Henry Leland who was known as a perfectionist, began his engineering career in Providence RI before relocating to Detroit MI where he founded Leland, Faulconer, and Norton Co in 1890, making trimming machines for the woodworking industry. Other projects followed, leading to transmissions and engines for Oldsmobile motor cars. A new, improved engine followed, which became the Cadillac, which was sold to General Motors in 1909. Henry Leland then built the Liberty aircraft engine during the Great War, switching to motor cars after the war. The new company was Lincoln, which was acquired by Ford in 1922.
The Leland-Detroit Monorail was introduced in 1932, the year of the death of Henry Leland. Five patents were issued for the Monorail, all in the name of George C Henderson. Two of the patents were dated 1931, with others dated 1946, 1947 and 1951. It has long been assumed that the Monorail was a short lived production, certainly no later than WWII, but perhaps the toy was planned to be reintroduced after the war, hence the patents for improvements? The Monorail was reproduced more recently by MTH.
Leland-Detroit monorail |
Leland-Detroit monorail power car |
Leland-Detroit monorail trailer car |
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