and that the system used seamless boilers and stated that

the broad claims made for this motor are extreme simplicity, durability, low cost few working parts and consequently small loss in friction; no differential, this giving a direct drive and doing away with gears, interchangeability and can be attached to ordinary carriages of different types…stopping the vehicle in its own length; any speed from one to thirty miles per hour, and absence of chains, sprockets, belts or gears.

The final paragraph noted: “It is stated that every claim made for what it is has actually been performed, and will be demonstrated to anyone who wishes to investigate.”¹⁸

A Test Ride

About six weeks later the “representative” of the Volunteer happened to stop by the plant of the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company and asked Mr. Pennington for an update on the project:

….to satisfy the curiosity of our reporter and through him, of our readers, observing that he more readily did so because many other persons had been at the shops inspired by like curiosity but had necessarily been refused because of the interruption to work, and the time which would have been consumed in furnishing information.

The reporter went on to describe how he had been able to observe the surrey which had been converted to an automobile and described the boiler of the apparatus and its operation. His report went on ....

…we were then invited to take a seat in the tracto-surrey, which by the way still retains its original rear wheels with steel tires, although the front driving, or Tractobile wheels have pneumatic tires. Mr. Plank, Jr. was holding the steering lever, and the throttle valve being slightly turned to admit steam to the engine cylinders, the vehicle, without any perceptible jerk, such as one experiences even when a horse is pulling, slowly, for about two seconds, quietly and smoothly commenced to move and in a few yards was under good headway the speed being quickly increased until a speed of 12 to 14 miles an hour was reached.

The engine on each driving wheel being independent of the other the construction of the Tractobile permits each engine to accommodate itself to the ground its particular driving wheel has to cover without using an equalizing, or differential gear. Our attention was drawn to the fact that the engines on the outer wheel, when the automobile was running round a circle, ran at a greater speed that the engines on the inner side whose driving wheel travels a less distance; but immediately the machine turned on a straight track and the engines begin to work equally again.

After repeating some of the earlier information about the smoothness of the device he reported orders were being received from England, France and other European countries and that “We understand that one of Mr. Pennington’s inventions of gasoline motor cars in England and other countries realized over two hundred thousand pounds sterling, several years ago….”¹⁹

Unfortunately none of the stories in the Volunteer were by-lined and we may never know who wrote them. It would be interesting to know who did, for as it turns out Pennington was a con artist and the ‘Tractobile’ was a scam. Interestingly the Sentinel and the Herald, both of whom had mirrored all the earlier articles in the Volunteer made no mention of any tests of the ‘Tractobile’ nor did they ever report seeing one. It almost seems as if Pennington, or his agents, had infiltrated the Volunteer and planted articles, or duped someone on staff to do so. There was no sudden revelation of the fraud in the papers and the charade, as it were, continued for a little while longer.

In late October 1901 the Sentinel provided the first report of another car company wanting to locate in Carlisle.

Another automobile man is desirous of locating in Carlisle provided Carlisle people will give him the necessary financial assistance by becoming stockholders or partners. He will be here shortly to talk over the matter. He has now two such factories in operation, but is desirous of enlarging his trade by making another class of vehicles. This he proposes to do by opening a new factory here, or by removing one of the others here and enlarging its capacity. We bespeak for him a hearing, with the idea of securing it for the town, provided, of course that it is wise to do so.²⁰

The test ride was not the last article about the company in the Volunteer,; in January 1902 they reported:

The Automobile factory which will be located here was planned during the past year and much of the machinery has already been purchased. The company which has been organized is composed of some of our leading citizens and when operations are begun the number of workmen required will bring a substantial increase to our population.²¹

But by this time other sources provided some different insights. Not long after the Automotive Age magazine wrote

Promoter Pennington, who has engaged in pushing the stock of the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company, which makes the Tractobile, is not making much headway. The extravagant statement of details, the wild estimates of demand, cost and profits, the totally unauthorized use of the name of a prominent company, all combine to stamp the scheme as a stock-selling business pure and simple.²²

The reference to unauthorized use of the name of a prominent company was referring to the Locomobile Company. That company was formed in 1899 and produced steam cars until 1903.²³

And a few weeks later The Motor-Car Journal of London England published the following under the headline “American Humor?”

