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David Denny Around and About October 2006
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Around and About
David Denny
It is Sunday July 23rd and it’s time to get going on this new Around and About our Museum.
To Auction, and do it in the heat. Almost two weeks of preparation, hauling things in, fork-trucking things in from the back lot, from the storage compound, and all around. Putting things in a ‘sort of’ line up of lots. Tag everything, including old Bubba Dog. Drink lots of water! Auctioneer Tony gets in and lines it for sale, and the consignment things slowly arrive. By sale Sunday we had made a sizable dent in the ‘stuff’ on the back ‘boneyard’, and the neighboring property. There are many things still to be moved, however.
The Auction was smaller in size this year. There were not as many consignment items as usual, and the buying public was very “thrifty” (cheap) in nature this time. Items going for less than scrap value! That hurts. As the week progresses, items are picked up, the big items first. This is good for we are losing many of the forklift drivers due to leaving for parts far away, vacation!
Keith Richards has been gone for a week, already. Bob Morley stayed here through Monday and went home to get ready for an eastern trip. Cecil Morton is taking time off, I don’t know why he should? Just because he had knee replacement surgery shouldn’t be cause for time off should it? Good luck to Cecil and hope to see him out and going, soon. Dar Jewell is available any time, until he leaves for a trip, soon. Ernie Walker is watering trees and roads, and is available on call for forklifting jobs. Bruce Yoho has been helping on forklifting duty, leaving Monday to go home for a meeting, returning Tuesday and Wednesday to help.
Bob Swaim purchased the auctioned Massy Harris 55 tractor, from the Al Wagner Estate and donated it to our museum. The Museum did not have one of it’s own. Our members have a habit of doing good things like that. That is what keeps us going.
Paul Smith is staying here until the weekend, when he leaves for a trip to Colorado. He will be available for crane and forklift duty until then. Paul is an expert operator, retiring after about 40 years of running cranes and draglines. Paul was leaving Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, until so many others left. The expert hands and feet on the crane controls make easy loading of cultivators, plows, horse walkers, and other awkward, and ugly loads. When he gets back ask him about proper hand signals to direct crane operators. There is more to it than a “thumbs up” sign!
Friday, things still going out. Slow, but slower? Three plows and other things, the big steel table, and the hand wood splitter, a barbecue, a pallet of ‘stuff’. Maybe tomorrow lots of stuff to go?
Here it is Saturday and it is the work weekend designated by Bob Morley, without Bob Morley, because he is in Michigan! A few dedicated helpers have shown up without anyone calling. Virgil White, Mac McKenzie, Myrna Bagge, Kent Graham, Richard Green, Richard Millage, Jake Williams, Red Bradshaw and I suppose I have missed others, as usual. Sunday, the neighbors of Myrna Bagge came down specifically to get to ride on, or drive a Caterpillar (there were none in operation) and stayed all day, helping!
The main theme this time was removing the auction set-up from the camp grounds. All the shades up for auction patrons, and spectators, and over the small items behind the auctioneer and stand, also the shades over the snack area all had to be moved. Either to our parade route grandstands, or to the grandstands moved to the roadway north of the “Club building”. 6 “bearers” one for each leg of a shade.
Buyers were told very plainly before, during and after the auction they must remove their purchases from here soon, because we need the campground for the upcoming Bluegrass music festival Summergrass San Diego coming here in a couple of weeks. The campground needs to be cleaned off and lined for parking spaces. Unsold lots of Museum things were moved back to where they were before auction, or designated trash, or scrap metal to be disposed of properly. Consignment lots are moved to a spot, out of the campgrounds, where owners can retrieve them, soon we hope. Still, things are to be picked up by purchasers. They will find them in the top row of stuff, below Ernie Walker’s house.
Sunday evening the campground is almost empty. Two vehicles are still there, one has a sign saying will be picked up Friday, August-4 and it is now the 6th of August and no sign of the buyer, yet! We still have the old Dodge pickup that was abandoned here, and sold at auction. If the purchaser isn’t careful he can buy it again next November! Richard Myers still has a Model AA Ford truck frame and a number of small lots to pick up.
