You know whyclubs.hemmings.com/chvasunflower/images/2020-09_Starterator.pdf · 24401 W 86th Terrace...

SSSEPTEMBEREPTEMBEREPTEMBER 202020202020 VVVOLOLOL. 41 N. 41 N. 41 NOOO. 8. 8. 8 http://clubs.hemmings.com/chvasunflowerhttp://clubs.hemmings.com/chvasunflowerhttp://clubs.hemmings.com/chvasunflower

All Meetings canceled until further noticeAll Meetings canceled until further notice You know whyYou know why

This Month’s FeaturesThis Month’s Features “90 & 75 years ago - Along the Action Era Highways” by Kelly Flory “Kiddie Ride Restorations” by Danny & Becky Downs

“Car Buzz” by Bob Vukas “Answers to August Auto Quiz!” by Helen Hutchings

“Cover Car” by Steve Hartwich

“2020 National Tour—Canceled...for Now” by Rich Gibbs (Page 8)

Check the Calendar on Page 1 for Complete Listing of Upcoming Events

This is looking like a real long summer/year with minimal car stuff Check the Sunflower Region website to stay up to date with upcom-ing events.

L to R: Tom & Dianne Plemons [ ‘32 Ford Streetrod ] Mike Kille [ ‘55 Buick Century ] L to R: Tom & Dianne Plemons [ ‘32 Ford Streetrod ] Mike Kille [ ‘55 Buick Century ] L to R: Tom & Dianne Plemons [ ‘32 Ford Streetrod ] Mike Kille [ ‘55 Buick Century ] Dale & Eula Schneider [ ‘67 Ford Mustang ] John & Mary Jean Flory [ ‘65 Buick Electra 225 ] Dale & Eula Schneider [ ‘67 Ford Mustang ] John & Mary Jean Flory [ ‘65 Buick Electra 225 ] Dale & Eula Schneider [ ‘67 Ford Mustang ] John & Mary Jean Flory [ ‘65 Buick Electra 225 ] Don & Kathy Griffith [ ‘04 Chrysler Dream Cruiser ] Malcolm & Sherri McIntyre [ ‘72 Ford Mustang ]Don & Kathy Griffith [ ‘04 Chrysler Dream Cruiser ] Malcolm & Sherri McIntyre [ ‘72 Ford Mustang ]Don & Kathy Griffith [ ‘04 Chrysler Dream Cruiser ] Malcolm & Sherri McIntyre [ ‘72 Ford Mustang ] Rich Gibbs [ ‘69 Cadillac Coupe deVille ]Rich Gibbs [ ‘69 Cadillac Coupe deVille ]Rich Gibbs [ ‘69 Cadillac Coupe deVille ]

Sunflower Region Aug 23rd “Social Distancing” TourSunflower Region Aug 23rd “Social Distancing” TourSunflower Region Aug 23rd “Social Distancing” Tour Photo Stop at Pomona Lake Corps of Engineers officePhoto Stop at Pomona Lake Corps of Engineers officePhoto Stop at Pomona Lake Corps of Engineers office

N

“The Starterator”

1150 NW Sunset Ln Topeka, KS 66618-1148

(785) 286-2846 E-mail us at: [email protected]

Information: must be received by the 25th of the month to be put in the next month's newsletter. Newsletters are mailed one week prior to each month's meeting. We are always looking for material for the newsletter, articles, jokes, club gossip, for sales and feature stories. Material will be returned if requested. Dues: Dues are payable yearly and come due on January 1st of each year. National dues are $36.00 and Regional dues are $15.00. National membership is a prerequisite to being a regional member. Meetings: Meetings are held once a month on the second Friday of each month at 7:30 PM. Meeting locations alternate each month between Kansas City and Topeka. See the calendar section of the newsletter for the location of each month's meeting. For Sale Ads: Members may place free For Sale ads in the newsletter. We will run an ad for several months unless notified otherwise. Please send the ad information the way you want it to read in the newsletter. The ad will appear in the printed version only. Hospitalization or Death of members or members families: If you hear of a club member or member's family who has been hospitalized or passed away please notify the contact listed below in your area: Topeka —–open—– Lawrence —–open—– Kansas City Steve Hartwich 816-661-9582

