June 2012

Tioga Transmission

The official Newslettrt of Tioga Region Antique automobile Club of America

We met at the Parkview

Restaurant on the 21st of

May. There were 34 mem-

bers and guests present.

Although we had selected a

limited menu to make the

service easier for the res-

taurant it soon became

evident that we had over-

whelmed them with our

numbers.

The food when it arrived

was excellent but service

extended well into an hour.

To make our meeting less

lengthy I conducted the

business as the later ser-

vice was delivered.

We were able to preview

the new Posters for the

car show as well as the

flyers for the same. Due to

an agreement that Leonard

Hilldale made with one of

his suppliers he requested

that we have the posters

reprinted with his location

name changed, he agreed

to pay for the posters and

flyers and their reprinting.

The safety banners were

shown and offered to those

who ordered them. For

some reason only one of

the banners was given out.

There are still seven to be

claimed as well as one that

I ordered extra. Those who

ordered them can pick

them up at the next meet-

ing. The extra banner is

available for $15.00 to the

first comer.

A question was raised

about the increase in reg-

istration fee for the cars in

the show. The preregistra-

tion fee raised from $3.00

to $5.00 while the day of

show registration raised

from $5.00 to $10.00 this

was a decision made by

Four of your officers and

one other member in ex-

ecutive session. These

amounts are in line with

other shows in the area

and are needed to help

cover the rising costs we

experience in today's econ-

omy.

Ralph Repard’s ‘53 Chevy

and Ray Shaver’s ‘29 reo

are both back on the road.

To my knowledge Howard

Seymour’s ‘56 Chevy is the

only car that is undergoing

repair, of course he still

has the ‘39 Plymouth to

Summer’s here!!! We will

be going back to our sum-

mer location, The Newark

Valley Rail Road Depot. The

date and time is

June 18 2012 at 7:00 PM.

I have been told that both

drive so we all should have

our cars ready for our

summer meetings.

Lets all show Newark Val-

ley and surrounding ar-

eas our pieces of history

at our meetings!!!

Our next Meeting June 18 2012

May Meeting

Page 2 Tioga Transmission

As in the past we are en-

tered in the Strawberry

Festival Parade again this

year. We have received the

same location assignment

as we have had in the past.

We are in Division 1 and

designated as unit 11. Divi-

sion 1 will line up on

Spencer Avenue south of

Temple Street.

The parade kicks off at

10:00AM and we are to be

lined up by 9:30AM.

As you know in the past we

have been run around all of

Owego by directors who

never seem to know just

what they are doing so I am

suggesting that we all try

to get to our position by

9:15Am in the hope that we

can outwit the misinformed

officials who block every-

one from entering their

assigned locations.

Hope to see at least ten to

twelve cars from the club

for this event.

This is a slow parade so

protect your car if it tends

to run warm.

ark Valley by chauffeuring

them in old cars. We have

been asked if we might help

by supplying cars that

would be easy to transport

these seniors. Although I

have been informed that

there might be as many as

fifteen residents who are

over the age of ninety,

Jerry Adams told me that

we will need only about five

cars to meet the need.

I am willing to make the

Monte Carlo available to

serve this effort, but it

would be much easier for

the elderly to be trans-

ported by a good four door

sedan than the more

cramped two door coupe.

I am sure we can come up

with the cars we need to fill

this request.

Last year we were sepa-

rated in the middle of our

club by the people who

were at the beginning of

the parade route. They

might have had a reason

for this separation but I

hope this year to keep us

together as a unit.

I hope to see a good turn

out for this parade so that

we might find other mem-

bers from N.V.

Newark Valley Parade

The Newark Valley Days

Parade this year is Satur-

day August 11, 2012. This

year I have been told that

the State Police have ap-

proved a closing of route

38 for the parade. With this

change the parade will run

in reverse from last year.

We will line up off Silk

Street and run out to 38

then north to the light and

left to the school lot.

Another hot parade due to

the summer and the length.

This year the parade com-

mittee would like to honor

the senior citizens of New-

Strawberry Festival Parade

Page 3 Tioga Transmission

Parades are a great way

for us to show off our cars,

but there is nothing like the

thrill of getting out on the

open road. We are planning

to do two tours this year,

but will entertain other

ideas if they come up.

The first tour is timed to

coincide with the national

drive your antique car day.

Although the official day is

July 13th we will move to

the 14th as that is a Satur-

day. For this tour we will go

to French Azilum in Penn-

sylvania. The tour will begin

at the Big Dipper in Apala-

chin at 9:00AM. We plan to

travel back roads from

Apalachin to Wyalusing,

Pennsylvania where we will

have an early lunch in the

dinning room of the Wya-

lusing Hotel. You will order

from the menu so you will

control the cost.

After lunch we will continue

to French Azilum, again

over secondary roads. The

tour of the historic site will

take from 45 minutes to an

hour and 15 minutes de-

pending on your questions

and speed of movement

through the museum.