That is not all the things left, however. There are always small lots of stuff (junk) that a buyer wants one item, buys the complete pallet, and goes away leaving the rest for us to dispose of. I think this time we may do just that: into the dumpster with it! Thursday Mac and Red go at it, moving and trashing things. It should be clean this week.
Things are grinding along, it is Monday, 14 August 2006 and at least the weather is a little cooler, almost June type, cloudy in morning, clear in afternoon, warm, not hot. Very much better, thank you! The campground is almost clean, just the metal dumpsters left, and one Dodge van to be picked up. It was left locked, in gear and to move it without a tow truck might damage it, so it is left for last, until the buyer gets it. Just trying to be nice! He had better hurry tho’ for the campground must be emptied, and the buyer is several weeks late picking it up!
Gary Clare is cleaning off the area in the Ashbeck building. The bay with the concrete floor, our new Machine Shop area.
We must thank former member Steve Penkoff for making this machine available at so reasonable a price. These will allow quality work to be done on engines and related parts. It was moved here by Dunkel Bros -- a professional machinery mover. The professionals do make it look easy!
Our Museum membership is being asked to respect the precision tools in our new (soon to be) machine shop, and let the professional machinists among us use them. When the shop gets going just ask them to do it for you. Let them get the credit or blame whatever the case may be.
Ernie Walker is tying up limbs of the trees around the grassy area in order to train them up, not down and make a shrub. Thursday. The day passes slowly, and quietly around our museum. The reps from Summergrass San Diego are lining out the campgrounds for parking. Finding the old lines and markers is quite a chore. Fortunately it is not as hot as in previous weeks. The TV weather guessers say a change is coming soon, and not for the better.
Saturday morning Gary Clare used the new Clark forklift and dragged the Dodge van out of the campgrounds! That is almost the last of the things to be retrieved from the campgrounds left from auction. Excepting 3 pieces and our auction trailer, stuffed back by the pumping generator and scrap metal bins that will be moved at a later date.
Saturday Virgil and Sharon White are in with their car trailer behind their Dodge pickup. On the trailer were the drive wheels for the new old Case steam traction engine. Our Museum purchased this engine for a minute sum, several years back, from a Museum in Boulder City, Nevada. Dean Alling, Steam Team Crew Chief said they were about ready to start putting the tractor back together, and Virgil had promised to have the wheels sand blasted for paint, for his share of the restoration. He did, and they are ready for the painters.
The wheels weigh around a ton each, so they are not easily handled. The steam crew and Virgil forklifted them one at a time by one side. Moved one off the trailer with the old gray forklift set it on edge on the ground. A piece of round shaft was inserted through the axle hole, and lifted it with the old Euclid “A” frame truck. This let the wheel be rotated as the painters worked.
Dave Denny pictures above. Virgil White on Ole Gray. By Saturday afternoon John Alling, Robert Richardson, and
Jake Williams had the primer coat on both wheels. Besides a lot of surface area to paint, there are lots of spokes in the
wheel to tediously cover! Looks very gray now. Sunday morning Virgil and Jake aided by Eric McConnon lowered the second wheel
onto a pallet to await the Case red. Saturday and Sunday bluegrassers were in lining parking spaces, moving shades, and things.
Their big day is coming, soon!
Ernie Walker and a group installed a pipe under the road to catch and drain excess water
from the lawn sprinkler by the stage. This was a major project, digging in the rock hard road. Chunks of dirt as big as a
5 gallon bucket came up! How to get them back to dirt? Ernie cranked up the old D4 Caterpillar and used it as a clod buster.
Some clumps resisted when the Cat was up on them, until Ernie sawed the tractor back and forth on them! Hard Vista ground!
Out in the display areas the ground has cracked open, until it looks like a jigsaw puzzle. We could use some moisture,
but please, after or between events here! Wednesday evening the first of the motor homes and trailers started arriving. Before,
it was just the workers, setting up the camp grounds. One ambitious person found a space to his liking, and set his chairs in
front of the stage in perfect, just so alignment. I made comment concerning Ernie Walker turning on the sprinklers.
