Faegol to Chrysotile

A Leveler of Hills

(Editor's Note: The narrative below is a verbatim transcription of a 1919 article.  Some of the grammar is awkward. The article is reproduced here to give an idea of the difficulty in traveling to and from Chrysotile.)

"Driving a Fageol truck, Frank Free and Curt E. Henderson, accomplished what in the opinion of the Johns-Mansville asbestos mine officials at Chrysotile was the impossible because of the fact that every other make of truck attempting the grind from Rice to the mine over mountainous roads which in places registered as much as 20 per cent, had failed completely.

"It can't be done," said the mine officials, but the fact that the truck was turned, sent the old proverbial 'can't' to the mat once more for a complete knockout.

It was because of this defy that the Ferguson-Keeler representatives tempted to make the run in a 22-ton Fageol, loaded to more than its capacity with supplies and prove the mettle of their steel brute. That the run was successfully negotiated, is best evidenced by the fact that the truck remained in the hands of the mine officials for it was immediately purchased by them.

A point that particularly appealed to the company who purchased the truck, was the fact that the truck had only run a total distance of 50 miles before starting on its demonstration run. Care was therefore necessary to not overheat or race the motor. The ability to so easily accomplish the task assigned the truck, explained Henderson, was due to the Fageol's compound gearset and automatic spring oiling device, both of which are regular equipment of the truck. The compound gearset which permits of six speeds ahead and two reverse, affords the monster an untold pulling power in low gear. In this gear ratio, the wheels, while accepting every ounce of energy from the motor, are only turning over at the rate one mile per hour, eliminating the necessity of spinning the wheels in the sand or on mountainous grades.

With the truck loaded to even an over capacity, the automatic spring oiling device permits each spring leaf to actually rest at all times on a film of oil, constantly being fed from a reservoir permitting the truck body to accept the road shocks in comfort.

After loading the truck with more than a capacity load at the U. S. R. S. warehouse in Phoenix with supplies for Roosevelt the first better than seven hours. After unloading at Roosevelt, a 22-ton load was picked up at Globe for the mine at Chrysotile. It was from Rice to the mine that tested the aptitude of the Fageol. Over this stretch, every element was encountered. Sand, rocks and nasty grades that registered between 15 per cent and 20 per cent. The turns were narrow and rocky and resembled in places granite steps rather than motor truck roads.

After reaching the mine, the truck was immediately loaded with a 5,800-pound cargo, destined for the town of Rice. According to Free, who drove the truck, the governor was never released, which permitted of 1,100 revolutions per minute. On the run to the mine, only three quarts of water was used. These facts, explained Free, can all be verified by the mine officials and Mr. King of the Union Auto Stage company, who accompanied the two men on the trip.

"I have actually never, in all my experience as a mechanic, driven a truck that equaled the performance of this young locomotive," said Free. The only thing that I can see that resembles it is a caterpillar tractor. In driving a Fageol one has a feeling that he has some huge brute power safely under control, but striving to be unleashed."

Source: "Arizona Mining Journal" September 1919, Page 28 https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/nodes/view/39552