Serendipity and the Black Beast

Serendipity and the Black Beast

Serendipity is when opportunity slaps you in the face and you are smart enough not to turn the other cheek. Over the last five or six years I have been researching the history of American Locomotive Company in Schenectady and writing about it. One of the more fascinating parts of the company’s history is their involvement in early automobile making, particularly in their Rhode Island plant.

The ALCO Black Beast in front of the American Locomotive Company building in Schenectady, NY. Photo by Don Rittner.

My interest peaked when I learned they made racing cars and in particular one called the Black Beast.  I have written about this already in a couple of blog posts so won’t rehash it here (just do a search here on Black Beast).

Like most history lessons, it was all about yesteryear, old photos, and published sources.  If you told me only a few months ago that I would be riding IN the Black Beast AT the ALCO plant, I would have asked you what kind of cool aid you were drinking – and yet that is exactly what happened last Friday.

Last year, a fellow named Howard Kroplick from East Hills (LI), N.Y. (and now my new hero)  saw an ad on the Internet advertising the Black Beast for sale.  He sent them an email offer and they sent one back telling him thanks but they were insulted by the offer : )  Howard wrote back and said “let’s negotiate.” He purchased the racer that was now in Belgium and brought it back home.  After some work on it he took it out for his first spin only to find that while going down the neighborhood street his brakes did not work (good thing for the hand break!!).  After some modifications the BB is now workly beautifully and if you came to the monthly Schenectady Roundatable at Schenectady City Hall last Friday, the 20th, you saw the Black Beast up close and personal.  It was a huge hit.

Howard Kroplick, owner of the ALCO Black Beast, at the ALCO site. Photo by Don Rittner.

For me, it was one of those defining moments in your life when you think life is good, real good. Not in a million years would I have thought about riding in that famous car (won the Vanderbilt Cup in 1909 and 1910), let alone actually doing it. Until a few months ago, I had no idea (nor did Howard) that it still existed on the planet!

When I found Howard online through a number of great Youtube videos of the car, I asked him if he would consider bringing it here for Art Night. Also I called Alan Edstrom, director of programs and events at the Saratoga Automobile Museum and asked if Howard could show it there, figuring we could get two good events for Howard up here (great museum if you haven’t been there, located in the park).

The 680.6 ci engine packed 100 Hp. Max speed, 121 mph. Photo by Don Rittner.

Of course Howard agreed and once you meet him you can see how much he loves this car and the passion he has in talking about it.  I can relate to that passion.

So around 1PM on Friday, Howard pulls up with the Black Beast at City Hall and thanks to the Schenectady Police Department (and the Commissioner) we had a police escort over to the former ALCO site off Erie Blvd to take some pictures of the car in front of the building that has American Locomotive painted on it.  Dave Buicko, the new owner of ALCO graciously gave me permission to bring the BB over to the site. I thought it would be a good idea for the BB to come visit “mommy,” after all it is here in the main office where the decision to make the car took place. Howard was accompanied by his lovely wife Roz and his assistant and friend John Cuocco and his lovely wife Dotti!!

Workers at the former ALCO plant admiring the Black Beast. Photo by Don Rittner.

Howard asked me if I wanted to take a ride (does the sun shine!!!) and I jumped in and we did two laps around the building at about 30 mph (it can do over 100 mph). It’s hard to describe the feeling of being in a car that you only knew about through history and photographs. I took video so I could prove to myself the next day it wasn’t all a dream.  I have posted it on Youtube so you can share the feeling – watch my ride at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNkua-xg7qI

We then had lunch over at the Water’s Edge Lighthouse Restaurant off Freeman’s Bridge Road and I gave Howard and crew a tour of the Onrust. We have docked the ship there for the season thanks to Pat Popolizio the owner. Many people eat there and view the ship (great food too!!).

Friday evening, the BB was parked in front of City Hall and Howard gave a great presentation to over 50 visitors about the history of the car and Vanderbilt cup races and sold and autographed his books (go to his web site to purchase, proceeds go to child abuse programs – http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/). On Saturday, the BB went to the Saratoga Auto Museum for the day.  It was interesting that they had a car show there that day on foreign cars (some real beauties) and the Black Beast was a huge hit, of course.