A brief history of this site

is that during the French

Revolution, circa 1793-

1803, a group of support-

ers of the king wanted to

protect Marie Antoinette

during the hostilities and

came to the States to cre-

ate a safe haven for her. As

we know the effort did not

work as Marie Antoinette

did not come to this safe

haven. The small commu-

nity though remained as a

French farming community

after the beginning. This is

now a little known histori-

cal site open during the

summer to tours. The cost

for this tour is $3.00 per

person in groups.

From the museum we will

be returning through Nich-

ols New York. There is a

small winery on the way

where we can take a break

with free tasting if you

care to.

The tour will continue to

Nichols where we will have

some ice cream to finish

our first outing of the sum-

mer.

Our second tour is in the

planning stages but we

think we will be able to put

together a trip to Saratoga

Springs, New York for the

New England Concours d’

Elegance Cruise in spec-

tacular Saturday, Septem-

ber 29th.

This would be an over-

nighter where we would

either see the Hemmings

tour arrive in Saratoga

Springs on Friday, or do a

quick tour of the Elegance

on Sunday.

Since the Elegance is an

invitation only show this

should be a chance to see

cars that we might never

have the chance to see

again.

Lets all get behind these

two tours!!!

Lets Go Touring!

Page 4 Tioga Transmission

I was sixteen the first time

that I experienced carbide

lights. A friend invited me

to go on a coon hunt in

western Pennsylvania. This

was the first and last time

that I ever went hunting,

and I had no idea what to

expect.

As we arrived at our cho-

sen hunting location, my

friend and his father re-

leased the dogs and then

began handing out these

strange little lanterns that

mounted on the hat we

wore. The lights were used

so the wearers hands

would be free to handle the

gun. The light these lamps

put out was amazing. The

bright white light turned

night into day for quite a

distance and was wider

beamed than most flash-

lights of the day.

The amazing thing was that

these lights were powered

by a small rock and some

water!

It took me over forty years

to learn the chemical ex-

planation for this mode of

light. The “rock” that was

put into the bottom cham-

ber of the light was crys-

tallized calcium carbide

(cac-2) The water went

into a small reservoir in

the top of the light and was

fed into the bottom cham-

ber through a control

valve. As the water reacted

with the calcium Acetylene

gas was formed, yes the

same gas that is used in

welding.

The Acetylene gas burns

with a bright white light

rather than the yellow light

of kerosene. When the car-

bide is exhausted the re-

maining residue is calcium

hydroxide or as it is better

known slaked lime This ma-

terial had no real use and

was removed to make

room for recharging the

light for the next nights

use. Yes this lighting sys-

tem could be explosive, but

the advantage of brighter

and wider lighting for early

automobiles was worth the

risk in the manufacturers

thinking. Of course, the

owner of the car had to

maintain the lighting sys-

tem on a daily basis, clean-

ing, polishing, and recharg-

ing the system.

The pictures at the right

show the typical equipment

used in the carbide system.

The brass canister

mounted on the running

board of this car held ei-

ther the crystallized cal-

cium carbide or the same

substance in either pellet-

ized or powder form in the

bottom and a supply of wa-

ter in the top. The resulting

Acetylene gas was con-

ducted to the lights by tub-

ing where it would be

lighted to burn through the

duration of the trip being

made

A far more complicated

process than today where

we throw a switch and the

night disappears.

Brass Era Lights

Page 5 Tioga Transmission

Carbide light

Carbide chamber

showing slaked lime

Water reservoir with

Control lever

August 26, 2012 Ti-

oga Region A.A.C.A.

27th Annual Car

Show And Flea Mar-

ket. New Location

Beds 4 Kids/ Save

More Furniture Field

100 Elm Street,

Owego, N.Y.

October 3-7 Fall Car-

lisle

October 10-13, 2012

Eastern Fall Meet.

Hershey Region.

Hershey, PA. 717-

June 14-16 2012 Annual

Grand National/

Southeastern Special Fall

Duel Meets A.A.C.A. Cele-

bration City Region, Shelby-

ville, Tenn.

931-684-9379

August 13-17 2012 Founders

Tour (1932 and later) Alle-

gheny Mountain Region

A.A.C.A. Altoona, Pa

814-251-2299

566-7720

We have begun to

help Leonard Hill-

dale’s new charity,

NICE, in it’s kick off

efforts. The purpose

of this program is to

provide coats, boots,

and hats to all chil-

dren in need. Our in-

volvement is promot-

ing a Cruise In each

Saturday this sum-

mer. Noon to 8:00

PM

Summer Events

On Saturday June 9, 2012 a small group of friends (it

looked to number close to 100) gathered at The Newark

Valley Rail Road Depot to help Ray Shaver celebrate his

80th birthday. I have never seen the parking lot so full!

Happy Birthday to a FRIEND of AACA

The Big 80