Got a '23 Depot Hack a few months ago and am really enjoying it immensely. It came along with a 1923 Cadillac that I am restoring. My wife went nuts when she saw it, so we made a package deal.

It sat in a local museum for about 30 years. The owner had owned it since 1971. We got it running and found the transmission bands were worn out. So I got some kevlar bands and got into the 'hogshead'.

A few other things and she is running great! Been driving around the neighborhood.

Has a Senior Car Award from AACA and the body seems to be original Martin Parry. Starts well, but the "prayer brakes" take some getting used to!

Congrats Bill, and welcome aboard.

Bill,

Welcome to the affliction.

Can you post some larger pictures of your Depot Hack?

FYI, you can edit your account's Full Name to "Bill Marsh - Atlanta, GA" so that when posting, we all know where you are from. You can also post a picture of your car in your profile.

I have a 24 Depot Hack and really enjoy it!

Rod

(Message edited by Rod on June 24, 2016)

Bill, welcome to the group. Your "prayer" brakes can be improved with accessory brakes. You could use Rocky Mountain Brakes, or hydraulic disk. If you ever go to a Ruxtell or Warford, these brakes would be a necessary safety addition as well.

Congratulations on the Caddy and the model T purchase and as everyone on her says Welcome to the AFFLICTION!! Tim

Welcome "aboard" Bill! I sure like your depot hack. I've got one too (see profile) but yours is more typical of how most of them looked, back in the "T" era! They are fun (and "handy") and it's fun to explain to people how the horse-drawn "hack" and then eventually the "depot hack" that coach builders built on a "T" chassis, and then how Ford came out with a factory-built one with the advent of the Model A Station Wagon. Of course, that started the name "station wagon", and most people who have been using the term "station wagon" all their lives, never really realized that the the "station" in "station wagon" was actually a railroad depot!

Isn't that just like the English language? It should be a Depot wagon! How did "depot" become "Station?"
OK that question is OT. Oh well, I'll blame this on the "OT, Summer's Here" thread!

David - Hmmm,.....well, I could be wrong here ( it does happen,...more & more lately in fact) but I'm pretty sure that this is another case of corruption over time, of the English language. But I'm pretty sure that "technically", a railroad station is merely a location somewhere along the RR, and and a RR depot is the actual building at a particular RR station location. Or, you could say that all RR depots are at a RR station, but not all RR stations have a depot. And I can tell you for a fact that I've worked at RR station locations where there is nothing but a sign with a station name on it! In fact, some of 'em that I know of are in your fine state of California David, somewhere "RR east" of Barstow!

Yeah David,....Summer's here, and maybe you'e getting a bit too much sun,....wear a wider brimmed hat! And I don't know what my excuse is, because here in the Seattle area, it certainly isn't too much sun!

Depot hack, station wagon, depot wagon, station hack,....hmmm,......hack! What's a hack? You can "hack" weeds with a machete, or "hack" from a bad cough, but how'd a "hack" ever get wheels, anyway? And how big does a knife have to be to be a machete? And if the blade isn't wide enough, is it then a sword? And if a sword,...ah,....never mind,....

Sheeesh,....! How did my Japanese daughter-in-law ever learn English???

Is it acceptable to label a thread "Beginning 'OT' Section" mid-thread, because hopefully, no one is reading this far except you and I David,....(and I'm really not too sure about you!) To anyone else that has wasted time reading this far,....I apologize! (;^),.......harold

Bill Marsh - I especially apologize to you for "derailing" (no pun intended) your thread.

To get back on track Bill,....(dang,.....there's another one,....sorry)......but I seem to recall a very extensive list, or chart that somebody posted on this forum a while back, with photos or drawings of companies back during the "T" era that manufactured depot hack and express bodies and such for Model T Ford chassis. Maybe if somebody sees this they'll post it again. I seems like the posting of that chart was the result of discussion about a truck body company with a name that started with "M", but I can't remember it or I would do a "keyword" search. Anybody?

Is yours factory made Bill, or, like so many depot hacks, custom built by a coach maker? As somebody else mentioned in this thread (before I cluttered it all up) that they'd like to see more and larger pictures of your depot hack. I would too! It is surprising how many forum members have depot hacks,....maybe others will post photos.

Oh boy! Just re-read your original post Bill,.....Martin Parry! I really must be loose'n it! I think that was the name being discussed that resulted in that extensive list of factory manufactured bodies! And to think that I was just recently critical about others not reading carefully,.....egg on my face!!! I'll look for that chart, but in the meantime, maybe someone else will find it and post it,.....harold

Hey Bill,

Welcome. I just got my '20 runabout last year. I've had a lot to learn and a lot of fun. The folks on the forum are really helpful.