The Black Beast in front of City Hall on Art Night in Schenectady. Photo by Don Rittner.

So I would like to thank Howard and his family and friends for giving me a once in a lifetime event and thrill, and for bringing the Black Beast back to New York State.  This is one memory that will never be forgotten.

Howard, me, and the Black Beast in front of City Hall on Art Night. Photo by Howard's wife (I think).

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The Black Beast Is Coming To Schenectady!

The Black Beast Is Coming To Schenectady!

Where?  Schenectady City Hall, 105 Jay Street.

When?  Friday, August 20, 2010

Time?    5PM to 9PM

Lecture?  7 PM in the City Council Chambers.  Howard Kroplick on the Vanderbilt Cup Races and ALCO.

This month’s Schenectady Roundtable is a double header as local cartoonist John Caldwell is featured along with the ALCO built Black Beast racer built in 1909.

Featured Artist – John Caldwell

There is documentation that John spent parts of 1969 and 1970 working for the State of New York as a cartographer. In a less than distinguished career marred by careless mistakes, an inability to tell north from east and the outright invention of imaginary highways and byways, he left a folded paper trail of infamy. A tissue of unchartable lies. Indeed, you might still find an occasional topographic map of New York showing roads that never existed bearing names like HEY, IT’S ME JOHNNY AVENUE and HOW BORING IS THIS BOULEVARD. There’s even a IF I LIVED HERE THIS WOULD BE CALDWELL LANE just north of Rochester. Realizing, under pressure from supervisors, that drawing maps was not the creative outlet he’d imagined it to be, Caldwell moved on to cartooning, an even more tenuous means of expression. Nevertheless, over the years, his drawings have appeared in many publications, including The National Lampoon, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, to name a few. He also appears regularly in and is proud to be one of the Usual Gang of Idiots at Mad Magazine.

His books include one children’s book, several collections of his own cartoons, and a 1991 work titled FAX THIS BOOK, which did for the sale of fax machines what CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL did for VCR repair. Caldwell also designs greeting cards for Recycled Paper Greetings and Nobleworks. He lives with his wife Diane and dog Jade in upstate New York on a real road named by someone other than himself.

The ALCO Black Beast

In 1906, Schenectady’s American Locomotive Company (ALCO), known for building 75,000 steam engines, licensed the French company Berliet to make their first automobile in Providence, RI. It lasted until 1908 when ALCO decided to make the cars itself (both touring and racing varieties). In 1906, a six-foot, 200-pound test driver named Harry Fortune Grant was ALCO’s chief test driver. Pleading with the company to let him race, but with no luck, he quit, and began to work for one of their dealers out of Boston, C.F. Whitney. Whitney purchased a 40hp car from ALCO and gave Grant and his riding mechanic Frank H. Lee a chance to race. They entered a series of races in Massachusetts, and won the 5- and 25-mile events and just missed the 50-mile race when a tire blew.

The ALCO Black Beast with Harry Grant at the wheel. Source: Don Rittner

At a September 8th, 1909, Lowell (MA) race, Grant placed seventh. On October 9, in a Philadelphia race, he didn’t finish due to a steering problem. On October 30th, 1909, Grant and his ALCO, the “Bete Noire” (Black Beast), placed first in the 5th annual Vanderbilt Cup race in Long Island driving with an average speed of 62.81 mph. He followed it up with another first-place finish (using number 19 on it) in the 1910 Vanderbilt, with an average speed of 65.18 mph. It was the same year that ALCO shipped their 50,000th steam locomotive.

The Black Beast taking part in the 1910 Vanderbilt Race in which Grant won. Source: Wilkipedia.

Grant used his ALCO at other races, including Indianapolis on July 4th, 1910 (finished 4th); Elgin (IL) on Aug. 27, 1910 (finished 12th due to a twisted clutch); the first Indy 500, held on May 30, 1911 (finished 33rd with number 18); and came in 2nd at the Elgin race on Aug. 25, 1911, the last time he drove his ALCO. While Grant continued to race until 1915, ALCO decided to stop making their cars in 1913 because it was proving unprofitable.

