[SEL] Mini HOWT - long

[John Hammink]

Interesting tour George, pitty I sit at the other side
of  the pond.
BTW this post came through at both lists.

John H.



> I'm sending this again as I sent it to both lists and it never showed up
> on this one.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> 
> 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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