First, the delivery of automobiles in the late teens and 1920s. Let's talk about Fords since they were selling 9 out of 10 cars being sold at the time.
Ford made parts for Model T Fords in Michigan. They assembled many cars there. Parts were also sent out to places like St. Louis, where they assembled T's (the building still stands here in St. Louis, Goodwill has been using it for over 30 years).
From locations like Detroit, St. Louis and probably many others, cars were not loaded on car carriers and taken down the highway to a dealership. They were placed on railway cars, partially assembled, and delivered to places where the final assembly took place.
Second, what was this station used for. Dealers did not sell you a car with a full tank in those days, h...they didn't even do that in 1958 when I purchased my first new car.
I still believe this was some kind of a commercial location, a place where gasoline was dispensed, and possibly it was necessary to dispense it rapidly. This may have been a location for the local bus company, where they wanted to dispense gas as fact as they could. Pumps this size, usually had very large motors and pumps, they were probably able to dispense at over three gallong per minute.
Jack Sim
Last edited by Jack Sim; Thu Nov 03 2011 10:51 PM.