Angels Camp Museum

It is interesting to see these old wagons. So many parts of them persist and appear in our present day cars. For example, the brakes on this wagon have "shoes" made of a piece of wood that can be replaced when it is worn. And like the covered wagons we saw in Baker City, OR, there are "parking" brakes (the iron piece on the floor) that attach to the wheels to lock them completely. as with the covered wagons, these were used not for parking but for controlling the downhill speed of a loaded wagon.

The folks who made 20th century cars make vehicles in the 19th century. Studebaker make taker wagons to haul water.

This mail wagon also carried people in the neighborhood (meaning in about a 15 mile range).

In another building there is a vintage, manually operated printing press.

My favorite object in the museum is this unassuming looking device. Actually, there are four of them. After the turn of the last century, cars were built with solid tires. The hese rubber tires would develop flat places when parked for a few days at a time. Over time, these flat spots would accumulate and you'd get a rough ride leading to the need to replace the tire, an expensive proposition. To extend the life of the times, these lifts were invented. Once you part the car, you put one of these on the axle at each wheel and lift the car a few inches. This reduces the pressure on the tires and avoids the flattening of the rubber, thus extending the useful life of the wheels. Ain't that clever!