In the conversation about curved-seat-tube Schwinns, Bob Freeman observed:
I have seen several Town and Country tandems with curved rear seat tubes. =20 This frame may have been the predecessor to the Paramount frame. A nicer=20 bike than the Twinn.
1. All of the T&Cs I have seen have had the curved rear tube - and all the same seat tube lengths. My T&C tandem had a 61" wheelbase, which is really tight for a tandem.
2. There were apparently several hundred T&C triplets. I had one, which we built up with "modern" features for the time in the 80s. Put decal saying "SCHWINNN" on the bracket connector tube. Great fun with our son, even more fun with three fairly strong adults. Mel Kornbluh of Tandems East may still have his, and I know of one with a bad head on Cape Cod. Most seem to have been built originally for the boardwalk rental trade.
3. There is little comparison between the Twinn and the T&C. Twinn was doubled Continental, heavy water pipe, and I believe all welded. T&C was fillet-brazed 4130 main tubes. Of course, one day when I was heating one to burn off the paint, a mass of lead that had been used to smooth the brazing flowed out... Really. Caution: headset is not a standard size that I ever could find.
We did more than 10,000 mi. on our T&C in Providence, Corvallis, Cleveland, and Princeton, and still have it. Then the Veeder cyclometer got lost. It had over 40,000 mi on it, judging from the stripes the first owner put on it when it "turned over".
Your mileage may vary
harvey sachs
mcLean va