Grantville Gazette-Volume XI

by Eric Flint

  The first fifth wheels appear to have been simple pivot pins and thrust or rub plates, which later evolved into the metal fifth wheel assembly. There is a long-standing and bitter argument over whether or not the fifth wheel was lost with the decline of Rome and only rediscovered in the Middle Ages or whether the fifth wheel continued to be used. The only wagons found in archaeological sites are small, apparently ceremonial, and do not appear to have either a pivot or fifth wheel. Whether or not any Roman technologies were lost need not bother us, because the fifth wheel and most other Roman innovations were definitely back in use by the fourteenth century.

  A clue to the presence of a pivot or fifth wheel, especially when looking at art works, is if the front wheels are smaller than the back wheels. This size difference indicates the presence of some form of fifth wheel. The smaller front wheels, the distance that the axle extends beyond the side of the wagon, the cant (tilt) of the wheels, and the width of the wagon body combine to determine how far the front wheels can turn before hitting the sides of the wagon. This is the turning radius of a wagon, often called the "lock." Farmers and long-distance freight haulers usually didn't need a wagon that could maneuver through tight places, so the locks on farm and freight wagons are generally less than the lock on specialized wagons used only in towns.

  The Roman use of iron bushings to reinforce the axles was also "rediscovered" before the fifteenth century. Iron nave or hub rings, used to reinforce the hub and iron straps or rings on the axle ends, allowed for a metal-to-metal rotating joint for the wheels. Grease packed between the metal rings let the wagon wheels turn quietly and smoothly. Iron remained expensive enough that many wagons used only wooden axles and naves until the late 18th century. Grease or tar was packed into these wood-to-wood joints to reduce wear.

  The Roman suspension systems were reinvented or regained popularity more slowly. Some versions didn't show up until the 17th century

  Wagon sizes and load-carrying capacities vary widely depending on size, materials, and purpose. Wagons fall into three main categories—farm, freight, and special use.

  Farm wagons have been around about as long as there have been farms. A close look at paintings reveals some with few differences between them and their nineteenth- and twentieth-century American counterparts, along with some that are very different. Those farm wagons that do differ often resemble some later forms of English farm wagons.

  Van Hilegaerts' late sixteenth-century painting, "Siege of s'Hertogenbosch" has a wagon with sides made of varied length spindles that support a curving top-rail. This type of wagon appears in sixteenth- and seventeenth- century artwork along with straight sided and top-railed boxy wagons that closely resemble nineteenth-century American farm wagons.

  The American examples available from the late 18th century commonly have flat, rectangular wagon boxes around three feet wide by ten feet long. European examples include similar utilitarian wagons, but also include fancier examples with curved bottoms and sides. These fancier wagons may be examples of wealthier farmers showing off their wealth or, as happened in England, local wagon building customs.

  England saw the development of the "bow" wagons with lower sides, longer bodies and raves (fenders) above the rear wheels. These wagons also featured sides that angled out from a narrow bottom—a feature that allowed the front wheels to turn further than straight sides. According to J. Geraint Jenkins in The English Farm Wagon, Origins and Structure, the heavy freight or carrier wagon first appears in England in the 16th century. These wagons were apparently copies of freight wagons found in Holland, Belgium, and Northern France. The evidence shows that while English freight haulers increasingly used wagons in the 16th century, the English farmers continued to use carts. Farm wagons were more common throughout the rest of Europe.

  We've all seen farm wagons in movies and television. Surprisingly, Hollywood got this one right. Most of the westward-trekking pioneers used farm wagons, not huge, freight-hauling Conestogas. Movies show the wagons' sides in bare wood or very faded paint. In real life they were brightly painted. Paint preserved the wood as well as making a statement about the wagons' makers and owners. By the late-19th century, American farm wagons were commonly painted bright green with the running gear (frame, axles, wheels, and tongue) often a bright red or yellow. The panels of the wagon would usually be outlined in yellow or black striping with the wagon company's logo in red or yellow. Muted color schemes were not in fashion.

  The major modern changes include the use of more iron and steel to fasten wagons together and seats set on elliptical springs. By the beginning of the American Civil War, wagon boxes, running gear and such became more standardized as a result of industrialization. While dimensions began to fall into a selection of favored sizes, the idea of interchangable parts didn't fully appear until close to the end of the 19th century.

  Farm wagons did share several common design points. Most were made to allow the box to be removed and replaced by a hayrack or other type of special body. Completely removing the body allowed the use of the running gear alone to move individual logs and other bulky loads.

  The single box, double box, and triple box wagon will be new to the 17th century. A single box farm wagon has a main box that is usually 14 inches deep. A double wagon box adds panels called the top box to the sides and ends of the main box and and generally add another 12 inches to the bed's depth. The triple box wagon attaches the tip-top box, another set of panels usually 10 inches deep, bringing the total depth to 36 inches. Added depth was useful for carrying threshed, unbagged wheat or ears of corn, although there are practical limits to depth that are caused by the strength of materials used for construction.