Evenings please

CHVA National Website: http://www.chvanational.org

Check out this website for a very good selec-tion of Etowah-Bartow Region photos and events: http://www.chvaga.com/

Founding members of the Sunflower Region, CHVA. February 25, 1979. Steve Jewett, Rod Waggoner, Bruce Baker, Danny Downs, Ray Taylor, Edna Willits/Jewett, Licia Willits, John Kitos, Steve Hartwich

Editor's Stuff

Rich Gibbs– Editor Calendar page editor—Steve Hartwich

New articles are always needed for “The Starterator”

Region Officers

Director Assistant Director

Malcolm McIntyre Tom Plemons

6915 N Cosby Ave 713 SE Baldwin Rd

Kansas City, MO 64151 Topeka, KS 6607

(816) 509-3016 (785) 213-2445

Secretary Treasurer Sue Anderson Don Beck

20240 W 113th Terr. PO Box 8787 Olathe, KS 66061 Topeka, KS 66608

(913) 219-7943 (785) 640-1808

Back-up Secretary Board Member Kathy Griffith Bob Vukas

601 Dakota 3806 SW Mission Av

Holton, KS 66436-1257 Topeka, KS 66610

(785) 215-1135 (785) 267-1367

“The Starterator” Editors Historian

Rich Gibbs Johnnie Williams

1150 NW Sunset Ln 2916 SE Aries

Topeka, KS 66618-1148 Topeka, KS 66605

(785) 230-6794 (785) 267-3436

Calendar Page Design/Editor CHVA National Office Manager Steve Hartwich CHVA, Inc

[email protected] PO Box 341

Newark, CA 94560-0341

Sunflower Region C O N T E M P O R A R Y H I S T O R I C A L V E H I C L E A S S O C I A T I O N

(Recognizing all old cars over 20 years and older) Website: http://clubs.hemmings.com/chvasunflower Printable PDF file of “The Starterator” are in COLOR on the website

Director's Drivel by Malcolm McIntyre First off, I'd like to thank Tom for getting us out and organized for a tour. The weather

was great, it was nice to see everyone, get a group of cars on the road again, and I'm

regretting that I have a conflict and can't attend the next one. Last weekend I drove my '57 Mer-

cury up to Trimble and stopped at their local locker to get some goodies - they have great bacon.

Anyway another couple came in and started talking to the person behind the counter about their

old car, and the person finally had to admit they didn't know what car they were talking about. I

didn't say anything but was chuckling to myself thinking that the thought never crossed their minds

that a customer would actually drive an old car - as a means of transportation. Our Covid situa-

tion remains unchanged, and I miss the fact that we aren't out on a National Tour. We're unable

to get club meetings organized yet but as Tom demonstrated we can do "socially distanced tours".

The Presbyterian home in Lawrence reached out to see if we could do a parade or something

different than the show that we had to cancel. I'm working to see what they have in mind and will

let you know if anything comes to fruition. In the meantime I just keep looking for excuses to get

the cars out. My son pointed out that his fiance hadn't really seen much of the collection so we

took her out in Sherri's DeSoto and I think she enjoyed the experience. If nothing else I think she

was just taken back by the "pinkness".

Malcolm

Kelly is released and recouping at home. He has therapy at home three days a week. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Kelly Flory 24401 W 86th Terrace Lenexa, KS 66227

August “Expert” Quiz Answers So, how did you do this time???

1. Oldsmobile

2. Datsun

3. Porsche

4. Renault or Citroen

5. Daimler

6. Triumph

7. Aston-Martin

8. Ford (think Barney Oldfield)

9. Mercedes-Benz

10. BMW or Ferrari

11. Mazda

12. Shelby Ford Mustang

13. Cunningham or Corvette

14. Oldsmobile

15. Jaguar

16. Cord

17. Datsun

18. Chevrolet Camaro

19. Porsche

20. Triumph

21. Fiat or Franklin

22. Abarth Zagato

23. Volvo

24. Dino Ferrari

25. Matra

September 2020September 2020

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4

5 6 7

8 9 10 11 112 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

Please verify all events in case of changes, errors, or cancellations. Accuracy of this calen-dar is only as good as what has been provided.

