The revving engine sound in the middle, is the sound of a Triumph TR6 roadster
Friday, June 26, 2026
ever enjoy the song Summertime, by Mungo and Jerry?
The revving engine sound in the middle, is the sound of a Triumph TR6 roadster
coolest thing I saw today
and I want to let you know that it's the 100th Anniversary of Stihl ! Still family owned !
The partnership started simply, with a 10-by-10-foot STIHL booth at championships, funding for minor improvements and a paintjob for One Moment.
But what Phelps saw at the 2015 championships inspired bigger plans. Participants and spectators numbered upward of 150,000, even though online presence was virtually nonexistent, and the races were untelevised.
When Phelps discovered title sponsors were planning to stepdown in the near future, he pitched STIHL execs on a major sponsorship. They responded with an overwhelming yes. The first STIHL National Championship Air Race was held in Reno in September 2017.
I grew up in the Upper Penisula of Michigan, that's way the hell up there, where it snows every winter, and in the 70s and 80s, going to the forests, to get deadwood, fallen trees, for dry wood to burn, and cutting up live trees (known as green) for drying until the next winter, was almost universal with everyone that lived there.
Sure cuts down on the cost of heating when you only have to pay for a chainsaw, an old truck, and gas and oil for both.
Sure cuts down on the cost of heating when you only have to pay for a chainsaw, an old truck, and gas and oil for both.
And I never saw anyone use any brand of chainsaw, that wasn't a Stihl. Of course, other brands existed. But I didn't know that.
Same with fishing reels. I only knew of Zebco. Snowmobile boots? Sorel. Never saw anything made by any other company.
Thursday, June 25, 2026
thank you Marc for letting me know about Barney Oldfield Day at Museum of Fulton County! I didn't know that he became a movie star and even owned the “Oldfield/Kipper Saloon” in Los Angeles, which previously was the the Old Crow Bar, opened in 1906. They hadn't licensed the name from Old Crow liquor though, and were sued
1913... there's a parking garage there now... I bet Barney would hate the idea of a parking garage instead of a saloon, a race track would probably be fine, btu a parking garage? That's insulting to the memory of a race car driver
His car racing career began in 1902 when fledgling automobile designer Henry Ford hired him to race his model 999 car.
Barney was the first automobile racer to achieve a mile a minute
William Nolan, in his book “The Barney Oldfield” story, states that Oldfield took money earned from barnstorming to form a partnership with a former railroad conductor by the name of Jack Kipper. They took over the location and opened the Oldfield Kipper Saloon in late 1912.
Finally tiring of the saloon trade, Oldfield sold out in 1920 to the Rappaport Brothers, who operated a hattery business out of the building. In 1923 they changed their name to the New York Hat Co., continuing to operate through 1939
By the late 1940s, a Western Union Telegraph Office operated at 534 S. Spring St. Over the next ten years they would be robbed seven times.
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
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Greg found a cool innovation of re-using stuff in his grand fathers garage
bought his own farm the same year,
proceeded to erect a barn behind house there.
In 1959 he built a work shop.
In 1960 he bought a sears air compressor it has date on it, and is still in use.
And he made this hose reel!
It has a pipe union in it with a leather washer with grease on it to seal air.
Greg says in his post that he was born in 1971, and has no idea how many times his grandfather, Greg himself, and his 2 sons, and countless neighbors pulled this hose out
His grandfather passed away in 1999 but this thing lives on.
The hub that the hose is rolled up on is a 4 legged John Deere logo, 5 gallon oil can.
Plaistow New Hampshire residents complained enough to police, related to the unsafe operation of commercial trucking, that the New Hampshire State Police and the Plaistow PD conducted a one day operation for “excessive speed, violations of weight restrictions, driving on restricted roads, as well as other unsafe behaviors by commercial drivers.”
that one day enforcement operation resulted in nearly 150 violations being found.
One day.
Obviously police aren't doing code enforcement any more unless it's an "operation" they will get paid over time for.
And the results prove that they haven't been doing inspections in forever
31 commercial vehicles stopped, 146 violations were discovered
5 drivers out-of-service
7 vehicles out-of-service
Multiple summonses and warnings were issued for issues ranging from speeding to drivers operating in violation of federal out-of-service orders
During an April brake day inspection sweep of around 4000 commercial vehicles, 14% failed so bad they were placed out of service
camera-free routes to avoid Flock License Plate Readers... something similar to Waze... "DeFlock"
Enter a start and destination, and it’ll provide directions.
The difference is that it overlays known automated license plate reader cameras and offers an alternative route designed to minimize or eliminate encounters with them.