In the financial columns of a New York journal we have just read one of the most humorous accounts of the ‘scientific and perfect solution of the automobile problem’ that has yet come to our notice. It deals with a company that is to bring the Tractobile to the notice of an astounded world, and already ‘an offer of $2,500,000 for the English patents has been made based on practical demonstration that the market for the machine is world-wide.’ The Tractobile is being sold to the trade, after deducting all discounts, so as to realize $450 for the company on each machine. The maximum cost of manufacture will be $150, and as the capacity of the works is 2,500 machines per annum, the profits will be $750,000. Hence the offer of 100,000 shares at $6 each should be quickly taken up by wide awake American investors.

But the demand will be far more than 2,500 machines per year, so an additional plant has been ordered for April 1^st – a most appropriate date. The Tractobile is a wonderful affair – the eighth wonder of the World. It can be attached to any carriage or wagon, and will draw it without help of horses or mules – although the assistance of monied donkeys will be welcomed to help the construction of 2,500 Tractobiles a year. The business is under the direction of the president of a dry goods company, but the writing of the prospectus savors the tone and style of one who is well acquainted with that section of the public that delights in speculating in uncertainties. It has, in fact, a Pennington flavor.²⁴

In early 1902 the following comment appeared in The Horseless Age Magazine:

New York dailies this past week have been displaying page advertisements of the Tractobile Company, Carlisle, PA, an enterprise launched by the notorious E. J. Pennington, of flying machine, motor cycle and Anglo-American fame. The ‘tractobile’ is described as an iron horse, which can be attached successfully to any horse vehicle. The stock is sold to “multiply already large equipment.” Equipment of what is not stated, but those who are acquainted with the promoter’s methods can well imagine.²⁵

Exactly when and how Pennington and his affiliates left Carlisle; and how much was lost by local investors may never be known. Pennington landed on his feet and next appeared in Racine, Wisconsin, in December 1902. The Motor Car Journal reported that the Racine Boat Manufacturing Company had been sold to the American Automobile Company, of which one of the directors was E. J. Pennington. In their words “who has scalped clouds and small investors with flying machines, jumped material and financial ditches with motor bicycles, and planned wonderful automobile enterprises.”

The Horseless Age Magazine printed some claims of Pennington relative to this venture which indicate it was an extension of the ‘Tractobile’:

We are not automobile or carriage builders, but we build the automobile horse or locomotive which is applied to the horse drawn vehicle the same as if it was a horse – viz. we draw and steer with our locomotive attachment applied to any horse drawn vehicle as does the horse.²⁶

By April 1902 the town was ready to shift its attention to the other car maker mentioned by the Sentinel in late October 1901. It turns out it was the Duryea Automobile Company. Duryea was legitimate – Frank Duryea had built what is considered to be the first successful gasoline powered car in 1893 and his brother was building cars in Reading at the time.

Last night a well-attended meeting of the Board of Trade was held in the Council Chamber and in the absence of President John Linder, Vice President J. W. Wetzel presided.

The business of the evening was the hearing of the representatives of the Duryea Automobile Co., relative to establishing a factory here. Mr. Crowther of the company stated that they desired a location where they would have sufficient capital to do business on an extensive scale.

The article went on to give a brief history of the company, the success of their automobiles in various events and current production. The group appointed a committee that included J. W. Wetzel, Walter Stuart, George McMillan, E. J. Wilkes, J. W. Plank and E. J. Gardner to visit the Duryea factory in Reading and report back to the board. The report made no reference to the ‘Tractobile’ or Pennington.²⁷ The Sentinel printed the same article verbatim.

By the spring of 1902 the group working to attract business and industry to Carlisle had organized as the Board of Trade, of which William E. Miller was a leading figure. In early May the paper reported:

The Board of Trade continues its active efforts to locate new industries here, and it is trying to be careful that it secures gilt-edge concerns. It has refused to take hold of several other projects which were offered and no doubt this was very wise as many promoters are looking for soft snaps.

The committee reports now that they have a chance to secure a fine industry and they want to know whether the citizens of the town will back them up in offering a small cash bonus. The subscription papers will set forth the particulars, and we hope there will be a liberal response. No more of the money will be used than actually necessary.²⁸

So what became of the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company? An inquiry to the United States Investor in August 1903 provided some additional details on the status of the ‘Tractobile’ and the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Co.

