Collection Type: OTHER

The Buffalo-Springfield Roller Co. of Springfield, Ohio, manufactured this vintage three-wheel steam roller. The company formed as a merger of the Buffalo Pitts Co. and the Kelly-Springfield Road Roller Co. (before to 1902 known as the O.S. Kelly Co.) Steam rollers of this sort were used to pave Fifth Avenue in New York City (see Buffalo-Springfield Roller Co. documentation).

Quality wagons, such as this 1905 wagon, were built by Luedinghaus Wagon Company.

The Pierce 4 was the first 4-cylinder motorcycle produced in the United States. This 1912 motorcycle has a T-head, inline-4 with compression release 708cc engine with a two-speed transmission and could attain a speed of 60 mph. The frame of the Pierce has very large diameter partitioned integrated tubing for gasoline and oil.

Lockheed T-33 US Air Force training aircraft. The T-33A was developed by modifying the P-80 jet which later became the “F-80 Shooting Star."  The fuselage of the P-80 was lengthened and a second seat was added which required the use of a larger engine. This design resulted in the T-33A.  Both propeller driven aircraft pilots and the new jet aircraft pilots were trained on the T-33A. The T-33A made its maiden flight in March of 1948.  Manufacture of this plane continued from 1948 to 1959.  The plane has served in the Air Forces of more than 30 countries becoming one of the most widely used trainers in history.

The H.T. Pott was the first Missouri River towboat with a welded steel hull instead of a riveted hull. The vessel operated out of Kansas City, Missouri on the Missouri River.  It is named for Herman T. Pott (1895-1982), a distinguished river transportation executive and entrepreneur.  The groups of barges that are moved on the nation’s rivers are called “tows."  The boats that propel the barges are “towboats” even though they push the barges from the back instead of pulling them.  Built in 1933, the H.T. Pott is 58 feet long and 15 feet wide, and it has a “draft” the amount of the hull below the water line of 6 feet. You can walk the decks of the H.T. Pott. Hear more here.

Built in 1943, this twin-engine 1943 Douglas Aircraft product, the military version of the DC-3, is thought to have been used by the United States Army Air Force in the World War II to resupply troops the day after the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. It is painted in camouflage with invasion stripes, which were placed on Allied aircraft used on D-Day to identify them so they would not be subject to friendly fire. The plane was agile and dependable, and could land and take off on comparatively short air fields. It earned the nickname “Gooney Bird” because its large, lumbering image mirrored that of the giant albatross birds, known for their endurance and ability to fly great distances, found on Midway Island in the Pacific. After the war, this plane was used in commercial passenger service in Nevada until it was reacquired by the military for use by the 131st Tactical Fighter Group of the Missouri Air National Guard for 22 years. Thus this C-47A is a World War II veteran, that towed gliders and delivered troops, equipment, and supplies to the 82nd Airborne Division just after dawn on the day after D-Day. Operation Hackensack took place on June 7, 1944, and pilot Martin Platt flew the U.S. Army Air Force Douglas Aircraft C-47A #N 3-15635 to support the Allied Forces. Hear more here.