Monday, June 22, 2026
no posts yesterday, the newbies to my Comic Con Hall H line have been busy delaying my organizing them into shifts for holding the line in shifts.
no one bothers to learn from the facebook page, everyone seems to want one on one advice, and one guy took 30 damn minutes to get filled in.
Of course, by typing, not talking on a phone.
Anyway, a couple weeks ago most of my spare time was taken up polishing brass... and this week, a lot of time will be taken up doing some team building organizing.
It's just like doing a watchbill for a duty section (you vets will know what that is) but these are civilians, and not going to take the shift they are told to, they are going to ask for the best one, load that one up, then realize, huh, only a few will be able to take any one shift, then the rest of us have to take the less desireable shifts.
Sunday, June 21, 2026
Saturday, June 20, 2026
the license plate shows the car's coefficient of drag
This belongs to former Art Center head of Transportation Design Stewart Reed, often seen at the Center's annual car show. I met his daughter in Palm Springs at the 2013 Desert Concours while looking at a 1913 Buick. She mentioned she was going to make a website about cars. I wonder if she ever did?
295 Corvettes came together on Detroit’s Belle Isle to make a giant American flag to celebrate Flag Day and to raise money for veterans’ charities: Operation Homefront, Helmets to Hardhats, Veterans Court of Wayne County, and the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund
the Effingham tornados resulted in the loss of the Mid America Motorworks Corvette and VW museum, and their 1910 gas station
something interesting going on with the blog's traffic, that I don't understand
If the number of people visiting and looking it over are now 5 times as many, I'd think that comments would at least double, and that I'd see some from new people.
Huh.. just ruminating about strange things
Gary took his 9 year old grandson to Greenfield Village last Wednesday where he took his first train ride behind this beauty, DT&I Locomotive #7 the 1897 Baldwin Locomotive from the Henry Ford Museum, which is running under its own power for the first time in 83 years.
the Ford Motor Company bought the DT&I, and of course Henry Ford transformed it into one of the best managed and financially successful railroads in the country.
Ford’s reason for the purchase of the DT&I was to extend its terminating point of Flat Rock to Dearborn and use it to help supply his new sprawling complex, the Rouge Plant.
This ultimately supported Henry’s vision to have a manufacturing facility where coal, iron ore, rubber and all raw materials required to construct an automobile, would come in one end of the Rouge and a completed vehicle would roll out the other end.
To accomplish this, the rolling stock (80 locomotives, 2,800 freight and 24 passenger cars) would have to be completely rebuilt to Fords impressive standards.
A new building was constructed (the Fordson Shop) at the Rouge to facilitate the rebuild and maintenance of the new acquisition. The facility was opened in 1921 with a staff that eventually reached 475 men with the first locomotive to undergo a Ford transformation being DT&I engine Number 7.
It was completely stripped down and inspected. Anything that needed it was replaced. Aesthetics were also a part of the transformation; drive rods were draw filed and polished, exposed iron pipes were replaced with bright copper, new boiler jackets were finished in a lacquered Russian Iron and the outside of the metal tires were painted white.
The private rail car the “Fairlane” was ordered by Henry from Pullman in 1920 for 160k.
They owned and used it for 20 years, and made about 400 trips with it
Ford owned the railroad until June of 1929 when he became irritated with the intervention of the Interstate Commerce Commissions over shipping rates and other issues. The DT&I was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad for $36 million. Besides the profits and rate advantage enjoyed during the Ford ownership he turned his initial $5 million purchase price and approximately $8 million of improvements into an impressive $23 million profit.
Number 7 was not a part of this sale
Ford owned the railroad until June of 1929 when he became irritated with the intervention of the Interstate Commerce Commissions over shipping rates and other issues. The DT&I was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad for $36 million. Besides the profits and rate advantage enjoyed during the Ford ownership he turned his initial $5 million purchase price and approximately $8 million of improvements into an impressive $23 million profit.
Number 7 was not a part of this sale
Thank you Gary!
this moron jackknifed in Georgia just north of Atlanta, on an exit from from the I-75 NWC Express Lanes (locally known as the Lexus Lanes) which are strictly no tractor-trailers allowed. (Thank you LuckyPunchy!)
Friday, June 19, 2026
Daytona Beach 1954.
Guido and Mario Levetto posing in a Ferrari 340 America (serial #0120A).
Car was owned by Jim Kimberly and was driven at the meet by Jack Rutherford
It set a sportscar speed record in the mile for a two way average of 136.03 mph
Guido is said to have served as translator for the France family and the Italian teams that came to Daytona.
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