The ALCO was a well-built car. It took 19 months to build each one and customers could choose from a variety of 54 body styles, as well as chassis. The engines in the ALCO were large: a four-cylinder engine displacing 453 cubic inches, and a six-cylinder displacing 579 cubic inches. They weren’t cheap either, ranging in price from $6,000 to 7,000 apiece.

Even though the company had gross earnings of $34 million, they made no money from their car sales. One source says the company lost an average of $460 on each of the 5,000 cars it built. It wasn’t because of manufacturing costs. They used the cars as inducements to buy locomotives. If you were a customer looking to buy steam locomotives, they would simply give you a car to win your purchase.

The Black Beast Comes Home

Believe it or not Grant’s Black Beast is still running.  Apparently the car was found for sale on the Internet offered by a classic car dealer located in Brussels, Belgium. Howard Kroplick, author of a book on the Vanderbilt Cup Races, purchased it and it was shipped to the United States by a cargo freighter.  Before it was previously restored it was found rusted in a barn in Ohio back in 1958. Today the car is worth over $400,000.  The original cost was $6,000 equivalent today of $146,000. There are only 12 known ALCO cars still in existence.

The Black Beast today and its new owner Howard Kroplick will visit Schenectady. Photo by Pablo Corradi.

Howard will deliver a lecture on the Vanderbilt Cup Races and ALCO at 7PM in City Hall in the City Council Chambers.

Racing History

The 1909 Alco-6 Racer competed in 15 major automobile races including; two Vanderbilt Cup Races, the first

Indianapolis 500 Race, two Elgin Trophy Races, and one American Grand Prize Race.  Driven by Harry Grant and mechanician Frank Lee, the ”Black Beast” won six races highlighted by consecutive Vanderbilt Cup Race victories in 1909 and 1910.

1909

•  Dead Horse Hill Climb Races, Worcester Massachusetts, June 12, 1909- Finished 1st in class,

2d in” Free-for-All” Race, and 2nd in” Record for Hill” Race

•  Bunker Hill Day Special Match Race, Readville, Massachusetts, June 17, 1909- Finished 1st

• #5 Lowell Trophy Race, Merrimac Valley Course, Massachusetts, September 8, 1909- Finish 7th

• #11 Fairmont Race, Philadelphia, PA, October 9, 1909- Did not start, broke steering in practice.

• #8 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Long Island, NY, October 30, 1909- Finished 1st, averaging 62.8 mph.

1910

• #3 Dead Horse Hill Climb, Worcester Massachusetts, June 4, 1910- Finished 2nd in free-for-all

• #27 10-Mile Race (stock chassis with engines 451-600 CID), Indianapolis, Indiana, July 1, 1910- Finished 1st

• #27 20-Mile Race (stock chassis with engines 451-600 CID), Indianapolis, Indiana, July 3, 1910- Finished 1st

• #27 Cobe Trophy Race, Indianapolis, Indiana, July 4, 1910- Finished 4th

• #6   Elgin National Trophy Race, Elgin Road Race Course, Indiana, August 27, 1910- Finished 12th.

• #18 Vanderbilt Cup Race, Long Island, NY, October 1, 1910- Finished 1st, averaging 65.2 mph

• #7 American Grand Prize Race, Savannah, Georgia, November 12, 1910- Finished 12th.

1911

•#19 Inaugural Indianapolis 500 Race, Indiana, May 30, 1911- Finished 33rd of 40 cars, completing 127.5 miles

(51 of the 200 laps). Left race due to bearing failure

• #1 Elgin National Trophy Race, Elgin Road Race Course, Indiana, August 26, 1911- Finished 2nd

1909 Alco-6 Racer

Year Built: 1909

Manufacturer: American Locomotive Company, Providence, Rhode Island

Nickname: Bête Noire (Black Beast). Original 1911 “Noir” logo was misspelled

Original Cost: $6,000 (1909) equivalent to $140,000 (2010)

