[SEL] Mini HOWT - long

Best, George George_Best at adp.com
Wed Apr 20 10:37:06 PDT 2005


Last Thursday I left home around 3am to pick up Wayne for our Tulare
trip. 4:01am we pulled out of Wayne's driveway headed south to
California.

Thursday afternoon we stop to visit Bill at Newcastle and see his
collection.  Bill's a good friend and I've visited him many times, but
Wayne had never been there.  Bill's got a nice collection of engines and
tractors, as well as being a talented craftsman so seeing what he's
working on is always interesting.

Lauren met up with us at Bill's place, and we waited around until
another collector I know was off from work.  When Craig in Auburn got
home from work, we went over to his place to see his collection and see
what he's been working on.  Neither Wayne or Lauren had been to Craig's
place before.  Craig showed us the Fairbanks-Morse hot tube assemblies
and chimneys he reproduces which were very nice.

After Craig's place we had a late dinner before spending the night at
Galt.

Friday morning we were on the road again and originally had planned on
seeing Steve Gray's place before Steve headed south to Tulare, but plans
changed and we went to the Sunshine Foundry in Valley Springs instead.
(I let Steve know the night before that plans had changed).  The
Sunshine Foundry was an interesting place and they only do cast iron.
They do very high quality castings and do a lot parts for people in our
hobby.

After the foundry we headed towards Sonora to visit Chris and see his
collection.  Neither Wayne or I had been there, but I had talked to
Chris and he was expecting us to visit him.  Lauren had been there once
for a brief visit.

Visiting Chris was almost worth the whole trip!  He had engines all over
the place and lots of old mining equipment as well.  Lots of big engines
as well some pretty rare and uncommon stuff. Had a great time looking at
all his stuff and then was treated to a scary Jeep ride to visit his
gold mine.

Chris's place is on a hillside and he had told us his mine was on the
other side of the hill and he'd show it to us after we finished looking
at all the engines and old iron.  The four of us, pile onto Chris's old
Willys jeep and he drives part way up the hill and stops to start up a
generator with powers the lights in the mine.  We then continue up the
hill.  I had incorrectly assumed the other side of the hill was the same
as the side we were coming from.  Wrong!  We get to the top and there is
a beautiful view of a large reservoir/lake far below and the other side
is basically a very steep drop-off.  I notice an extremely steep road
going down and mentally was hoping we weren't going that way, but of
course that's exactly where we went.  Going down I was hoping the
transmission didn't pop out of gear as you'd never get stopped if it
did.  Part of the way down we reach a hairpin turn that even the little
jeep can't make without some maneuvering around while you're hoping the
brakes work well.  After a tour of the mine shaft we had to ride the
jeep back up that road.  Going up was worse than going down, as Wayne
and I are riding in the back and I'm watching the front end of the jeep
wishing I was riding on the front bumper!  I just kept thinking that the
slightest bump on the front axle and the jeep would flip over and we'd
all be killed.  Must admit it is pretty amazing the climbing ability of
those old jeeps.

After Chris's tour we headed on to Tulare and arrived just in time for
their Friday night hamburger feed.

Saturday and Sunday morning we spent at the show and I'll leave it to
others to comment on the show.

Sunday afternoon we headed out around 2pm so we could visit some more
collections on the way back.  After getting some fuel at Ripon (cheapest
diesel we saw in CA) we took a quick tour of Irv's collection of Holts
and early tractors.  Although Irv wasn't back from Tulare yet, I had
been there many times and after talking to his wife she said we could
walk around and look at the stuff.  Wayne had never been there and I
thought it was worth stopping just to let him see where Irv lived and
his collection which is basically all outside anyway.

After Irv's place we headed north again to Auburn for the second time to
visit Ron and see his collection. I had talked to Ron at Tulare and he'd
told us he was leaving at 1pm and we could visit him on the way back.
As it turned out we caught up with Ron on the freeway just before he was
exiting at Auburn.  Made it simple to just follow him rather than using
his directions.  Neither Wayne or I had been to Ron's place before
although I've known Ron for many years.

Ron's place was real nice.  Lots of interesting iron incorporated into
the landscaping and a garage full of quality engines. Ron's an excellent
example of what a person can do with limited space.

After a late dinner with Ron we headed north again and spent the night
at Williams.

Monday morning the next stops were at Red Bluff to visit Larry.  Both
Wayne and I have known Larry for years, but Wayne had never been to
Larry's place.  We first went out to the ranch where Larry lives and saw
a lot of early engines and mining equipment.  Then Larry took us to
another place where he has another collection of early California
engines.  Very impressive collection of rare engines.

Years ago I met another collector in Red Bluff with a nice collection,
but I don't really know the guy other than having stopped at his place a
few times.  However on our way to Larry's place I noticed we passed near
this other collector so we also stopped there after visiting with Larry.

Monday evening we get back to Wayne's place to drop him off and I
continue on home to unload the pickup and get ready to be back at work
Tuesday morning.

While I enjoy the Tulare show, I must say I really enjoy to traveling to
and from the show more.  The stuff you see at people's homes is usually
much more exotic or interesting than what is hauled to the show grounds.
These visits are where you really get to know people and it makes
traveling a memorable experience.

If you only go to shows in your local area, you're really missing out on
one of best parts of this hobby.  Get out and travel, stop to visit
collectors along the way and you'll really see what the hobby is about.

WAIT George

P.S. I've got pictures but haven't had time to even transfer them to my
computer yet.  I'll probably post a few of them to my Epson albums
later.

P.S.S.  Anyone interested in doing a HOWT?








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