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Babcock Mite
Built by John Babcock for tether track racing
As interest in rail track racing began to wane, because of its success as a rail track racer, a number of Babcock Rail Mites began appearing on tether tracks. Many of these cars were simply reconfigured rail cars, with the rail guides removed, and in their place, a bridle was attached to the rail guide mounts cast into the side of the pan.
The original Babcock Rail Mite pan had two separate rail guide mounts cast into the left side of the pan near the front, and the bridle was typically attached to rear-most of those two mounts. As this trend continued, John Babcock modified the pattern for the pan castings of the car, eliminating the front-most rail guide mount entirely.
A second change which John Babcock incorporated in the tether track versions of the Babcock Mite was to center the body of the car on the axles. The body on the original Babcock Rail Mite was offset to the right to provide additional clearance for the rail between the left side of the body and the wheels on the left side of the car.
The car shown in the photos is an example of one of John Babcock's later tether cars, with only a single bridle mount in the front plus the bridle mount in the rear. and the body of the car is centered on the axles. The car is rather unique because it is one of very few Babcock Mite tether cars that were actually built by John Babcock.
The car is powered with a McCoy 19 race car engine with spur gear drive. C-R aluminum wheels and tires, 2 3/8 inch diameter knife-edge fronts and 3 inch diameter semi-pneumatic rears, were provided by Babcock's close friend, Curly Glover.