Following is what our Carlisle correspondents say in regard to this company: “The Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Co. originated here, but has neither office or works here now. The local capitalists, after testing the devices of one Pennington, to their sorrow, disposed of the entire outfit to one W. J. Haerther, whose office was in the Drexel Bldg., Philadelphia, Pa., who with other promoters, endeavored to float the concern in New York. So far as I have been able to learn, nothing is being done by the company in the way of building vehicles, and it is believed here by some who are competent to say, that the vehicle was never completed.” The stock is believed here to be worthless and of no prospective value.

The Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Co. carried on its operations in Carlisle for a while, but the outfit was disposed of to W. J. Haerther of Philadelphia, and since then, after continued trials, the machine failed to work and its manufacture was abandoned.²⁹

In June 1904 Pennington was arrested in St. Louis on charges of fraud and conspiracy. The Volunteer reported the details.

E. J. Pennington, the man who built the celebrated Carlisle Locomobile that would not ‘loco’ turns up at St. Louis in an entirely new capacity.

Now it is as a contestant for the prize in the airship contest at the World’s Fair.

It will be remembered that Mr. Pennington was said to have invested considerable money in airships some years ago and this may be a revival of his old time ideas. The following telegram is taken from the Pittsburg Dispatch:

St. Louis, June 27 – E. J. Pennington of Mount Vernon, Ill, who is a contestant for the prize in the airship contest to be held at the World’s Fair, was arrested today on a telegram from the Sherriff at Pittsburgh, saying that Pennington was wanted on a warrant charging conspiracy and fraud.

Pennington organized a company to build an airship, saying he was the inventor and the first builder of a dirigible airship. His tent was blown down and his airship demolished. There being no money left to build another one Pennington went to Europe, where he engaged in the building of more airships.

Sheriff James W. Dickson last night said he knew nothing of the Pennington case.³⁰

Pennington died in 1911. According to one source he wound up in Springfield, Massachusetts promoting an electrical railway, slipped while standing on a curb, fell into a puddle of water and died later from pneumonia. Another source says his death was caused by meningitis. The headline of his obituary in the New York Times read “Thousands invested their money in his visionary schemes and got nothing in return.”³¹ Others have been more complimentary of his efforts, crediting him with the invention of the motorcycle and an early tank.

The Board of Trade remained active for a number of years and eventually became the Industrial League. That latter group went so far as to issue bonds for a company that planned to locate in Carlisle but later reneged on their commitment. There was some legal action thereafter and in October 1916 the league reorganized to become the Chamber of Commerce.³²

In addition to the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company, Carlisle was also home to another company with ties to the early automobile industry that pre-dated Pennington, and here too J. W. Plank was one of its backers.

Carlisle’s New Industry (1900)

The Body and Gear Works on North Factory Street, is one of Carlisle’s newest and most enterprising establishments. It is situated in the large building formerly occupied by the Two Wheeler Company. The building is a frame structure 105 x 40 feet, three stories high. The first floor is taken up with the machine room, which is about 65 x 40 feet square. The machine room resembles a planing mill. Saws of different kinds, planers, boring machines and numerous others used in the preparing of the wood from its rough state. The blacksmith room is moderately equipped with the best tools adapted to their part of the business. A sandpaper room about 15 x 15, also on the first floor, contains a sandpaper machine. It is necessary to have this machine in a room by itself on account of the great amount of dust thrown off by its operation.

A well apportioned office, 12 x 20 feet, is situated on the second floor, together with the finishing room, drying room and stock room. In the finishing room the separate parts of a body are put together and the finishing touches added. The drying room is directly over the boiler room, hence the temperature is always very high. The stock room is a commodious apartment, to the west of the finishing room. The third story is at present unoccupied. A fifteen horse power engine drives the machinery. One of the machines runs at the unusual rate of thirty-two revolutions per minute.

