Historic Hood River
Road to Cloud Cap
12-26-2018
Notes
We didn’t have a white Christmas in Hood River but this image should still get you in the mood. Notes indicate it was taken on the road to Cloud Cap Inn. The license plate style indicates it was pre-1920. The car appears to be a 1915 or so Franklin touring car. The distinctive hood gives it away. They were air-cooled so they didn’t have a radiator out front. WAAAM has a few to check out.
I’m always amazed people would take these primitive automobiles out in conditions like this. They were not particularly reliable and offered little protection from the elements.
Buzz
If your parents or grandparents came across the plains in a covered wagon, this probably seemed like a pretty mild adventure.
L.E.
By the size of those headlights, they must have done some night driving!
I wonder if there was a team and wagon somewhere in the background to come to the rescue if there was a break down.
Arthur
In that era they were most likely acetylene lamps. Water would be added to calcium carbide to generate acetylene which the lamp burned, just like a miners headlamp. At low speeds if the reflector was polished they would have been adequate to cruise around the valley. I read a local magazine article about the joys of "night driving".
Bill Seaton
Buzz, you make a good point.