Engine: 6 cylinders, 680.6 cubic inch displacement, 11.16 liters, “T” head

engine with four-speed transmission and double-chain drive, Max: 1,400 RPM,

Newcomb carburetor, and Bosch magneto

Components: Hartford shock absorbers  and a 1907 Stewart speedometer

Bore: 5 1/8 inches   Stroke: 5 ½ inches

Horsepower: 60 HP stock model modified to 100 BHP

Maximum Speed: 121 mph

Wheelbase: 134 inches

Weight: 3,306 pounds

Suspension: Front and rear solid axle and longitudinal leaf spring

Chassis #: 101901

Number of Existing Alco Cars: 12 of the 1,100 built

Current Owner: Howard Kroplick, East Hills, New York

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Electric City Film Fest & Expo to Honor Broadcasting Pioneers

Electric City Film Fest  & Expo to Honor Broadcasting Pioneers

The 5^th Annual Electric City Film Fest & Expo sponsored by the Schenectady Film Commission and Proctor’s Theater will honor four early pioneers of broadcasting on September 26^th during the 5^th Annual Film Fest & Expo to be held at Proctor’s GE Theater from 4PM to 10PM.

WGY was the first to present drama on radio with the WGY Players during the 1920s. Photo courtesy Schenectady Museum.

Dorothy Sweeney first began working as a soundman with WGY in Schenectady in 1941 when she was a teenager.  In this golden age of radio, WGY was one of the premier radio stations in the United States. While there, she worked principally on THE FBI IN ACTION, and the FM PLAYHOUSE. Hired as a wartime replacement, she worked doing sounds effects at WOR in NYC from January 1944 to June 1946. While at WOR she produced sound effects for several national programs on the Mutual Broadcasting System, some of which were: Nick Carter, Master Detective, The Mysterious Traveler, and The Sealed Book.  She also occasionally did sound for The SHADOW, SUPERMAN, and others.

Dorothy Sweeney's (right) early days made her one of the original sound effects experts. Photo courtesy Schenectady Museum.

Margaret “Peg” Miller, a native of Schenectady, N.Y., produced sound effects for The FBI in Action from 1944 until the show’s demise in the early 1950s. She started WGY as a program assistant for the Program Dept and shared an office with Earl Pudney.  Earl convinced Peg to take over the sound effects position for FBI in Action when the previous person left and she stayed there until the show was over 9 years later.  She also sang on some of the shows and appeared with Gordie Randall’s band.

Amsterdam Evening Recorder, Wednesday June 10, 1931.

Ned Spain played organ on the original Earl Pudney show on WRGB, which aired 1958-1967. Ned began his musical background during his service in the U.S. Marine Corps.  The start of his playing career came about with the installation of a Hammond Organ in the theater at his duty station. Prior to this, his only exposure to the organ had been sitting next to the organ console in church, observing the organist’s every move.  Within two weeks, he was performing every night before the movies to a full house of servicemen, playing entirely by ear.

Peg Miller on piano. FBI in Action cast and crew, January 1949. Courtesy Schenectady Museum.

Upon discharge, Ned began his playing career performing in upscale hotel cocktail lounges and restaurants in the Capital District, Saratoga Springs and Lake George resort areas of New York.  About that time, the very popular Earle Pudney Show was on Channel 6, featuring piano and organ duets.  Just as the old show business adage goes, the featured organist took sick and Ned was in the right place at the right time, replacing him on the show.  David Allen, the host of a daily quiz show at the same TV station heard Ned and hired him to be staff organist, leading to a twenty year run on TV.  During this period he accompanied many famous singers including Johnny Ray, Sergio Franchi, Jerry Vale, Gordon Mac Rae and opened for Pat Boone.

For 25 years, Ned has been organist at Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady, New York, performing on Goldy, a 1931 Wurlitzer pipe organ.  In addition to playing concerts, he demonstrates the organ during the public tours of the theater.  His most memorable performance was a piano and organ duo concert with the late great Ashley Miller of Radio City Music Hall fame, performed at Proctor’s.  For ten years, Ned played summer concerts on the historic 1840 Ferris pipe organ at Round Lake Auditorium, an early 19^th century Methodist campground meeting hall.  He currently performs throughout the Eastern United States.

