Locomotive wipers are air powered, at least the Alco RS-1 I was in had 'em. Just a steady psst psst psst as they ran.
Nope, it had electric wipers. The wiper motor was a fairly large one mounted right there in the middle of the firewall. The two wipers met in the middle of the windshield and swung out toward the outside in those days, unlike the later ones which kind of stayed parallel to each other. The 1950 Ford pickup we had had vacuum wipers, though. What happened was, they ran fine until you stepped on the gas which reduced the engine vacuum and they slowed way down or stopped until you let up on the gas pedal. Not a real big deal unless it was really pouring down rain. Doug
Used to have a 1967 F250 with a 428SCJ, it had a 1963 406 dual point distributor...I always had 4 points and 2 rotors in the glove box
I have been under the dash of a few old chevys. I found that a 57 510 sedan had the vacuum wiper motor but the 57 Bel Air had the electric. Same body but way different trim levels. Also as a part tech for a green colored store I had a few customers who were none too happy with me only having the electric wiper motor available and no rebuild kits or replacement vacuum options. Oh well. I don't make the parts I just sold them.
Plymouth had a different attitude toward safety features. Across the board by '51. And you mean Two Ten, right? We ain't talking about Datsuns...
And just think if the Big 3 had not killed Tucker, where would safety be today. Also GM was working with Airbags back in the 70's but deemed it cost too much for the safety gains... Yea that sounds like a bean counter answering to shareholders if I ever heard...
Well, I don't think much of airbags. They seem to cause as much harm as they alleviate. But yeah, both GM and Ford. Remember the decision Ford made that making Pinto gas tanks safer would cost more than the likely number of lawsuits they'd generate?
Another problem with the Pinto gas tank design was it had been used for years and years before the pinto with no serious repercussions. The Falcon family of cars, including the Mustang and Cougar had the Exact same design. Only difference was the Falcon family of cars were larger (more space between the tank and rear end) and were also of a heavier gauge of steel. Since it was OK before it should be OK again right?