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
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.
Shively Motors began as a small Dodge-Plymouth dealership operating from a downtown garage in 1939 in Chambersburg Pa. It recent years it's created a Mopar museum of about 3 dozen cars
the General Manager at Shively Motors in the 60s, Bud Faubel, was directly connected to Chrysler’s factory-backed drag racing efforts.
Faubel’s “Honker cars” are the reason Shively Motors is remembered outside south-central Pennsylvania today.
https://moparconnectionmagazine.com/gallery-shively-motors-mopar-museum-and-car-show
huh... ever seen this bubble top Vette? Made by Plastcon
Thursday, June 18, 2026
I regretfully report that a USD student has died, killed by a marked cop car, 130 am, on Linda Vista Road between Goshen and Brunner streets.
The estimated cost of the improvements was $111,000.
In order to save money, the improvement to increase pedestrian safety next to a major university was ignored.
The damn city should be sued for ignoring it's duty, and responsibility to safety, after it conducted an investigation of how to prevent pedestrian deaths, and was informed that a crosswalk overpass walking bridge would get students off the road
Hell, the university is also liable IMHO for not insisting that the city build the walking bridge
And HOW does a cop in a cop car STRIKE and kill a person? Probably using a cell phone or the unit laptop... which the state decided wasn't "unsafe" for cops, just illegally unsafe for all the rest of us.
So, yeah, the city of San Diego, the SDPD, and USD, I'd say they all ought to line up across the court room from the plaintiff, and try to weasel out of the jury's focus.
related news item,
In fiscal year 2026 alone, SDPD settlements and judgements reached a record $42 million.
“An SDPD officer was alleged to have visited the home, and contributed to the abuse by directly supplying wooden paddles, not paddle, paddles to the family,”
$30 million went to the family of Konoa Wilson, the 16-year-old shot and killed by a San Diego police officer last year while running from gunfire.
A cop shot Konoa in the back.
SDPD Annual Budget is 32% of San Diego's total General Fund expenditures.
The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) operates on an annual General Fund budget of $703.5 million,
police-related settlements and judgments have average about $42.5 million annually
ACLU data indicates that SDPD payouts are roughly 15 million higher than the settlements paid by all other city departments combined.
thanks to Tom, I learned about the 65 Falcon Ranchero just now... here's some interesting info
the two-tone paint included the side spear
the 1964-style “hashmarks” on the rear of the quarter panels are correct for two-tone Rancheros for 1965
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-for-sale/1965-ford-falcon-ranchero-deluxe-for-sale-rare-289-four-barrel-four-speed-combination/factory bucket seats
F code 2.80:1 Limited-Slip Axle
A code 289 4 barrel 225 HP
A code 289 4 barrel 225 HP
Four-speed manual transmission
no power steering or power brake
The top engine choice in the Falcon was the C-Code 289 two-barrel, but Ranchero and Sedan Delivery variants were available with the A-Code engine.
Currently auctioning on BAT, at 13k for the moment, with only 18 hours left... so, ends around noonish
the current owner acquired the car on BaT in April 2022
Thank you Tom!
a claw hammer, a borrowed Ford truck, and no patience left, meet Sophie Zielinski and the Moving Crew, circa 1932
Sophie Zielinski was 44, Polish, a landlady on Chene Street with six cold-water flats, three of them already empty because nobody could pay.
She had a claw hammer, a borrowed Ford truck, and no patience left.
On January 12, 1932, after watching the Kowalskis across the street get put out with a baby six weeks old and a coal stove still warm, Sophie walked across with that hammer, knocked the new lock off with three swings, and carried the stove back in herself, with Mrs. Kowalski holding the door.
By February there were twenty-two women, Polish, Black, Italian, Hungarian, wives, widows, factory girls laid off from Briggs, all with hammers, all with a list.
On January 12, 1932, after watching the Kowalskis across the street get put out with a baby six weeks old and a coal stove still warm, Sophie walked across with that hammer, knocked the new lock off with three swings, and carried the stove back in herself, with Mrs. Kowalski holding the door.