He did and more comment was made wondering if the chairs would get dry, or would owners get a wet butt!
Friday motorhomes 5th wheel trailers, pull trailers, pickup campers, large or small, tent campers, and sleeping bags in cars
converged on this place. Many carrying instruments from base fiddles to regular fiddles, flutes and dulcimers to banjos,
guitars, dobro guitars, mandolins and harmonicas (did I forget anything?) I thought I heard an electronic piano with one group.
Maybe so. Lots of musical potential in that line-up! Performers of all ages Kids to Grand Pop and Grandma’s too. That music
has a large and enthusiastic following. What about Dixieland followers? I received a mail order of Jazz CDs Saturday and I
was almost afraid to haul them through the crowd, fearing bodily harm from Bluegrass fans! HA.
According to all unofficial reports from my spies the meet was a rousing success!
Next week— all simmered down,
almost everyone has gone. As the old song says “ain’t nobody here but us chickens”! Thursday, last day of August, very quiet.
Patrick Myers is in, measuring and marking the spots to set posts for the resumption of the handicap ramp for the weavers building.
Sounds good to me. The weather is getting warm again. Also the humidity is going up. This wonderful summer is drawing to a close.
By Saturday, the heat wave had returned, also humidity. Sweat rolls off working guys by the gallons.
There were several
visitors in Saturday. The Blacksmith class was in session, also. So we had a large number of persons here, for an average weekend.
Maybe the 3 day weekend had something to do with it! Monday will be Labor Day. I shall celebrate by having Duty.
Thursday Chuck Goebel was in, The boiler inspector was due in Friday. Bill Rozokat from Hartford Steam boiler Insurance
inspected the Vertical CH Dutton boiler and suggested some minor changes in boiler water procedure, and Chuck Goebel
totally agreed. We passed with no problems. All OK.
As I get ready to finish this writing for this issue I still
have to report on the pile of “stuff” up on the hill, waiting to be picked up from the Auction! We still have a ½ empty trash
Dumpster. I see the red - White bus is still here. It is getting about ready for cutting up and scrap, soon. Also the ubiquitous
Dodge pickup. What to do-what to do?
Saturday was a steam-up day for a couple of the traction engines. Robert Richardson and Jake Williams used some wood and water, and a couple of matches, and had a very successful run day. Photo sessions for new camera people. Greg Hayden pictures above.
Also a couple of final Dave Denny pictures
-- above -- of Rob Skinner’s Rumley Oilpull tractor, as it departed for other places on a lowboy trailer. Farewell to a very
nice restored tractor. Rob said he “couldn’t collect everything”!
Sat. Afternoon El Camino Rental brought us a Bobcat with a big auger attachment. It will be used to drill the holes for
posts for the handicapped ramp into the Weavers building. Sunday Morning Pat Myers came in for a while. He and Keith Richards
started drilling. That ground is like concrete! The first two feet or so is extremely bad, while the rest is just hard.
Patrick left after lunch, Keith continued after lunch, Dar Jewell and Eric McConnon helping throw dirt away from the auger.
The ground is so hard Keith just drilled about three feet down. Then Eric filled them with water. They will put the
extension on the bit and finish drilling Monday.
Monday seems to be slow and quiet, except for the noise of the Bobcat drill -- Dave Denny pictures above -- Keith Richards
at the controls, Pat Myers on the shovel. Although I don’t know how I could tell! I have just stayed in mostly, mucking out
the trailer, defrosting refrigerator and freezer, listening to music, and finishing this batch of scribbles for now!
Patrick Myers and Keith Richards drilled a lot easier after Patrick called the El Camino and asked for a new set of
drill teeth, that were not dull and rounded off. The new ones made a whale of a big difference. The water did not help, much.
It just sat in the hard clay, and they had to siphon it out. I am all finished, now. Greg arrives tomorrow to pick
this up and get started upon a new Ignitor. See you soon, David
