1892 - Transportation

Transportation

The Viktoria motorcar introduced by Karl Benz is his first four-wheeled vehicle and enjoys respectable sales (see 1888; 1895).

The Haynes-Duryea motorcar introduced at Springfield, Massachusetts, is one of the first U.S. motorcars to be offered for public sale (see 1891; Lambert, 1891). Designed by Indiana inventor Elwood Haynes, 38, who created tungsten steel chrome in 1881, it has a four-cycle water-cooled engine and a rubber and leather transmission. Haynes has approached John W. Lambert, who has promised to let him promote the Haynes-Duryea with the claim that it is indeed the first. Total U.S. motorcar production is 25 (see 1895; 1897; Chicago-Milwaukee race, 1895).

French automakers René Panhard and E. C. Levassor produce the first motorcar to be equipped with pneumatic tires (see 1889).

Internal combustion engine pioneer George Brayton dies at London December 17 at age 62.

Chicago's first elevated railway goes into operation to augment the cable cars and trolley lines of the "Loop" that circles the city's downtown area. The "Alley L" line on the South Side will expand to serve much of the city (see 1897).

The Pecos River Bridge completed for the Southern Pacific Railroad in Arizona Territory is the highest railroad bridge in North America and third highest in world. Built by a Pennsylvania firm, it is 2,180 feet long and stands 321 feet above the river.

South Africa's first trains from Cape Town reach Johannesburg in September and begin to generate income that will be important to the Cape Colony's finances.

Huffy bicycles have their beginnings at Dayton, Ohio, where Davis Sewing Machine Company owner George P. Huffman oversees production of the company's first cycle (see 1899).