Anyone know what to call the old gas pumps that had to have the gas hand pumped into a bowl at the top before it gravity fed into the car’s tanks?
Anyone know if these have ever been made in S gauge?
Google suggests they originated the name “gas pump” since “vintage” “antique” or “old” seem to be the only additional descriptors used. There’s a whole hobby surrounding restoring and displaying these devices.
I believe the “sight glass” in modern pumps is a vestige of the old reservoir glass.
It is odd that suppliers (or regulators) thought customers needed to actually see the otherwise colourless liquid before it went into their tank. Maybe visible quality issues?
LastSpike actually hit upon the correct name: “Visible Gas Pump”
Among other things, it kind of reassure customers that they were getting the volume of fuel they paid for (although, alas, there were various ways for the seller to subvert that like misleading markings or undersized cylinders)
Back in the day there were people that would and could short change customers and the clear tops were ment to prevent this. I remember pumping gas on these and that was in the early 70’s on a farm.
There were often problems with early gas as to purity etc. That was a lot of the reason for the clear globes on the visible pumps. As for finding one in S that looks a little hard. I searched Shapeways and nothing. I know recently I have see Greenlight Collectables diecast that include some of the globe topped later style Wayne metered gas pumps (In some but not all of of the “Hobby Shop” series. http://greenlighttoys.com/index.php?id=474 ) I know I have seen these in Hobby Lobby. Perhaps you could do a kitbash on a pump- the wayne pump would produce the globe- which is the hard part with the logo- and the nozzle. A piece of clear rod with a strip of styrene and then painting the bottom. The visible pumps varied a lot- some were straight up and down, some tapered, others more curved (Mae West pumps) so however you do the bottom is within the realm of possibility. (And you would get a 1/64 vehicle out of it too) You might look at their “Mechanic’s Corner” too as they have some gas stations with that Wayne Pump.
Flow measurement devices in the early 20th were not very accurate. Filling the top reservoir to a specific mark was the best way to ensure the correct amount of gas was being delivered to the customer.
For some reason I think they may have been called “fish bowl” pumps
That is what my dad called them.
-Kevin
Tichy offers “visible” gas pumps in HO scale, but they’ve also recently begun producing some S scale detail parts. I suggest that you contact them, as they may increase their S scale line if interest is sufficient.
I ordered a bunch of HO stuff from them yesterday…tell 'em I sent you. [swg]
Wayne
Can you get regular pumps in S scale for the company you’re interested in?
The glass topped pumps are pretty simple to model. The base is just a tall vertical cylinder. The glass bowl can be modeled with a piece of clear styrene rod. Then, cut the circular top piece off an existing ordinary model and glue it on top of the bowl. Likewise, remove the existing hose and attach it to your new pump. A bit of cleanup, some paint and you’re done.
There was a reason for the visible bowls. The way they worked was that they hand pumpd the amount of gas you were purchasing into the glass container, which was marked in gallons. Gravity then caused it to flow into the vehicle gas tank. Ordering from the attendent went something like “give me 5 gallons of regular” or just “5 gallons of regular please”.
Most gas was pumped by the attendent who also checked your oil and washed your windows.
And that’s the very reason for the vestigial sight glass on more modern pumps. The sign says (or said, I’m not sure those sight glasses are still there since I never look at them) “glass must be full before and after fuel delivery”.
Incidentally, it is illogical to buy liquid fuel by volume so those sight glasses were in fact misleading. Fuel sales are regulated here and volumes actually delivered are corrected to measured volumes that would be delivered at a temperature of 15C, which is higher than the average temperature of underground storage tanks. You pay tax on that 15 degree normalized volume. You will note that your car meters fuel into your engine by mass, not by volume. You nearly always pay more per litre or gallon for your fuel than you think you do.
Thank, Wayne, I willcheck with Tichy. I went to the family farm and measured my grandfather’s country store. I’d like to put it on my small layout. One of the barred rear windows was cracked and I could smell Grandaddy’s cigars as strongly as the day in early 1959 that they closed the store.
These are a pair of pictures made in HO scale using JL Innovative pumps. I have both the 50s style pumps and the older pumps. I have a pump island for each, which I change out depending on which era I’m running in.