• CHVA sponsored event − Other events

“The Starterator” - newsletter of the Contemporary Historical Vehicle Association, Sunflower Region http://clubs.hemmings.com/chvasunflower While viewing this PDF, ON-Line, the links are active, click on them 1

Calendar of Events – Send notice of your events to: [email protected], Steve Hartwich.

Calendar event items, if published, should include a 2-3 sentence description including the name of the event, i.e., First An-nual White Wall Tire Car Show, Address, City-State, start-end times, admission and/or entry fees, website and/or flyer address link. Other

car clubs are invited to submit their car show or car event-related information that would appeal to the car club public.

Some CHVA Calendar items are from the Associated Car Clubs of Kansas City website. http://clubs.hemmings.com/acckc/eventfinder.htm

Sunflower Region CHVA Events Calendar 2020

No Meetings - No Minutes

Future - KC area D&E. Mechanical musical crank organ demo. Neon sign company tour/demo. TBD by Steve H.

− September 5-6 -- Platte City MO: 20th Annual Greaserama. Platte County Fairgrounds, 15730 Fairgrounds Road, 64079. Car 1964 and older; trucks 1972 and older. www.greaserama.com

− September 19. Olathe, KS: Swap Meet. Kansas City Automotive Museum, 15095 W 116th Street, 66062. 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. $25 for vendors; Public Free. Advanced Registration through August 21st. Set-up 6:00AM-9:00AM. https://www.kansascityautomuseum.com/swapmeet 913-322-4227

− September 20. Independence, MO: Rusty Metal’s Fall Swap Meet. The Twin Drive-In, 1320 NE 291 Highway, 64050. Gates open at 7:00 AM for buyers and sellers. Pre-registration special: 20X60 booth $45. Auto parts and accessories. Contact Scott at 913-558-6781 or Joe at 913-207-1422. www.rustymetalproductions.com Show Flyer

− September 27. Manhattan, KS: Autumn Car Cruise. Midwest Dream Car Collection, 3007 Anderson Avenue, 66502. 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM. Departure at 1:00 PM. Museum is open 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM. 785-236-5501.

− October 3. Kansas City, KS: 36th Annual HPAC Mopar Show & Swap. Nebraska Furniture Mart, 1601 Village West Parkway, 66111. All years and models of Mopar and AMC are welcome. Rain or shine. Goody bags, door prizes and awards. Info: Randy, 785-231-0719

− October 4 – Lawrence Region AACA Car “CRUISE’N” — Broken Arrow Park — S. Louisiana St just north of 31st St — 2-4 PM No judging, just a get together to show and talk cars. COVID-19 guidelines apply. The Car Show at the Fairgrounds is canceled.

− October 4. Independence, MO: Ararat Shrine Swap Meet. Cable Dahmer Center Arena, 19100 E Valley View Parkway, 64055. 600AM-400PM. https://www.shrineswapmeet.com/

− October 10. Kansas City, MO: Motori in Piazza. (Italian Motorsports Show). Zona Rosa Shopping Center, 8640 N Dixson Avenue, 64153. 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. Held in conjunction with UNICO’s Festa Italiana. Location is NW 86th Place and N Stoddard Avenues. No registration or entrance fee. Arrive between 11:30 AM and 12:00 Noon. Space is limited. Call 816-522-3554 or send email to [email protected] for more information or with questions.

− October 23-24. Hutchinson, KS: 21st Annual Sedgwick Street Rodders Swap Meet. Kansas State Fairgrounds. Set-up Thursday 12:00 Noon to 9:00 PM. Vendor gates open at 6:00 AM Friday and Saturday. Swap meet hours Friday 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Call 316-832-0569 from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM only for information. Entry Form

Regularly scheduled 2020 cruise nights – More will be added as dates are confirmed.

Note: Local City policies may encourage face masks and social distancing for dine-in and parking events. More will be added as dates are con-firmed. Verify these events before going! See link at the bottom of the page below cruises.

