Waltham Steam

The Waltham Steam was an American steam car.

Engineers George M. Tinker and John W. Piper were employees of the Waltham Manufacturing Company,^[1] at that time makers of Orient brand bicycles in Waltham, Massachusetts. In 1898, they were allowed by the company's owner, Charles Herman Metz, to build a light steam buggy at a corner of the plant. This vehicle was finished at the end of the year and named the Waltham Steam. It had a very light 50 lb (23 kg), 3 hp (2.2 kW) two cylinder, double acting steam engine. The copper-built condenser weighted in at 110 lb (50 kg), and the complete vehicle at only 600 lb (270 kg). It had wire wheels, and steering was provided by a vertically mounted lever. Tinker and Piper exhibited their steam buggy at the Boston Automobile Show in 1898.^[2]

Two more steam cars followed under the label Tinker & Piper. Meantime, Metz had sold out his company to Charles A. Coffin and H.P. Clough but stayed in the position of a general manager. Coffin was an executive of the General Electric Company (GE). Seeking markets for GE products, he ordered a light electric car to be made by Tinker and Piper. They built it also at the Waltham Manufacturing plant. It had a wheelbase of 60 in (150 cm) and an electric motor by General Electric. It was presented as the Orient Electric at the New York Cycle & Automobile Show in 1899. Neither Tinker and Piper nor Metz were impressed, and there were no more electric vehicles to follow.^[2]

In 1899^[3] or early 1900,^[2][4] Tinker and Piper left the Waltham Manufacturing Company through consensual agreement with, and support from, Charles Metz, to start their own business.^[2] Their Waltham Automobile Company was located at 130-136 Newton Street in Waltham^[4] and started building small steam-powered stanhopes that sold for $750^[1][2][4] with a Victoria top.^[4] Further, there might have been some steamers with Vis-à-vis coachwork.^[4]

Production ended in 1902^[1][2] or 1903.^[4]

Of the unknown number of Waltham steam vehicles built, one Stanhope is still in existence.^[4]

An unrelated company in Springfield, Massachusetts also produced a steam powered automobile under the Waltham name in 1905.^[1]

• Brass Era car
• List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers

• Beverly Rae Kimes (ed.) and Henry Austin Clark, jr.: The Standard Catalogue of American Cars 1805–1942, 2nd edition, Krause Publications, Iola WI 54990, USA (1985), ISBN 0-87341-111-0
• Beverly Rae Kimes (ed.) and Henry Austin Clark, jr.: The Standard Catalogue of American Cars 1805–1942, 3rd edition, Krause Publications, Iola WI 54990, USA (1985), ISBN 978-0-87341-428-9
• G. N. Georgano (ed.): Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, 1885 to the Present; Dutton Press, New York, 2nd edition (Hardcover) 1973, ISBN 0-525-08351-0
• Beverly Rae Kimes: Pioneers, Engineers, and Scoundrels: The Dawn of the Automobile in America. editors: SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Permissions, Warrendale PA 2005, ISBN 0-7680-1431-X (Hardcover).

• Waltham Museum: The Waltham Steam Cars of Piper and Tinker (retrieved 27 February 2013)
• earlyamericanautomobiles.com: Massachusetts Manufactured (Automobiles); chapter 33 (retrieved 27 February 2013)