Adventure Caravans Traversing Michigan Tour 6/24/15

Detroit Tour Day 2

We slept in this morning because it is a carpool/ride share/do your own thing day and we were tired from not sleeping very much during the severe thunderstorm night before last.  Once we got going, we headed back to Detroit and the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.

The Henry Ford Museum is very large.  It covers the history and development of energy and technology in the USA.  There are many original and one of a kind items.  There are also a lot of progression samples, such as these vehicles used by U. S. Presidents.

President Theodore Roosevelt's Carriage

President Ronald Reagan's Car

There are more cars, but, of course, I can't put everything in the blog.  There are some highlights that I found interesting because they jogged my memory about something or I learned something that I hadn't known or realized.  For instance, I remember listening to Charles Kuralt's "On the Road" program on the radio and TV.  Well, they have the last of several motorhomes that he used on display.  Interestingly, neither he nor the crew that traveled with him ever slept in any of the motorhomes.  Each of the vehicles was modified into a broadcast studio and was used to transport the crew around the back roads for his stories.

1975 FMC Motorcoach

Many of you will recognize this vehicle.  It is the 1952 prototype vehicle, built in the original 1937 Oscar Meyer design, that was used for the 1988 fleet of Wienermobiles.

1952 Wienermobile

Also in the automobile section of the museum, is this display of race cars from over time.

And here are samples of some of the first baby car seats and more modern versions

Of course, when you travel by automobile, you need to stop for food.  Here are a couple photos with that theme.

Multiple signs for different fast food

This is a working diner where you can buy snacks in the museum

In the agriculture section of the Museum. there are old and newer pieces of farm equipment.

Old farm equipment

Newer farm equipment

In the railroad section, I hadn't realized that this type of train was made back in the beginning.  It looks like a bunch of stagecoaches hooked up behind an early steam engine.

Engine for the Dewitt Clinton train

Carriages used as railroad cars

Then there was this interesting snow removal engine.

Canadian Pacific Snowplow

Model railroad.  This is about one-third of the display.

There was a aircraft section that contained this original Wright Brothers first airplane.

Wright Brothers' first flight plane

This airplane, below, looked like it had corrugated metal covering the outside of the fuselage and wings.  It also had three propellers, one on each wing and one on the nose.  

This helicopter never made it into production.  This is the only one made.  It did everything except fly forward, however, they figured that out eventually, but it was not a profitable design.

1940 Sikorsky VS-300 Helicopter

Thomas Newcomen built the first successful steam engine in 1710.  The power section of the Henry Ford Museum has the oldest surviving steam engine in the world, the Newcomen Engine built in 1760. This machine was used to pump water out of mines.  The first photo shows the pump mechanism that would be put down in the mine to suck the water to the surface.  The second shows the other end of the machine where the steam forces the gears and levers, etc. to crank the pump up and down to bring the water up from the mine.

Newcomen engine

Newcomen engine

This interesting painted steam engine was cast with arches.  No one knows for sure, but it is thought that perhaps the manufacturer wanted it to fit into the Gothic style that was popular at the time, around 1855.  It was used to produce electricity - 150 horsepower or 112 kilowatts/ hr. at 32 revolutions/minute.

Stationary Steam Engine, 1855

Before we left the museum, we had to check out the House of the Future (as predicted in 1946).  Here is the floor plan.  It is a prefab house made in a circular design and made from the new materials of aluminum, plastic, Plexiglas, and Naugahyde.  It had unique features like rotating closets and many compact, efficient storage solutions.

Circular floor plan of the 2 bedroom house

Outside view

Here are a couple of photos of the inside of the house.

Revolving closet

Kitchen

Living/Dining room

This is only a prototype.  The homes never went into production.

We left the Henry Ford Museum and walked over to Greenfield Village, which is next  to the Museum.  We were expected back at camp at 5:30 PM and were running out of time to see much more, so we decided to take the train that circles the village then see if we had enough time to see anything else.This is the train being pulled by an Edison coal-fired Engine.

Edison Steam Engine.

Shoveling coal into the firebox

Away we go...  See the smoke and steam coming from the smokestack?

This is some of the soot that landed on my backpack and everything and everyone else.

Here are some of the scenes along the way around the track encircling the Greenfield Village.

An old farm

Some of the homes and an old truck

When we got off the train, we walked through some of the village.  Everything has been brought in from the 1800's to early 1900's.  The volunteers walk around in period costume.  There are horses and horse drawn carriages and early autos and trucks traversing the streets.  Here are some of the things we saw.  

Horse-drawn carriage and windmill on the farm

Clock tower

Super cool playground

We had to get back to the campground so we could have the spaghetti dinner that the Adventure Caravans staff had prepared for us.  It was delicious.  After that, we started to prepare to move to Lansing, MI, tomorrow, for the next stop on our tour of Michigan.