By February there were twenty-two women, Polish, Black, Italian, Hungarian, wives, widows, factory girls laid off from Briggs, all with hammers, all with a list.
They called themselves nothing at all.
The newspapers called them the Moving Crew.
For two winters they followed the bailiffs.
For two winters they followed the bailiffs.
When an eviction went out, the crew went in that night. Locks knocked off, furniture carried back up three flights in the dark, stoves re-piped, windows stuffed with newspaper against the cold, a pot of soup left on to warm, so the children coming home from school would find home still home.
They moved two hundred and eleven families back in, between January 1932 and March 1933. They lost count of stoves. Sophie kept count of hammers broken, seven, notches cut in the handle of hers for each one.
The police arrested Sophie twice. The judge dismissed both times. The second time he told the bailiff, off the record, to stop calling, he was tired of seeing Mrs. Zielinski in his courtroom.
When work came back in 1934 the evictions slowed, then stopped. Sophie went back to collecting rent when people could pay, and not collecting when they could not, which was most of the time for another three years.
She kept that claw hammer hanging behind the kitchen door until she died in 1961, seven notches deep in the hickory handle, head worn smooth on one side from knocking off locks.
Her great-granddaughter has it now, in Detroit, in a toolbox. She used it last winter to hang shelves in her first apartment. It still pulls a nail clean.
They moved two hundred and eleven families back in, between January 1932 and March 1933. They lost count of stoves. Sophie kept count of hammers broken, seven, notches cut in the handle of hers for each one.
The police arrested Sophie twice. The judge dismissed both times. The second time he told the bailiff, off the record, to stop calling, he was tired of seeing Mrs. Zielinski in his courtroom.
When work came back in 1934 the evictions slowed, then stopped. Sophie went back to collecting rent when people could pay, and not collecting when they could not, which was most of the time for another three years.
She kept that claw hammer hanging behind the kitchen door until she died in 1961, seven notches deep in the hickory handle, head worn smooth on one side from knocking off locks.
Her great-granddaughter has it now, in Detroit, in a toolbox. She used it last winter to hang shelves in her first apartment. It still pulls a nail clean.
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
"Capt. G.W. Eldridge at age 105 going to the 3/4 century Baseball game in St. Petersburg Florida" in 1937 to perform his umpire duty! thank you Steve!
interesting back seat!
The 1908 Franklin Model G Runabout is not his.
The car was 29 years old when this photo was taken at the 1937 Three-Quarter Century Club baseball game.
C.W. served as home plate umpire.
He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 29, 1831 and came to America at the age of 10. By age 14 he was at sea, where he worked his way up to captain his own ship - hence the honorific and the hat.
He served as a private in the 2nd Maine Cavalry during the American Civil War, and at the time of this photo was the commander of the Kit Carson Post No. 26, Grand Army of the Republic veterans organization in St. Petersburg.
In December 1938 he suffered a fall in his home, resulting in broken ribs. Pneumonia set in and despite an early positive prognosis, he died on December 17, 1938.
The Half Century Club was open for member between the ages of 49 and 74.
The Three-Quarter Century Club was for members 75 years old and up.
Jeremy Clarkson revealed *season 5 episode 7, 40 minutes in) he was diagnosed with 'aggressive' cancer in May 2025, and he underwent surgery and remains optimistic about his recovery and hopes to return for future seasons of Clarkson’s Farm.
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15906127/Jeremy-Clarkson-reveals-cancer-diagnosis.html
The upside of this, is he can afford the best medical care ANY where in the world, and prostate cancer can be surgically removed.
