New Jersey Timing Association (cont) 1956 was a busy year for the NJTA. We had outgrown our meeting space in Coby's basement and leased a large commercial building in South Amboy which we shared with the Bearing Burners club. Meeting attendance had grown to the point where a public address system was necessary to conduct the association's business. 1956 saw the New Jersey Timing Association partner with three other timing associations to produce a Tri-State Autorama, a very large show in Trenton, the state capitol. These other groups were the Long Island (NY) Timing Association, The Lehigh Valley (PA) Timing Association, and the Pennsylvania Timing Association. And it was 1956 when the NJTA acquired its first timer, a miles-per-hour clock. (a history of our clocks will follow in a later posting). That same year we acquired a step van truck in which we mounted a 5-kva generator so we could power a public address system and timing equipment if commercial power was not available at a racing venue. The new timer and truck were soon put to use when arrangements were made to hold drag races at an abandoned airfield in Woodbine in southern New Jersey. Woodbine racing was short lived and ended rather unceremoniously when the property was taken over by the military for a Nike missile base. Woodbine pictures: The resolution on many of these pictures is poor. There are likely several reasons for this. The pictures were taken from so far away and the image so small that the car make could not be readily determined without considerable enlargement. Significant cropping produced the image shown. Sharpness was surely lost. Also, note that the buildings in the background are not blurred. So the speed of the car may have been a factor that contributed to the loss of crispness. Nothing is known about the camera used. If a faster shutter speed had been available on the camera it might have resulted in better quality pictures. Most of the cars pictured are unknown. I have numbered them in the hope that somebody will be able to identify a car by it's number and reply with builder, owner, history, or anything else. WB-01 Sunday morning. Walt McKeon shaves in the rear view mirror while Tom Collow and his wife run the generator to cook breakfast in the electric fry pan. WB-02 Breakfast is served. Left to right: Tom Collow, Tom's wife, Art Grotyohann, and Fred Schulz. Fred was designer and builder of our new MPH timer. Notice in the lower right corner the photographer's name is given as Jerry Della Torre. He took many photos of NJTA events and went on to a successful career as a photographer with studios in Hillsborough, NJ. He passed away in 2014. WB-03 The truck is in position at the timing stand and ready to start the day. Items on front bumper are probably loudspeakers. From left to right: Walt McKeon, Fred Schulz, and Art Grotyohann. WB-04 both cars unknown WB-05 both cars unknown WB-06 John Good from Exton, PA. Featured in magazines at the time as Hanks's Speed Shop car from Berwyn, PA. WB-07 unknown WB-08 unknown WB-09 unknown WB-10 unknown WB-11 unknown WB-12 unknown WB-13 unknown WB-14 unknown WB-15 unknown WB-16 unknown WB-17 unknown WB-18 unknown WB-19 unknown WB-20 unknown WB-21 unknown WB-22 unknown WB-23 unknown
The Jalopy Journal
