"Mile-A-Minute
Murphy"
|
|||
Mile-A-Minute-Murphy - Sports Illustrated Sept.
5, 1955
|
|||
A STORY OF THE RAILROAD AND THE BICYCLE by Charles M. Murphy | |||
|
|
||
LIRR Information Bulletin 9/1926 Charles Murphy 1899 Bike ride article “ Courtesy of Carol Mills” |
LIRR Information Bulletin April 1924 - Felix Reifschneider’s history of the LIRR Mile-A-Minute-Murphy “ Courtesy of Carol Mills” |
Long Island Metro Lines 1974 Apr-May No.39 article |
"Murphy's Ride" - Cycling 7/29/1899 |
"Mile-A-Minute Murphy And His $125,000
Bike" article in Road Bike Action Magazine, March 2010 by Chris R. Vaccaro
|
|||
Suffolk County Historical Society (SCHS) brochure to bring "Mile-A-Minute Murphy" bicycle back to Long Island. A collaboration between the SCHS, RMLI, and the NRHS-LIST Chapter. Issued early 2010. |
Murphy's bike at the Nassau County Museum,
1974 - Dave Morrison with Springfield Museum Director: Guy McLain, 3/02/1979
|
||
Murphy Bike Copake Auction appraisal letter 5/13/2009 |
Murphy Bike Springfield Museum offer letter 7/08/2009
|
Murphy Bike NRHS-LIST Chapter support letter 3/19/2010 |
Murphy Bike Newsday article 7/05/2015 |
THE LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD AND IT’S PROMOTION OF LONG ISLAND, 1900-1930 by Sean Kass | |||
"...Even this large number of publications does
not encompass the extent of the railroad’s promotional efforts. The
railroad spent considerable sums of money advertising in area
newspapers and periodicals. Some of the promotional publications,
including Campaign of Education and Good Will listed in the table
above, were actually compilations of advertisements that had been published elsewhere. In addition, the railroad organized and hosted promotional events. LIRR Special Agent Hal B. Fullerton, the single most important figure in the railroad’s massive promotional campaign, spent thirty years in the railroad’s Passenger Department “promoting and advertising events, activities, or plans that would bring public attention to the Island’s potential for sport, recreation, business and residential development for both the middle classes and the urban elite.” These events included lectures delivered by Fullerton (1897-1929), the Vanderbilt Cup automobile races (1904-1910), the Mile-A-Minute Murphy Challenge (1899), and experimental farms at Wading River (1905-1910) and Medford (1910-1927)..."
"...By far the most imaginative of the LIRR’s efforts to promote bicycling on Long Island was the Mile-a-Minute Murphy Challenge. During the summer of 1899, Charles M. Murphy, a champion amateur cycle racer from Brooklyn, thought that in the absence of wind resistance he could he ride a mile in one minute or less. Together, he and Fullerton designed a wood-planked raceway that would run between the railroad tracks of the LIRR’s central line near Farmingdale. Theyattached a wind-protective hood to the rear of a railroad car: this car would serve as Murphy’s pace car, clearing the air in front so that he could ride unencumbered by air resistance. Murphy’s Challenge was highly publicized by the Passenger Department. They documented his training regiment and invited every possible media outlet to the event. Although none of his test runs had been successful, Murphy did ride one mile in 57.8 seconds during the actual challenge run. “Mile-a-Minute”became an international celebrity, and Long Island gained valuable publicity as a prime location for cycling..." |
03/27/2024