See https://www.facebook.com/stories/173598434125784/UzpfSVNDOjE4MTExNDc0MTM1ODg0MjI
or the original source, Jeremy himself https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ0MxX8sZxG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
also, straight from Jeremy, Series 6 of Clarkson’s Farm is in production
it's either lazy, or stupid, to leave your tow truck company info on the tow truck you abandon on a mountain
"Called Milo’s out of Silver Plume offered him a recovery price and he declined and said that he was going to leave it in the woods. So decided to go up get vehicle information and pictures. With some phone calls to Clear Creek PD and Forest service the next couple days he decided to text me that I ratted him out. "
Milo’s is allegedly going to cut it up where it sits and pull it out.. How the forest service is going to allow an open flame torch on the side of a dry mountain is crazy to me. He has had a year and a half to do it and has drug his feet long enough.
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
The Freedom Train stops at Naval Air Station, Miramar, CA 1976
Built in 1941 by the Lima Locomotive Works, it is a GS-4 class 4-8-4 Northern type locomotive.
It was repainted in red, white, and blue livery specifically for the United States Bicentennial celebration.
The locomotive is currently on display at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center in Portland.
At the conclusion of its journey, the American Freedom Train had traveled 25,833 miles over 21 months and stopped at 138 cities.
A California startup says it has found a cheaper way to turn cow manure into sustainable aviation fuel, potentially opening a new pathway for airlines racing to meet emissions targets.
The six-month pilot transformed methane-rich gas from a California dairy farm’s manure digester into jet fuel that meets ASTM standards for commercial aviation.
The company estimates that commercial plants using its technology would cost roughly one-fifth as much as comparable facilities currently being developed in Europe.
According to the company, the pilot operated continuously for thousands of hours using untreated biogas composed of roughly 65 percent methane and 35 percent carbon dioxide. The process produced finished jet fuel that can blend with conventional Jet-A fuel at concentrations of up to 50 percent.
According to the company, the pilot operated continuously for thousands of hours using untreated biogas composed of roughly 65 percent methane and 35 percent carbon dioxide. The process produced finished jet fuel that can blend with conventional Jet-A fuel at concentrations of up to 50 percent.
The company projects commercial installations could cost less than $100,000 per barrel per day of installed capacity. Those economics could allow SAF derived from dairy waste to compete directly with fossil-based jet fuel prices. “The hard part of this industry was never designing a theoretical plant that could make SAF,” said Dr. Stephen Beaton, founder and chief executive officer of Circularity Fuels. “It was proving you could do it continuously, from real biogas, at a cost that pencils.” He added that the company has now demonstrated the technology using “real feedstock from a real dairy farm.”
JCB's hydrogen-powered land speed car has begun testing in the UK ahead of a Bonneville bid to set a new FIA world hydrogen speed record.
The Staffordshire manufacturer said its Hydromax car had completed its first test runs under hydrogen power at RAF Wittering, Cambridgeshire, ahead of a planned record attempt in the US in August.
The 32ft-long vehicle has been built to beat JCB's existing diesel land speed record of 350.092 mph, which was set in 2006 by the firm's Dieselmax car.
Powered by two hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engines, producing a combined 1,600bhp, the Hydromax was unveiled at JCB's headquarters in Rocester in May.
The company plans to transport the car to the United States next month in preparation for Speed Week, the annual gathering of land speed racers at Bonneville. Following that event, JCB will pursue officially recognized records sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's governing body.
"Twelve months ago, this car was a set of drawings being discussed by a room full of engineers," Bamford said. "Today it is a reality and on wheels, running and being tested in the UK."
The Hydromax project has moved from concept to test track in just over a year. The first technical meeting involving engineering partners Prodrive, Ricardo and Xtrac took place in June 2025. Almost exactly one year later, the completed vehicle rolled onto the tarmac at RAF Wittering under its own hydrogen power for the first time.
"Twelve months ago, this car was a set of drawings being discussed by a room full of engineers," Bamford said. "Today it is a reality and on wheels, running and being tested in the UK."
The Hydromax project has moved from concept to test track in just over a year. The first technical meeting involving engineering partners Prodrive, Ricardo and Xtrac took place in June 2025. Almost exactly one year later, the completed vehicle rolled onto the tarmac at RAF Wittering under its own hydrogen power for the first time.
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