Every Friday Lenexa KS — Pegah’s Summer Cruise, 12122 W. 87th Parkway, 5:00pm to 9:00pm, May to October. Hosted by Dick and Judy Rule.913-258-8766. 1st Saturday Harrisonville MO — Car Cruise Nights Hosted by Golden Classics Jewelers, 1919 N Commercial Street, 64701, 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Hosted by Heartland Road Runners. Parkville MO -- Cruise Night at Farmers Market and City parking lots, 122 South Main Street, 64152.4:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Sponsored by Jacob Pratt State Farm Insurance. May through October (except July) https://parkvillemo.org/event/parkville-cruise-night-2/

Sunflower Region CHVA Events Calendar 2020—continued


Cover Photo by Steve Hartwich

Last month Danny Downs stated the Ford in the photo is a 1933. In addition to the observations I made in the August Starterator I’ve studied the photo and have some more. There is a neon sign on the building outside the garage doors on the left with the word, STATION. Moving inside, below and to the left of the wall phone is a metal canister that appears to be a shop vac. Moving to the left just past the 55-gallon barrel are three oil pumps with an Allstate decal on each. Are these from where they dispensed clean motor oil to go into car engines? Then we have the new Allstate Batteries on the large rack with an Allstate Tires sign behind the plate glass window behind the battery rack. Through the open doorway we can see a stack of eight tires, further back in the room we see some head gaskets and fan belts hanging. Below that some chrome-plated trumpet horns for your fancy ride. Through the transom window above the head gaskets and fan belts is a sign on the left with the letters E S (BRAKES? TIRES?) and to the right another sign with the beginning letters for the word ALLSTATE. Moving counter-clockwise all the way to the lower right hand side of the photo in the foreground we have two metal drain pans, a Blackhawk brand Floor Jack plus three other Floor Jacks behind it. The Floor Jacks are sitting in front of three 55-gallon drums with spig-ots. Is this where used motor oil was kept until is was hauled away? Next to the drum furthest towards the front is a heavy steel pole with a U-shaped piece at the top. No doubt this was to hold up a driveshaft or something else heavy underneath a car while it was being repaired. Next to the pole is a Cash Register on a table. To-wards the front of the shop we see at least three different sized containers that look like they catch oil under cars during oil changes. The item standing in front of the wheeled oil change container has a heavy, wide metal base, a thin steel pole and an

odd-shaped squarish top. What is it and what is its function? A few notes about the license plate on our Ford. It almost has to be a 1936 Missouri plate. In 1933 the plate had 1933 MISSOURI spelled out. This plate appears to have MISSOURI 19XX on it. In 1934 the bottom of the plate was MO – 1934. In 1935 it said MO – 1935 at the top. In 1936 is said MISSOURI – 1936 and in 1937 it reverted back to the top again, 19 MISSOURI 37. That nails down the year of the plate and presumably the photo to 1936. If you would like to

study and make some more guesses and observations about this old time photo send me an email at [email protected] and I will send you the photo. (CHVA members only.) Now crank up that old Ford with the new oil in it and take it to Danny Downs house so he can see it!

2nd Saturday Overland Park KS -- Cruise Night. 10400 Mastin St, 66212. 400-800PM Hosted by Mustang Club of Greater Kansas City. Topeka, KS - Cruise Night. 21st and Fairlawn, 66614. 500-900 PM, weather permitting. April through October 3rd Saturday Topeka, KS -- Cruise Night. The Dugout, 17th & Fairlawn, 66604. 500-900 PM, weather permitting. April through October Platte City, MO -- Cruise Night at Pizza Shoppe/Goodyear parking lot, 2439 NW Prairie View Road, 64079. Music, prizes, food discounts. 90/10 cash pot (90% payback). 530 PM to ? Hosted by Outta Control HotRods and Cruisers. 4th Saturday Belton, MO — Cruzin' Main Street in historic downtown Belton hosted by the South 71 Cruisers. 4-8pm. Info: Mike 816-898-3698 Russ 816-392-0728 or Paul 816-392-1470 Dave 816-898-5174 or Esther 816-322-7005. April through October. Topeka KS -- The Pad, 1730 NW Topeka Blvd., 500-900pm. April to October. Last Saturday of each month Olathe KS – Caffeine and Chrome, Gateway Classic Cars, 1202 S Lone Elm Rd. Olathe KS 66061 913-815-1340 Classic Cars, Hot Rods, Vintage Automobiles - Free - Open To The Public Join us from 900AM-Noon. Refer to the link below for Kansas City, Topeka and other nearby City’s Cruise nights. http://clubs.hemmings.com/acckc/EventFinder.htm#CruiseNights