The building is heated with steam from the exhaust pipe of the engine. At present seven men are employed but this number will be considerably augmented at a future date. A siding runs close to the building, over which a coal shed will be built later. A car load of stock arrived today. Mr. David Wagner is at the head of the enterprise and has plenty of orders ahead.”³³

The Two Wheeler Company was most likely a bike manufacturing firm as there was a large bicycle craze in America in the 1890s. The company was listed as defunct in an 1894 report of the Auditor General of Pennsylvania. By March 1896 the plant was purchased by Waggoner and Lau who planned to use it for the manufacture of wagons and wagon bodies.³⁴ The plant was located at Factory and D Streets.

The company incorporated in November 1904 and J. W. Plank was among its backers.

Carlisle’s New Industry

Carlisle Body and Gear Works Organized as a Stock Company

The Carlisle Body and Gear Works, which has been successful as a private business enterprise, is now a stock company fully organized and regularly incorporated.

A charter was granted yesterday, the capital stock being $30,000.

Last evening the stockholders met in the office of Eckels and Wolf and the following directors were elected: J. W. Plank, E.J. Gardner, J. C. Eckels, D.S. Wagner, J.W. Wetzel, A. R. Rupley, F. T. Clymer, R. E. Kabisch, J. A. Means. The officers elected are:

President – E. J. Gardner

Secretary – T. Grove Tritt

Treasurer – D. S. Wagner

The incorporation rights included:

The manufacture and sale of all kinds of carriages, wagons, hearses, automobiles and sleighs, complete in the wood and iron and in separate parts, wheels, shafts, and also painting, priming and finishing such wood.”

As such the company anticipated the automobile era but also wanted to retain the rights to manufacture horse drawn vehicles. Listings for the Body and Gear Works appeared in national automotive trade journals for the next several years. The next major article on the works appeared when they were destroyed by fire in February 1905.

Works Burned

The well-known Carlisle Body and Gear Works, lately incorporated, was destroyed by fire early Saturday a. m. A light reflection was the indication, the alarm was sounded and in a very few minutes later the Northern sky was lighted by flame.

The frame building was fully involved before the firemen, who had to hand-pull the steamers through snow, arrived on the scene. A two story frame house across the street from the works was also destroyed by the fire. Thirty people were placed out of work as a result.³⁵

The plant rebuilt at West and Lincoln Streets, east of Factory Street where Federal Equipment was later located. (Now the site of the Carlisle Police Department.)

Plank and his associates continued to look for investment opportunities. His dry goods store was very successful and he opened other locations. In the late 1880s he began to manufacture ready to wear clothing for patrons of his stores. This business grew and in 1894 he formed a partnership with J. W. Eckels and Robert H. Conlyn to manufacture clothing under the name J. W. Plank Company Limited. In 1895 they occupied the old manufacturing facility at Bedford and High Streets, and then in 1899 they moved to what is now 44 North Bedford Street. At some point the name was changed to the Carlisle Garment Company. They manufactured women’s dresses using the trade name “Molly Pitcher Frocks.”

The company incorporated in 1913 and in 1919 was sold to R. R. Todd and Company. It operated as the Carlisle Garment Company into the late 1960s or early 1970s.³⁶

In 1903 Plank purchased a company that manufactured buttons as an adjunct to his garment company .

A New Industry for Carlisle

The Plank Company Will Manufacture Pearl Buttons

The J. W. Plank Company, Ltd. composed of John W. Plank, R. H. Conlyn and James W. Eckels have purchased a controlling interest in the Keystone Pearl Button Mfg. Co. of Phila. and will eventually move the business to Carlisle under the management of the Plank Co.

The industry at present is the manufacturer of what is known as the fresh water pearl button under a secret process for finishing which gives it the appearance of a genuine pearl button.

The market for the button has been far beyond the capacity of the present company. They will employ from twenty-five to thirty people to start with.³⁷

Plank’s Imperial Store incorporated in 1905 with a capitalization of $500,000, a large amount for the time. The article that announced the incorporation indicated they would operate stores in Harrisburg, Carlisle and Altoona, however contemporary ads indicate they had stores in Carlisle, Altoona and Norfolk, Virginia. Plank sold the store operation to Bowman and Company in 1914.