Harold,
Yes, I'm reading it and laughing!
Yep, stations don't necessarily have a depot, or even a building, and sometimes the building isn't open to the public, but is just an office (for a clerk or a dispatcher). Black Butte is a good example. At one time had a building, clerk, worker's housing, now nothing (well, the water tower is still there--it holds water for firefighting as a derailment a few years back wiped out the standpipe, last used to water the Daylight steam engine), but the sign is still there.
Hat, eh? I don't know if that would help the problem with that Summertime thread--might shade my eyes for a better view. . . .
Martin-Perry made a bunch of stuff for Ts, even before they merged. I have a Perry pickup bed I'm planning on resurrecting for Barney, even has a brass tag ID'ing it. I'm using it instead of a real '25 bed as it just uses the 4 bolts that hold on the turtle deck, so if I want to change back, I can. The Ford bed has more bolts, including some through the metal sides of the body's platform.

Oh, and to add to that, if you're British, station wagons were called a "Shooting Brake" as they were used on large estates to provide provisions for Hunting parties. The cook and butler, and maybe a maid would take sustenance out to the hunters. Something like a 7 course lunch. . .
Where the word "Brake" came into the name, I dunno, I'm 'merican! I don't speak the Queen's English!

Yeah,...some time ago, shortly after I bought our depot hack from Pete Cosner's daughter Karen, I inquired of anybody in the Long Beach Club and who knew the late Pete Cosner and the depot hack he built (and I bought) if anybody knew any history of Pete's depot hack. At that time, "Fast Frank" Harris was nice enough to PM me quite a bit of "history" ref. our new depot hack. Apparently, the builder, Pete Cosner and Frank were pretty good friends and I learned a lot about the car from Frank. One thing he "straightened me out" on was the fact that it really should be called a "Shooting Brake", because he said that that is really what it is. Now then, and here we go again,.....but Frank said that a "Shooting Brake" is really a form of an "Estate Car" (or was it an Estate Wagon?) which was used, as you said David, for use on large estates for hunting parties for "the well-to-do"! Well anyway, I still call it a depot hack, 'cause nobody here in 'mercer knows what the heck a Shooting Brake is! (....an I sure ain't "well-to-do"!) Maybe I should have started calling it a Shooting Wagon, 'cause I don't know what the heck a "brake" is either! Thinking about it, at one time, I had a bit of trouble with the Rocky Mountain Brakes on the car, and I might have had to say that,...."my brakes are broke on my shooting brake! Well, maybe not broke but maybe my brakes ain't really broke on my shooting brake, but maybe my shooting brake brakes are just "shot". No,...not "shot" like shooting type "shot", but just a set of broke brakes, and breaking your brakes on your brake (shooting brake that is) is,...well,.....bad!

You know, I don't care what "Fast Frank" says, it's a DEPOT HACK!

Yeah,...some time ago, shortly after I bought our depot hack from Pete Cosner's daughter Karen, I inquired of anybody in the Long Beach Club and who knew the late Pete Cosner and the depot hack he built (and I bought) if anybody knew any history of Pete's depot hack. At that time, "Fast Frank" Harris was nice enough to PM me quite a bit of "history" ref. our new depot hack. Apparently, the builder, Pete Cosner and Frank were pretty good friends and I learned a lot about the car from Frank. One thing he "straightened me out" on was the fact that it really should be called a "Shooting Brake", because he said that that is really what it is. Now then, and here we go again,.....but Frank said that a "Shooting Brake" is really a form of an "Estate Car" (or was it an Estate Wagon?) which was used, as you said David, for use on large estates for hunting parties for "the well-to-do"! Well anyway, I still call it a depot hack, 'cause nobody here in 'mercer knows what the heck a Shooting Brake is! (....an I sure ain't "well-to-do"!) Maybe I should have started calling it a Shooting Wagon, 'cause I don't know what the heck a "brake" is either! Thinking about it, at one time, I had a bit of trouble with the Rocky Mountain Brakes on the car, and I might have had to say that,...."my brakes are broke on my shooting brake! Well, maybe not broke but maybe my brakes ain't really broke on my shooting brake, but maybe my shooting brake brakes are just "shot". No,...not "shot" like shooting type "shot", but just a set of broke brakes, and breaking your brakes on your brake (shooting brake that is) is,...well,.....bad!

You know, I don't care what "Fast Frank" says, it's a DEPOT HACK!

Okay,....I don't know how I doubled up on that one! I'm tell'n ya",....I'm loose'n it!

Uh Harold, Who's on First??? I need to take a break from these brakes!!

Depot Hack is short for "Train Depot Hackney". They were used to transport passengers from the train depot to hotels.

Hackney is a UK term for Taxi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage

We shortened the name to Depot Hack ie: Taxi...

Rod