Transportation as a Service

Uber and Lyft have begun what may take over the world. Various attempts are being made to produce self-driving electronic cars. During the Covid 19 Pandemic, groceries, prescriptions and even people have made these journeys. Our goals are to avoid large crowds, stay 6 feet from other individuals, wear masks to avoid others breathing too. This has made life dull at home alone and working from home but so far, we are surviving it. Schools have had to send students home and employees and teachers have had to do the same. During an election it is hard to know whom to believe but my money is on Dr. Fauci. A cure and preventive vaccine may come as early as 2021.

There will be buses, trucks, construction equipment as well as the autonomous cars. The cars will be powered by highly sophisticated batteries, with a range of 600 miles. The cars will steer themselves based upon your cell phone application. It is possible to reduce the number of car accidents from 800,000 to 80,000 as people cause accidents. The other features include 0 to 60 in 3 seconds if needed. We will all have to wait and see as to where to find gasoline for our collector cars. Pollution will drop as well. Wait till 2022 for more exclusive details.

How Numbers Correct are your Cars?

While restoring my Bel Air I discovered that the engine came from a 1962 Chevy, and that the carburetor, which finally made it run and start, came from a 1965 Chevy. How far do I want to go with the restoration? I will drive it as is till something needs repair. How much would it cost to replace the engine with a properly numbered 1957 engine and carburetor, and then will they both need to be repaired? How much will that cost and how long will it take?

Summer is not Over, Yet

September is the first day of fall. The school calendar does not run the seasonal calendar. There will be sunny days to have some CHVA cruises and driving if we are careful about Covid rules. Let’s hope so. I see people on cruise nights not wearing masks and sitting too close to one another. I love the hobby but health is worth something.

Mark IV

Do you remember add on air conditioning? A warehouse in Topeka still contains kits and sup-plies for Mark IV.

Ed note: The photo a the right is my ‘60 Electra 225 Riviera Sedan with dealer installed Mark IV Monitor A/C. It was installed when the car was new. OK, Bob...where is this warehouse?

..........Car Buzz..........................................................................................by Bob Vukas

C ollecting and restoring stuff has been a big part of my life. When we (Becky and I) got married, she married all my re-

stored stuff too, and we now have parking meters and traffic lights, sewing machines and scissors, railroad lights and signs, and all sorts of interesting trivia. The more fun stuff you collect the more room you need to show it off so even the house renovations includ-ed a higher ceiling in the family room so more signs and lights could fit on the walls. People who visit more than once get to join in the game of “Where are the New Signs and Collectables?” every time they come. Some of the items are small and harder to find, but the six kiddie rides are a large, easily noticed part of our collect-ables simply because each one takes up a considerable amount of space.

Many of the items in our collection came to us in really rundown and damaged condition so my metalwork and automotive restora-tion and painting skills come into play before they can be displayed. Restoring a kiddie ride is a lot like restoring an old car. There are usually a lot less pieces on a kiddie ride but the theory is the same. If you know how to do body work and paint, that knowledge can be applied to both cases but each of the kiddie rides has had a unique

wrinkle in what needed to be done to restore it.

Many years ago I had the chance to buy a Model T Fire Truck kid-die ride that would date from the late ‘50s early ‘60s. I bought it in Osage City, KS and brought it home loaded in the pickup. By the time I reached home the wooden base had collapsed and the ride was just a heap in the back of the truck.