In 1906 a number of prominent automobile owners in Cumberland County formed the Cumberland Valley Automobile Association. J. W. Plank was a founding member and helped to write the constitution for the organization.³⁸

John W. Plank was born in 1859 and died November 7, 1942 in Philadelphia where he had moved after selling his Carlisle interests. He is buried, along with his wife Anna Miller Plank, in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Upper Allen Township. Little biographical information on him has been found although he was a prominent member of Carlisle’s business community from the late 1800s through the 1910s.

His obituary noted that he “had marked ability as a merchant and Plank’s, later the Imperial, was known throughout the Valley. He sold the store about 1912 and for a brief time was associated here in the manufacture of automobiles. Mr. Plank was born and reared in Carlisle.”³⁹

Plank was a member of one of Carlisle’s prominent families. In late 1901 the Reading Railroad named an ocean going tug boat after Carlisle and Plank and his wife were among the community elite invited to the event in Philadelphia. (See “Cumberland County History,” volume 31, p. 56)

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Tractobile story, beyond the apparent swindle by Pennington, is the Evening Volunteer’s role in the affair. All three papers, Sentinel, Herald and Volunteer started out with detailed stories on the planned company, obviously fed to them by Pennington, and likely, written by him. But only the Volunteer reported on the test run of the War Machine and the Volunteer’s reporter may have been one of only two people in the world to claim he ever saw the Tractobile actually operate, supposing Pennington was the other one.

Even as late as January 1902, when the investors had to have realized the scheme was bogus and national publications were reporting it as a fraud the Volunteer still waxed optimistic with a paragraph that almost sounds like Pennington wrote it.

The Sentinel’s lead reporter then was Charles Kutz. He knew the town and was accepted into its upper circles – he was with the group that went to Philadelphia for the tug boat dedication. He would have been an associate of Plank and the other investors. Kutz would not have missed the test run of the War Machine, and if he had he would have heard about it and there would have been at least some comment in the Sentinel. There was nothing.

The Herald at the time was owned by John Hays. Hays was a major shareholder in the Manufacturing Company where Plank negotiated the lease of space to house the Pennsylvania Steam Vehicle Company. He too was in the town’s economically and socially privileged. I don’t know that he was involved in the paper editorially but it seems very likely the editor would have discussed the company with him. Here too the paper would have had access to inside knowledge and it seems very likely they would not have missed the test of the War Machine. There was nothing.

Only the Volunteer stayed with the story. There is a clue in the article on the test run of the War Machine. The article noted “It was in charge of the inventor and one of his assistants.” The story claims it went to Mount Holly and back, reaching speeds of over 50 miles per hour, uphill and down. An extravagant claim not collaborated by anyone it would seem but Pennington. The writing in the story of the test ride of the Tractobile is just as fantastic and not totally accurate. The writer said John W. Plank, Jr. was at the controls – Plank’s son’s name was LeRoy.

The Evening Volunteer came into existence in late 1900 or early 1901 and could trace its roots to the Carlisle Gazette which ceased operations on October 18, 1900. The publisher of that paper was A. J. Beitzel and A. M. Gher had been an employee there.

The Daily Volunteer, started in 1900, was owned by J. Kirk Bosler and Alphonso Moser Gher, with Gher being the managing partner. Bosler was the well-to- do son of J. Herman Bosler for whom the Library is named and probably only an investor with no editorial role.

So the Volunteer was a startup venture when Pennington hit town. Did they fall victim to Pennington the same as the investors did? Did one of his assistants pose as a newspaperman and feed them Pennington’s prose?

We’ll never know. The papers depended heavily on Plank and his store for advertising; they would never reveal the story in a way that would demean him. Plus, at least in the case of the Sentinel and the Herald, they traveled in the same social circles. Kutz’s reference to ‘soft snaps’ in one paragraph a year or so later probably brought a few smiles to the faces of knowing readers, but that was as far as he would go.

The Volunteer was merged into the Herald in August 1909. A. M. Gehr went on to be a reporter for the combined paper. Gher wrote and copyrighted some music books and two small books; “The House on a Hill in a Stream” (largely poetry) and “Echoes from the Prairies and the Hills”.

So who really got ‘conned’ by Pennington? There doesn’t seem to be much evidence to report in that regard. As an aside, the Dureya Company never came to Carlisle and the automobile industry coalesced in Detroit, not Carlisle. For that, perhaps, we are fortunate.