Two

Brass era The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. It is generally considered to encompass 1896 through 1915 ...

automobiles named Richmond were produced in Richmond, Indiana. A

Steam car A steam car is a car (automobile) propelled by a steam engine. A steam engine is an external combustion engine (ECE) in which the fuel is combusted outside of the engine, unlike an internal combustion engine (ICE) in which fuel is combusted ins ...

was made by the Richmond Automobile Company in 1902 and 1903. The

Wayne Works The Wayne Corporation was an American manufacturer of buses and other vehicles under the "Wayne" marque. The corporate headquarters were in Richmond, Indiana, in Wayne County, Indiana. During the middle 20th century, Wayne served as a leading ...

produced the Richmond automobile from 1904 to 1917.

Richmond Automobile Company

The Richmond steam car engine was claimed to be simple and the most compact steam vehicle engine on the market. The two-cylinder engine had a 2.5" bore and 3.5" stroke and weighed just 46 pounds. This engine produced its maximum 6 horsepower at 960 rpm. The engine was believed to have been designed by Isham Sedgwick and the steam car was developed by R. L. Sackett. Just the engine was manufactured in 1901, with production of the entire car commencing the following year. The Richmond was a chain-driven dos-a-dos four-seater. By 1903, Richmond Automobile Company ended automobile production, though it is believed that engine production continued past this date.

Wayne Works - Richmond Automobile

The Wayne Works, Inc. had been making

farm implements Agricultural equipment is any kind of machinery used on a farm to help with farming. The best-known example of this kind is the tractor. Tractor and power *Tractor / Two-wheel tractor *Tracked tractor / Caterpillar tractor Soil cultivati ...

since the 1870s, and supposedly in 1901 the company president, Walter W. Schultz, asked the chief engineer Jack St. John to design an automobile "because everyone else is." Richmond, Indiana would be home to several car makes including Davis,

Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and Westcott. St. John designed a two-cylinder

air-cooled Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

, which was sold to a local businessman. A subsequent car was sold the next year, but full-scale manufacture did not begin until 1904. The Richmond entered production with four-cylinder engines with round radiators for most of its production. The Richmond was a mid-priced car of the time, well regarded locally for its reliability and hill-climbing abilities. The biggest change to the Richmond occurred in 1910, when the engine became

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and no ...

instead of air-cooled. A

six-cylinder The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balan ...

model was offered from 1914 until 1916, with outputs rising from 45-hp to 50-hp. Horsepower for the earlier air-cooled fours ranged from 20 to 30-hp, while the water-cooled engines produced 22.5 to 40-hp. In 1915 Herff-Brooks contracted with Wayne Works to provide Richmonds that would be badged as Herff-Brooks. This ended in 1916. In 1917, the automobile department was closed, and the Wayne Works continued production of commercial truck bodies and agricultural tools. An estimated 1,348 Richmonds were built. Three Richmonds are known to be extant. Two at the Wayne County Historical Museum and one in Spain at the Malaga Motor Museum.

Richmond Automobile Company

Wayne Works - Richmond Automobile

References

See also