  Studebaker and John Deere were among the most popular American makers of farm wagons in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Their wagons and others can still be found in the U.S. and Canada and many remain in use. One thing that cannot be determined through pictures is the wheel track width. Most John Deere and Studebaker wagons built prior to 1918 had a wheel track width of 60 inches. The introduction of automobiles, which usually had 56-inch wheel track widths, influenced changes at John Deere and Studebaker. Both companies began to manufacture and sell farm wagons with 56-inch wheel track widths. In the Sears-Roebuck Catalog from 1908 two widths are shown. The "Narrow Track" of 4 feet 8 inches and the "Wide Track" of 5 feet 2 inches are shown, with the note that all wagons and buggies are available in either track width.

  Farm wagons got hard use, so it is likely that any found in Grantville will be from the early-twentieth century. It is possible that all the up-time wagons will have the later 56-inch wheel tracks. One can see 56-inch wheel tracks becoming a standard throughout Europe.

  Farm wagons could haul from 1,500 to 5,000 pounds, depending on their size. These farm wagons are made for slow walking speeds and hard use, but not for carrying large loads of freight long distances. Given improvements in the roads, the up-time farm wagon will still be useful as a light to medium freight wagon.

  Freight wagons have always been special purpose wagons. Their use in the U.S. dates back to colonial times and references indicate that the U.S. versions were copies of German models built by German settlers. The German and Dutch heavy freight wagons range from the spindle framed wagon mentioned above to straight sided, boxy wagons that look more like nineteenth-century American freight wagons. There is evidence that English freight wagons of the late-16th century could carry 4 tons. By the end of the 17th century, the largest English freight wagons were capable of hauling 8 tons.

  Given the references to large freight wagons, we can accept that by 1632 there were heavy freight wagons capable of carrying at least 4 tons in Europe. Going by English evidence and the fact that English wagon building lagged behind European wagon building, we could argue that heavy freight wagons could carry up to 6 or even 8 tons of cargo. These largest freight wagons required teams of twelve horses.

  The first mention of American Conestoga wagons appears in 1717. The
Conestoga wagon was a heavy freight wagon built for the very bad roads of colonial America. The wagon body was longer and deeper than some of its European counterparts, but its overall shape matched many freight wagons that could be seen in Europe. The earliest Conestogas were small, carrying only around 1 ton of freight. By 1820, the Conestoga had grown in size and was capable of carrying 3 tons or more across the same bad roads.

  The Conestoga used thick wooden construction and chain braces to keep its load from breaking out the box sides. The biggest had a wagon bed that was 16 feet long at the bottom and around 5 feet wide. The front and back end panels leaned outward adding several more feet of cargo space. The sides lean out also, but only a few inches. The wagon bed was curved, with the ends being from 6 to 10 inches higher than the middle. Some sources indicate that this curve was intended to help keep the load from shifting when going up and down hills. Others contend it was a decorative touch. Whichever is correct, the curves and leaning panels made a Conestoga wagon distinctive. It was not, as some sources suggest, intended for use as a boat when crossing rivers. Conestogas didn't float.

  Every thing about the Conestoga was big, strong, and heavy. Many had wheels that were 6 feet in diameter with a 3 inch wide tread. The wide treads aided in getting it across badly maintained roads. Empty, the Conestoga weighed upwards of 1,200 to 2,000 pounds. One major reason for the weight was that it used very little iron. Iron was expensive and reserved for wheel rims, chains, and those few places where nothing else would serve. Instead of iron, very thick and heavy wood construction was used.

  The Conestoga hauled freight up and down the eastern coast of the U.S. until better roads made the use of less massive and expensive wagons possible. A fully-loaded Conestoga required a minimum team of six large horses or six to eight oxen, with extras needed for negotiating steep hills.

  There is evidence that use of Conestogas drove the breeding of a large, heavy, draft horse type known as the Conestoga Horse. At best guess, these animals were about the size of modern day Belgians (16 hh, 1,600 to 1,800 lb). While the Grantvillers might introduce the idea of a Conestoga-type freight wagon through pictures and books, road improvements and the availability of cheap iron will probably occur soon enough to by-pass its usefulness.

  The bad roads it traveled required the Conestoga's massive size and weight. Improved roads and later developments in wagon building allowed for other styles of freighters fully as durable as the Conestogas, like the "Prairie Schooner." It is often considered a half-sized version of the Conestoga. Measuring typically around 4 feet wide and 10 to 12 feet in length and with a wheel track just over 5 feet wide, the Prairie Schooner does appear smaller. However, what is often called a Prairie Schooner actually was just a flat-bottomed, straight-sided freight wagon with a canvas cover.

  With an empty weight of around 1,300 pounds, this freighter wasn't that much lighter than the classic Conestoga. Where it did vary was in its design and the increasing use of iron and steel fittings to bolt it together. These fittings made these freighters easier to dismantle for required repairs.

  By the mid- to late-1800s, larger freight wagons were carrying 3 to 3. 5 tons of freight along the Santa Fe Trail. These freighters had beds 16 feet long, 4 feet wide and 6 feet high sitting on rear wheels 7 feet in diameter with 4-inch wide treads. These freight wagons were durable but not easily repaired on the road and were specially designed for conditions in the southwestern U.S.

