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Ohlsson & Rice Midget
Electric motor powered amusement park "slot car"
The car shown in the photos is an electric motor powered Ohlsson & Rice Midget slot car.
The car itself is a later version of the Ohlsson &Rice Midget which was equipped with stamped steel front and rear wheels. The car is powered with an electric motor and worm gear drive unit like those used in early electric model trains. The motor and drive unit were mounted to the pan, and the lower portion of the seat and the bottom portion of the steering wheel were removed to provide clearance around the electric motor.
A pair of slot guides, which are actually just a pair of 1/4 inch diameter steel posts, were mounted under the center-line of the chassis to guide the car around the track. Electric current was fed to the motor through two pair of electrical contacts or "wipers" mounted under the car. When placed on the track, the speed of the car was controlled by an electrical transformer, much like those used to control the speed of an electric model train.
Many of these cars were raced on semi-permanent, oval-shaped, six-lane slot tracks built in a number of larger amusement parks across the country during the mid 1950s. Each of the six lanes on the track had its own transformer which allowed participants to select the car of their choice to race in their particular lane. Participants were charged a small fee to race one of the cars, and I am told that there were typically a fair number of side bets being placed among the participants to determine who was the "best driver" and who had the fastest car.
These cars were also raced on portable slot tracks which were set up on the midways of state and county fairs across the country.
I have seen a number of examples of these amusement park electric powered O&R slot cars and, with the exception of the paint and graphics, the Ohlsson & RIce Midget race cars and all of the modifications to the cars were identical in all cases.