The body of the truck is metal with a fiberglass seat. When I got it the driver’s side was heavily rusted, perhaps because it had sat next to a wet wall for a long time. Body work for this one involved rust repair before it could be primed and prepped for paint. The next things to think about were the wheels. The wheels that were on it were a 2 piece fiberglass casting, and they were a real mess. I intended to try to

KIDDIE RIDE RESTORATIONS by Danny & Becky Downs

make one com-plete wheel out of the eight m e s s e d u p halves. I just needed to get o n e g o o d enough to make a pattern so I could make a mold from it and cast 4 new wheels, but the prospects did not look good. Then a friend who knew my problem called and said that someone on Ebay was sell-ing some pedal car wagon wheels. I looked them up and they did look right. I bid on them, won the bid, and when they came, they were spot on. According to fliers on this ride these are the wheels and tires it originally came with and made a great addition to it. I also rebuilt the base and installed the gearbox and motor which were in good shape.

The next kiddie ride to join the collection was a dolphin. If any-one remembers the tire store on the SE corner of 6th & Fillmore in Topeka, the man who owned it had a cart with two kiddie rides, a pig and a dolphin. Every morning he would push them out front wanting to sell them. They were there for years. He wanted way too much money for them. One day I went in to see if anything had changed. There was a different guy behind the desk, and he said the previ-ous owner had died, and that his mother wanted to get rid of the rides. She made the price right and I bought them immediately. My daughter wanted the dolphin and the wife of a friend bought the pig from me for her hus-band’s Christmas pre-sent.

The dolphin was a fair-ly easy restoration, the biggest problem was with the eyes. They are real glass, not fi-

berglass and someone had sanded them with coarse grit sandpa-per, leaving them badly scratched probably on one of it’s many re-paints. So I removed the eyes, and after having no luck at finding replacements for them, I had to restore them which took 4 or 5 hours per eye, and I did it whenever I sat in front of the TV. I used 600 grit wet sandpaper to sand out the scratches, then I had to polish them, using red rouge like is used on finishing chrome, until they were in condition to fiberglass back into the face. There was no way to do this with any machine assistance, it was all hand work. Of all the details on all the kiddie rides those eyes were probably the hardest to get restored.

Then I started on the base, and discovered that on the first layer of paint the name Flipper was featured, along with a man’s name and the town of Louisville, KY. In the day before I could research things on the internet, I called information in Louisville, and got the man’s phone number. When I called him, he told me he had gotten per-mission to use the copy-righted name of Flipper from the TV show, and when he was making them between 1966 and 1967 he was selling them for $572 each. He could not remember how many he made and he didn’t have any more of the eyes. That is the fun type of history you can learn when you do restorations like this.

The third ride to join the herd was the Sandy horse that used to give kids rides outside of the Falley’s North grocery store in the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s. The horse body is an aluminum casting, and it just needed normal prep and painting. I also had to make one copy each of the Sandy emblem and the Ride emblem to replace those lost off of the base. The real challenge for this restoration was the leatherwork. The saddle was in reasonably good shape, but had seen lots of use and needed to be re-sewn in a few places. I took it to a leather shop, but the lady there said she was extremely busy and would not be able to get to it for a long time. She asked if I was good with my hands, and when I said yes, she said that I could do this myself. I had never done any leatherwork, but she sold me some leather and small tools and gave me some pointers on how to get it done, so that was an-other skill I got to add to my personal skill set.

Ride number four started as a grotesquely painted green frog with red lips! It was purchased by the husband of a cousin of mine for her birthday, because she loves frogs. Doing standard paint prep removed the red lip problem, but the basic frog was so plain


that I decided that it needed some warts on it. A friend and fellow restoration junkie and I created moulds for the warts by routering out round-ed wells in a board, oiling them and filling them with fiberglass. When they hard-ened we popped them out, made matching holes into random places on the surface of the frog and fiberglassed them into the frog. As we painted the body the warts were highlighted with a lighter color of paint and blended into the body color. Along the base we painted on lily pads to coordinate the look. The frog hopped on into our col-lection when my cousin moved into a smaller housing arrangement a few years ago.