  Later books and sources contend that these freight wagons were commonly known as "Murphys" for the supposedly first and primary manufacturer, the J. Murphy Wagon Company. Contemporary sources, however, do not support this contention. The J. Murphy Wagon Company certainly built a great many wagons and did build wagons for the Santa Fe trade, but so did many other wagon makers.

  The Santa Fe-style freight wagon did become a distinctive type. They were built bigger to allow the traders to use fewer wagons to haul the same amount of goods, because the Mexican authorities levied a heavy tax on each freight wagon entering their territory.

  A smaller, lighter freight wagon close in size to the larger farm wagons came into use for the plains. Known as "Chicago" wagons, credit for this design would be given to the Peter Schuttler Wagon Company of Chicago. Again, the credit is not well supported by contemporary sources. These wagons were made in the thousands by many wagon companies. The U.S. Army adopted an altered version of these as their supply wagon. Wagon trains of army and civilian versions supplied the western forts, towns, and industries. Each freight wagon was generally hauled by five to seven yokes of oxen. These freight wagons were just as useful throughout the rest of the U.S., as they were overbuilt for transportation along good roads. On the better roads east of the Mississippi, teams of six to eight draft horses or mules replaced the oxen.

  Railroads owned and ran fleets of large freight wagons to deliver freight to warehouses well into the twentieth century. These wagons were usually painted in the railroad's company colors with large identifying logos on the sides. In rural areas, these could be Chicago-style heavy freight wagons. In the congested Eastern cities, the railroads depended more upon smaller, lighter freight wagons with tighter turning radii.

  It is not completely out of the question that some form of large freight wagon might still exist in or around Grantville. Such a wagon would be useful as a pattern for developing versions of more easily maintained wagons that use iron fittings in place of chains and wooden pegs.

  An extreme example of a heavy-duty freight wagon was the twenty-mule team borax wagon. The wagon was built to carry 10 tons of borax with beds that were 16 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 6 feet deep—the same size as the freighters on the Santa Fe Trail. Like the Santa Fe freighters, the borax wagons had rear wheels 7 feet in diameter. However, where the Santa Fe's had 4 inch wide treads, the borax wagons had 8 inch wide treads—the better to deal with soft desert sand. Each wagon weighed 7,800 pounds empty. The normal wagon combination was two wagons and a 500-gallon iron water tank wagon. The combined load reached 73,200 pounds and required two large draft horses (the wheelers) and eighteen good-sized draft mules to haul it 165 miles in 10 days. The teams averaged 17 miles a day moving between prepared camp locations where hay, grain, and food for the teamsters were available.

  Yet another specialty wagon is the hitch wagon. Most people in the U.S. are familiar with the Budweiser Clydesdales pulling the Budweiser hitch wagon. Hitch wagons were used for transporting freight within cities rather than between them. With their flashy matched teams, bright paint jobs, and gleaming, decorated harnesses, the hitch wagon was used as much for advertising as for carrying freight. They feature elliptical spring suspensions and had a better turning radius than freight or farm wagons. These features were common to most wagons used in cities. This form of freight wagon was unknown in the 17th century and the possibility of there being a hitch wagon Grantville is small.

  The special wagon category contains a wide range of wagons. Most of them only came into being in the 19th century. Included in this category is the vast variety of delivery wagons used for transporting goods in cities. Grantville may not have examples but they will have the concept of making specialized wagons.

  One wagon that may find a military home is the chuckwagon. Traditionally chuckwagons were converted farm wagons that were transformed into mobile kitchens. Along with providing hot food, the chuckwagon transported personal gear and other supplies for trail crews and cattle drives throughout the western United States. The mobile kitchen, a version of the chuckwagon, remained in use among several European armies as late as World War II. These mobile kitchens, pulled by a team of horses or mules, could keep up with marching infantrymen and quickly provide hot rations when camp was made.

  Other special wagons range as widely as human imagination and need. Elaborate wagons exist for the sole purpose of conveying religious icons through the streets during religious festivals. Tanker wagons existed for hauling liquids. A look around at the various types of modern trucks poin
ts out just how many specialized wagons were once in existence. For example, dump wagons, precursors of the modern dump truck, came into existence along with a wide range of specialized road building wagons.

  Lastly, straddling the lightest end of hauling and partly falling into the people hauling/carriage category, is the spring wagon (buckboard). Spring wagons came with removable back seats and were designed to transport four to six people as well as a week's groceries. The spring wagon featured elliptical spring suspension as well as elliptical springs under the seats to provide a smoother ride. The chance of a spring wagon in Grantville is high.

  Prior to the mid-19th century most wagons were built by a lone wheelwright with the help of a couple of apprentices. A farm or freight wagon might take four to six months to build. Depending upon the amount of iron used, the wagon could also require the services of a blacksmith. Some wagons went so far as to avoid all use of iron except for the tires on the wheels.

  In the U.S., the late 18th century saw iron become cheaper and this changed the wagon designs. Thick, heavy wooden supports could be replaced with smaller, lighter iron supports. When the wagon reached a certain level of completion, it was sent to a blacksmith to be "ironed." Once the blacksmith had installed the iron pieces, the wagon went back to the wheelwright for finishing.