Hello all
David P Clark of Dayton seems to be the guy behind the friction drive " Hill Climbing " empire ..taking out patents starting in 1904
The early pieces were 4 wheel drive ..and had quite a bit of wood in construction ..over the years models kept changing ..adding more metal . 1909/ 10 Clark sells out to Schieble also of Dayton . Clark goes back into business under the name Dayton Friction Toy Works ...selling basically the same toys ..but now with 2 wheel drive .
See several ads from Playthings .
Check out the store display with the angle track to prove the hill climbers ability to climb .
Also read the ad with photo of factory ....each type of toy were made in lots of 10-15k !!!! ...oh yes a whole bunch of these things were made .....this confession of quanties made is rare in ads ...but helps put in perspective just the sheer number of items that were made and sold.... be careful when the term "rare" apply to anything....
Here we have a Dayton Summer Trolley 1910-1920...two wheel drive ...give a few pushes against the ground to get the flywheel spinning ...and off you go!
For the video I found it better to have drive wheel in the front ...rear wheel drive created a wheelie off the starting line !
Climbing 16" in 96" run ...so roughly 15 degree grade .
Wheel alignment is less than perfect so straight travel is comes with an arc.
No doubt when new everything was lined up a bit better for peak Optimum performance.
One needs to apply some downward pressure to rev-up the flywheel ....young hands 100 years ago probally had a good chance of causing the sway back roof line ...on this and other summet trolleys I've seen. Most of the other models , cars , trucks , steam engine , etc would hold up better to energetic young arms.
Please see link for video proof that a Hill Climber can climb hills
Cheers Carey
