Dad built my first go-cart when I was six years old. At that time we lived on Hoods Creek (2100 and ½ Hoods Creek Pike). The cart was hand built from angle iron with a wooden seat. It had a 3.5 horsepower Briggs engine. Dad built the go-cart in an outbuilding behind the house. I remember being very afraid of the noise of the engine when it was started inside the building.
The go-cart had a very high gear ratio and did not go very fast. I rode it in the yard. Dad also took me to the A&P grocery store parking lot on the corner of Oakview Road and 13th street to ride.
Dad built a racing cart for Camel Nickel. This was a store bought Kit that Camel purchased for the purpose of racing at the local go cart track at Chesapeake, Ohio. They put a 10 hp Chainsaw engine on it. Camel later gave me this cart. Dad put the 3.5 hp Briggs on it geared to run about 35 mph. We now lived on Linda Lane (744 Linda Lane) where I could ride up and down the dead end street. Later we added a second 3.5 Briggs engine to the cart. With two engines and a new gear ratio the cart would run about 45 mph.
The two engines came from old reel type lawn mowers that Camel's father gave to dad. Dad showed me how to rebuild one engine and I rebuilt the second one by myself.
I had two sets of Pulleys for the cart. One set gave me plenty of power and less speed. This was great for riding on Linda Lane and out to Fairy Island.
The second set of pulleys gave me speed. I would use these when dad took me to Mead Springer Road where the Ashland Gun Club was located. Here I could ride on a 2 to 3 mile stretch of the road. A couple of times I rode from one end of the road to the other, about a 6 to 7 mile ride.
The old engines were quite cantankerous so I learned to tune them each time I rode the go-cart.
We found an old white padded bucket seat that fit the go-cart frame perfectly. I kept the go-cart in our garage and our family dog Tammy always slept in the seat.
One day I was riding on Linda Lane and a state trooper passed just as I turned to head back toward the house. He chased me all the way into the driveway. Luckily he was a friend of dads and expressed his concern that some of the local hotrodders might turn into Linda Lane quickly and run over me. From that time on I was very careful to not drive my cart to the end of the street.
I sold the first go-cart to my friend David Canfield. The last I remember of it, it was rusting away in their back yard in Kendal Acres. I sold the second go-cart to Fred Harris for $45.
My experience with the go-carts is one that I will always remember. I am sure that my mechanical skills were being developed at an early age as I worked on the carts to keep them running. Today I still enjoy a go-cart of such. This time it is in the form of a rail buggy.
Dad and I worked on the first go-cart in the out building behind our house. Dad made the go-cart from scratch. In the background you can also see a shot gun shell loading machine that dad also made. I remember that it used a spring from an old spring horse of mine to return the handle after each step of reloading.
The whole family enjoys riding our current rail buggy. Already this buggy is making history in our family. While on leave from the Marine Corps Chris took Julie a ride on the buggy. While ridding in the pastures of the family farm Chris proposed to Julie.
Samra and I enjoyed a week in the Pigeon Forge-Gatlinburg area riding our buggy. Our great friends Carla and Bill Utchek also went on the trip with their buggy.
Let me refer you to the Go-Cart to Rail Buggy article in our special projects section.
Twin Briggs 3.5 hp gocart that made many trips up and down Linda Lane in the early 60s.