Switcher the Engine is the first kiddie ride to be restored since Becky and I got married. It is also the newest of our kiddie rides. I think it was made during the early 1980’s. I did some welding for a guy and he offered either cash money, or an old train shaped kiddie ride. I called Becky, and asked if we needed a fifth kiddie ride in the house, and she said “bring it on! The grandkids will love it!” Becky got in at the start of this restoration by pulling apart the old base and dumping out the mouse nests and pulling out the motor for a friend to rewire and gearbox to be cleaned and lubed. She removed the metal trim pieces and got the fiberglass body ready for sand blast-ing - ie: the non-skilled but essential labor parts.

In its original condition the train had a goofy baloney nosed clown face on the front, and I thought that a ‘Thomas’ face would be per-fect on it. Becky took a picture of an eight inch high plastic toy Thomas the Train, and we took it to a friend who enlarged it to scale with the kiddie ride. I made a metal ring the diameter of the front end of the boiler, and then made a rough carving of the face out of floral foam to fit inside the ring. I then layered up the carving with fiberglass. Nobody will ever know the amount of time that it took to get the face completed, but it was all worth it because as soon as I cut the old front off the boiler and popped in the face, I truly believe that little train said, “Hello!”

Because of the place in the family room that had been reserved for

the “new” ride, the opening to the seat needed to be switched to the opposite side of the cab. In fiberglass that was as easy as cutting a slice out of the left side of the cab and moving it to the right side of the cab and fiberglassing it in. Since we were deep into modifica-tions, I decided it needed a headlight, tail light and caps on the cyl-inders. Jacob, our grandson, also firmly believed that an engine needs a coupler so I helped him make a plaster impression of a coupler from a scale model railroad and then he cast it up in fiber-glass.

The size and level of detail in the train body meant that the body work and paint prep took a lot of hand sanding. Nothing was big enough or flat enough to use mechanical sanders on. Becky got her first taste of this essential work on this project. The final wet sanding is where she discovered that fingerprints really can be sanded off your fingers to the point that you can’t open your cell-phone using them! The final paint job on ‘Switcher’ involved many carefully planned layers of paint. Paint stencils and taped lines were applied between coats to achieve the multi-colored fine details that really make this engine pop. The paint details even included painting the eyes so they are looking at little people as they walk into the room. Jacob was 8 years old when we finished Switcher, and loved the Kansas City Southern Rail Road color scheme, so that’s the reason the engine number is 8 and those are the colors that we used.

With all of this experience behind us, the sixth and final kiddie ride is now in pro-gress. It is the final ride be-cause we are out of floor space! It is a midget race car from the late ‘50’s, early ’60’s, and current thinking is that it will have a color cray-on paint scheme. We will update you when it is done.

While some may think it odd that we have kiddie rides in the house, they have provided hours of fun for grandkids and other small visi-tors. My favorite memory is of the day that the 3 year old grand-daughter ran over to give Switcher the train a hug and tell him “Bye bye, I love you!”



75 years ago Along the Action Era Highways

KAISER COACH

Luxury Liner This ad for Timken Tapered Roll-er Bearings features a prototype articulated Santa Fe Trailways

bus built by Kaiser. These buses were used to move passengers to places that the Santa Fe Railway system did not reach. An exam-

ple would be taking Santa Fe passengers from the station in Flagstaff, Arizona to the Grand

Canyon. After the time period of this photo, Santa Fe seems to

have sold the operations of these bus routes to Continental Trail-

ways during the 1950’s.

Additionally of interest is that the Kaiser Coach is related to the

Kaiser-Frazer car company start-ed in 1947, by way of Kaiser’s steel companies during World

War II. As mentioned in the ad, the buses were built at the Cali-fornia magnesium plant of the

Kaiser-directed Permanente Met-als Corporation. The busses were built of a combination of

magnesium and aluminum, and were a total of 60 feet long includ-ing both sections. They were tru-

ly luxury liners with swiveling seats and a toilet in each section.

There was a driver and co-operator who was in charge of collecting tickets, making an-

nouncements, passenger comfort and handing out refreshments.