Ned Spain today still at the organ. Courtesy Ned Spain.

Ned was owner of a piano and organ dealership in Albany for 25 years representing Hammond Organs, Allen organs and Steinway pianos.  He currently manufactures an accessory for portable keyboards that he invented called Creepnomore.  Ned is a former Commercial Helicopter Pilot, and collects antique cars.

Ernie Tetrault has been an active broadcaster in the Capital Region for more than sixty years.  Starting in the early 40’s, Ernie appeared in dramatic programs on WTRY, Troy, directed by Mildred Joseph then a student at Russell Sage College.  At about the same time Tetrault began his love affair with flight—taking flying lessons at Troy airport that were paid for by his job as a shoe clerk.  After a two year stint in the Navy Air Corps program at St. Lawrence University and Cornell, Tetrault was hired by WTRY as a part time staff announcer. Between station breaks and commercials, Tetrault did his homework as a nighttime student at Siena College where he graduated in 1951.  Tetrault became a licensed pilot later on and was one of the founders of the Empire State Air Museum in Glenville

Ernie! Courtesy Ernie Tetrault.

Tetrault made an important career move in 1951, from radio to television at pioneer station WRGB, Schenectady, NY.  In those early years at WRGB, Ernie hosted an early morning show called “Home Fare”, a local version of the NBC “Today Show.”  He was the commercial announcer for the “Teen Age Barn” and many other local programs.  In the Seventies, Ernie moved into the newsroom.  One of his early assignments was a trip to South Viet Nam where he interviewed many local servicemen.  In 1988, one of the highlights of his work on WRGB’s evening news was a much heralded series on the homeless in the Capital Region. Tetrault assumed the role of a homeless man and lived on the streets of Albany unrecognized by the thousands of pedestrians who watched him deliver the news each night.  Followed by hidden cameras, he brought into the viewers living rooms and, more importantly, into their hearts and minds, reports of the reality of the daily struggle of the homeless for survival.

Events of the early 1990 have provided an opportunity for this dedicated news anchor to be the first local television newsperson to fly with the American troops to Saudi Arabia.  There he reported first hand on film and by satellite on Capital region resident’s involvement in the Gulf War.  The series later became a popular special telecast during prime time.

Home Fare. One of the early "Today" shows on television hosted by Ernie and Sunnie Jennings. Photo courtesy Chris White WRGB.

Tetrault was born in Watervliet, New York, grew up in Troy, and is one of Catholic Central High School’s outstanding alumni.  He served in the Naval Air Corps during World War II.  He graduated from Siena College in 1951 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. He and his wife Ann are the parents of two grown children and the proud grandparents of an eleven-year-old girl.  They make their home in Niskayuna.

In 1993 Ernie was the Commencement Speaker at St. Rose College where he received the degree of Doctor of Humane letters.  The degree award read in part as follows:   “During your almost half century career, you have broadened our horizons, and prodded our consciences.  You are an inspiration to those who aspire to follow in your footsteps”.

Since retiring from WRGB in 1993 Ernie has kept busy serving on TV as an advocate for the hearing impaired. In addition he produced special programming on Public Access to bring public attention to the plight of Jack Carroll a Troy man Tetrault believes was railroaded to prison for more than ten years by former Rensselaer County DA Patricia DeAngelis. Tetrault believes Carroll was innocent, as did Schenectady Gazette Columnist Carl Strock who wrote hundreds of stories call in for Carroll’s release.

Peg Miller often sang with the Gordy Randall Broadcasting Band, the official band of the WGY Players. Photo courtesy Laura Lee Scott. Laura's step father is playing the vibraphone.

Clips of some of the radio shows that Miller and Sweeney did and some early video of Ernie interviewing Eleanor Roosevelt and Ginger Rogers will be featured.

The 5th Annual Electric City Film Fest & Expo will showcase locally made independent films.  In addition producer and filmmaker Paul Golding will speak about the early days of film school with George Lucas.  The Schenectady Museum will be demonstrating the Palaphotophone, the GE invention that allowed the use of audio of film.

Tickets are $15 and available at Proctor’s in person or online.

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