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Carlson .29 Rail Mite
Designed and built by John Carlson
In addition to building a number of mite size tether racers of his own design, John Carlson also produced a small number of rail mites...including this Dooling .29 powered car.
The .29-size rail mite pan is virtually identical to that of Carlson's .29-size tether car pan with the exception of the cast in rail guide mounts on the left side of the car and slightly longer engine mount pads to permit the engine to be mounted nearer the center of the car.
Close examination of the rail mite shown in the photos reveals that the pan was originally cast with a pan handle mount in addition to the rail guide mounts, and file marks are clearly evident where the pan handle mount was removed.
In fact, one of the early wood patterns for the pan includes rail guide mounts which were obviously added later to the side of the pattern in addition to the original pan handle mount (second from the top in the lower left photo).
The lower right photo shows the Dooling .29 powered Carlson .29 rail car along side a Franny Wolf modified Dooling .29 powered Carlson tether car which used a pan of the same design as that of the rail car. Both pans were cast of magnesium and both featured a removable rear axle bearing cap; a trademark of John Carlson's early mite car designs.