This ad is from the November 1945 “Motor” magazine , a monthly Hearst publication for auto-

motive dealerships, service centers, marketers, etc. Submitted by Kelly Flory.


90 years ago Along the Action Era Highways

DeSoto

“A new Straight Eight, at a

new low price.”

The 1930 models were the 3rd year for the DeSoto in Chrysler Corporations line of 4 brands,

with DeSoto being above Plym-outh and below Dodge in the pecking order of price, engine

sizes, and style in the corporate lineup. That was already be-ginning to change as engine sizes and horsepower were

nearly identical between DeSo-to and Dodge. Dodge pricing was only slightly higher. That

all changed with the 1934 mod-els when the Airflow series was shared with Chrysler, and until the DeSoto’s demise in 1961,

DeSoto would always be above Dodge in the Corporate line.

As shown to the left are two 1930 DeSoto models, The

Business Coupe at the top left and the Deluxe 4-Door Sedan

to the right side. Several views of the new Straight Eight en-

gine are also shown, with descriptions provided. The new Straight 8 engine would have production of 20,075 of the

34,899 1930 models built, good for 13th place out of about 47

nameplates in the 1930 market.

This article above is from the January

1930 issue of “MoTor Magazine”, a

monthly Hearst publication for automo-

tive dealerships, service centers,

marketers, etc. Submitted by Kelly Flory.

8

East of Marquette at Munising we will board a tour boat and cruise Pictured Rocks National Seashore.

At Whitefish Point is the Ship-wreck Museum and lighthouse. We will learn about the fate of

the Edmund Fitzgerald.

St. Ignace is the gateway to Mackinac Island and

the “Big Mac” bridge that joins the Upper Peninsula to lower Michigan.

On the way to Traverse City ar-ea we will make a short stop at the Cross in the Woods Shrine in Indian River. Made from one California Redwood Tree, the cross is 55 ft. tall. The Corpus

Tour Dates: Sept 14-24, 2020

To reserve your tour regis-tration package, send $5.00 to: Rich Gibbs 1150 NW Sunset Lane Topeka, KS 66618-1148 E-mail: [email protected] Ph: (785) 230-6794 Please call evenings 7-9 PM Central time Tour packages will be mailed to pre-registrants Spring of 2020. The $5.00 fee will apply to your com-pleted registration for the tour. All events are subject to change due to availability.

was cast in bronze in Norway and was at-tached to the cross Aug 9, 1959. Dedicated Aug 16, 1959. Many things in the Trav-erse City area including wineries, shopping, light-houses and Sleeping Bear Dunes. Some sur-prises in the area will tickle your fancy.

Finally after all the places visited, we will finally see the Gilmore Auto Muse-um at Hickory Corners.

This is a place you will not want to miss.

Starting in Oshkosh, Wisconsin the tour will visit the EAA Airventure Museum.

A day tour of Door Coun-ty Wisconsin peninsula to see the sights of the ar-ea. Sight-seeing and dining abound. Heading to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan along the shore of Lake Michigan through Me-nominee and a visit of Iron Mountain’s Iron Mine Underground Mine Train.

Oshkosh to Kalamazoo

‘Round Lake Michigan

2020 CHVA

National Tour

The 2020 CHVA National Tour is postponed until Mid-May 2021 due to the present situation in the tour states:

Wisconsin and Michigan. I will be sending notice to the pre-registration members in the near future. If you wish to have your $5.00 reservation fee re-turned, please let me know (information below). The fees are safely in a bank account. When Michigan opens up, I will con-tinue working with hotels and the venues planned to finalize tour plans. Thanks your for your patience. Rich Gibbs

The 2020/2021 CHVA National Tour is CANCELED until further notice!

Due to the continuing uncertainty with the COVID-19 pandemic and the unrest in almost any location in the US, I regret to cancel the tour, but I am hesitant to lead our group of mainly senior citizens in vintage vehicles and chance damage or harm to anyone in the group.

I have retained all hotel and event information if the world returns to “normal” and we can return to an enjoyable national tour.

I will be returning the reservation fee to each member that has giv-en me the fee.

Again, Stay Safe and hope we will return to normal touring soon!

Rich Gibbs

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