The short article is well worth a read, the thing was based on an 1894
Columbia high frame racing bicycle, and the transmission is _not_ the
chainless rotating shaft-drive that I first expected:
http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/classics/bike.asp?id=3
Here's the best picture of the locomotive-style transmission:
http://home.ama-cycle.org/membersonly/museum/images/b3/classic_600.jpg
Here's an enlargement:
http://i4.tinypic.com/5xhp3me.jpg
Note the pitiful spoon brake intended to stop a vehicle weighing about
150 pounds, coal-fired boiler and all:
http://home.ama-cycle.org/membersonly/museum/images/b3/brake_600.jpg
Here's the early version, built around 1869:
http://www.roperld.com/graphics/RoperMotorcycle.jpg
It's in the Smithsonian and boasts 34-inch 12-spoke wheels:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_271.html
And here's a modern replica of the 1894 version with a much better
picture of the locomotive transmission:
http://www.lindsaybks.com/gallery/Jorg/cycle/index.html
A movie of the bike in action, with choo-choo noises and visible
exhaust:
http://www.lindsaybks.com/gallery/Jorg/cycle/Jorgbike.mov
Choo-Choo-Cheers,
Carl Fogel