Studebaker and the Railroads Vol 1

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Studebaker and the Railroads Vol 2

196 Pages

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The author grew up playing with toy trains and riding in his Grandmother’s Studebaker.  He eventually learned how to drive in her Stude (which he still owns) and became a serious railfan.

Studebaker and the Railroads, the result of these twin passions, is a history of the Studebaker Corporation and of the railroads that served it in and around the city of South Bend, Indiana.  Both Studebaker and the railroads of northern Indiana have extensive and dramatic histories and there are many connections between the two.  Studebaker lovers and railfans will equally enjoy the stories and facts reported.

Divided into two volumes, Studebaker and the Railroads comprises over four hundred fifty pages and contains over three hundred fifty photographs, drawings, maps and diagrams.  It is the result of more than fifteen years of research, writing and collecting.

Volume 1 covers the history of Studebaker and the so-called steam railroads that once decorated South Bend.  Volume 2 covers the extensive electric railroad history of the area and includes a history of Studebaker’s private in-plant railroad, the Chicago & South Bend, together with several additional topics linking Studebaker and railroading.  Both volumes feature detailed indexes.  Volume 2 includes an extensive bibliography, numerous maps, and corporate history charts.

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Turning Wheels Index - Volume 2 UPGRADED 12/09

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TW Index is a complete and detailed index of everything that has appeared in the SDC Turning Wheels magazine since its inception in 1972.  Of greatest importance are the advice items that are indexed by subject (engines, brakes, steering, etc.) including all individual letters that appear in the Co-Operator column.  Historical items are also indexed by subject as well as by the vehicle (model and year) they relate to.  If you own, for instance, a 1959 Hawk, TW Index will give you instant access to everything that has been published about your car and much more

Indexed by model, year, AND subject matter, TW Index is detailed and comprehensive, making it easy to find the information you need.  Each listing, of course, refers you to the specific issue of "Turning Wheels" and cites the page on which the item begins.  To see a sample page, click here.

TW Index is, in effect, the organization you have always wanted to do, but have never gotten around to.  With TW Index, both technical and non-technical information is at your fingertips and the incredible array of expertise that appears monthly in Turning Wheels is suddenly accessible.  All Co-operator letters are detailed in an "advice" section. Rated "excellent" by Fred Fox and Bob Palma.  It's almost like having the Turning Wheels editorial staff at your shoulder.  

Volume 1 of the Turning Wheels Index includes issues of Turning Wheels from 1972 through 1992 by subject, model, and year. Volume 1 contains 10,711 references on 159 pages.

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Volume 2 of the Turning Wheels Index includes issues of Turning Wheels from 1993 through 2009 by subject, model, and year. Volume 2 contains 9,995 references on 158 pages.

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Albert Erskine came to the Studebaker Corporation from Underwood Typewriter in 1911.  In 1915 he was named President and, in 1918, following the death of the last of the company’s founders, John Mohler Studebaker, he wrote and published this book, a history of the company.

Studebaker boomed under Erskine.  Sales in 1918 amounted to $52 million and by 1923 had climbed to $166 million, more than tripling.  Erskine’s book, by then long out of print, was recognized as a valuable promotion tool, so he undertook a revision and significant expansion, which was published in 1924.  The 1918 version had been printed as a memento for the Studebaker family and selected employees, stockholders, suppliers and dealers.  The 1924 version was printed in much larger quantities for much broader distribution.  As a result, it is relatively easy to find today.  The version reprinted here is much harder to find and can be much more expensive when it does turn up. 

Because of its early publication date, and because the author knew the company so well, most historians view this book as authoritative.  In it, you will find a history of the early years, the wagon and carriage businesses, the transition to the automotive business, and selected corporate financial information.  In addition, there are forty illustrations of vehicles, plants, and the most important personalities.

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The Studebaker History Corner is a collection of anecdotes and short stories covering the entire span of Studebaker’s history from 1852 through 1966.  Including both the famous and the obscure, it provides perspective, adds detail to existing histories, and entertains with facts you haven’t heard before, accompanied by authenticated and corrected versions of some of the stories you most likely have heard.

For instance, the Studebaker History Corner includes an article on the Studebaker Electrics, setting them in the context of the rest of the electric auto industry.  Studebaker, we learn, was an important manufacturer, but neither the largest nor the longest-lived.  The book also includes the story of the Selden patent and Studebaker’s place in it, the fascinating story of a theft from the Studebaker administration building, the history of Studebaker’s unionization, an account of the relationship between Studebaker and Trans International Airlines and much more.  In total, it fills 125 pages with 116 different articles.

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The same treatment given to SDC's Turning Wheels, given to the Antique Studebaker Club's Antique Studebaker Review.  Contains 3,051 entries on 48 pages.  Covers all issues of the magazine through and including 2009.

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96  Pages

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The Studebaker Bibliography was developed with the intent of cataloging as much as possible of the available Studebaker literature.  Our goal was to make information accessible to current and future historians as well as casual readers.  The bibliography lists 321 books (both fiction and nonfiction), 1,784 magazine articles and 2,768 newspaper articles.  All are related to the Studebaker Corporation, its founders, officers, employees, dealers, subsidiaries, or vehicles, and nearly all of it is available free (or inexpensively) from your local library’s interlibrary loan program!

The Life of Clement Studebaker

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The Life of Clement Studebaker is a typewritten manuscript held in the collection of the St. Joseph County Library in South Bend, Indiana.  Written after his death in 1901, it was never published.  Although the writer is anonymous, it was certainly done by either a relative or a close family friend some time between 1908 and 1914.

Although Clement died just at the dawn of the automobile age, the company that he and his four brothers founded, the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, was later to play an important role in the early years of the automobile after it made the transition to the Studebaker Corporation.  Clement, especially, together with his brother John Mohler Studebaker, established the character of the business and hand-picked the successors who introduced the company’s first cars and guided it through the formative years of the 1920s.  Clement, therefore, is an important precursor to the history of the automobile industry.

“The Life of Clement Studebaker” is a biography.  It is not limited to his business, but also covers his political life, his family life, his church life, and his connections with other businesses and other people in South Bend.  It illuminates the man and gives insight.  It specifically says, for example, that Clement was not opposed to the development of a Studebaker automobile, but was not in a hurry, preferring to let others do expensive experimentation.

This fascinating 188-page biography belongs on the shelf of everyone interested in the history of the Studebaker Corporation, the city of South Bend, the automobile industry, or life in the late 19^th century.

93 Pages

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David Beecroft was editor of the magazine The Automobile in the years before World War I and was later president of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Between October 1915 and August 1916 he wrote a history of the automobile industry and published it in his magazine in serial form. Beecroft intended to publish the history in book form after completing the magazine serial, but he died in 1943 and to our knowledge, the book was never printed.

It might seem that in 1915 the automobile industry would have had little history, but Beecroft’s work shows us that isn’t true. As a contemporary of the pioneers, and as editor of an influential industry publication, Beecroft had access to many sources that are not available today and his work shows that he didn’t hesitate to use them. The result is a fascinating and authoritative essay that validates stories we have heard from other sources and brings out others that are now little known, especially in the areas of the development of the gasoline engine and the pneumatic tire.

One problem with Beecroft’s work, from the perspective of today, is that it is fragmented across more than forty issues of a publication that is now hard to find. As a result, it is infrequently seen and little used. However, we were able to gain access to the entire series through our library. We are pleased to reprint it in one publication and thus to make it easily available to the automotive community. A few typos in the original have been corrected, but it otherwise remains exactly as Beecroft published it including his original illustrations.

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