Back in the day my aunt had one of these trees and when the drapes were open during a sunny day you would almost have to put on sun glasses on in the living room.
Dopey Gillis, Dewayne Hickman, with Chrisman Coupe after Barris f**ked it up.. Art didn’t want to bring it back but finally agreed to do it…
My mom bought one in 1961. We kept in a box. All the limbs were exactly the same just different angles drilled into the painted silver stick for a trunk.. Dad never said a word.
the only Amtrak ride i ever took was from Galesburg il. to Kansas city and back. thought it would be good to view scenery but darkness fell about 1 hr into the outward trip and on the return the fog was so thick could barely see 10 feet. other than that it was a positive trip.
The headlight on a locomotive has to meet certan standards, one of which is it has to illuminate the tracks 800 feet in front of the train at night. Amtrak does not slow down at night. Whatever the speed permitted on the specific track the trains is on, that is the speed the train is running, day or night. Let's assume the train is running at night through the plains of Indiana for instance, and it's midnight, pitch black outside, no towns around, no highways, nothing to light up the tracks except that headlight shining on the tracks 800 feet in front of the train, and the train is running at it's usual top speed allowed (79 mph). It takes the train just a tick under 7-seconds to go 800 feet at 79 mph. Think about that for a while, and imagin what the engineer is going through every night. Can he see a turn coming up ahead? No. Can he see an 18-wheeler stuck trying to cross the tracks ahead? No. Can he bring the train to a stop in 7-seconds? No. Many years ago (1966), I was driving a tractor trailer truck around the country, with Craig Breedloves Jet Car (Spirit of America) in the trailer, taking it to auto shows. I'm drving somewhere in the boonies of Georgia, on a two lane highway and I see a railroad crossing ahead. It was just an X type sign, no gates that drop down, no flashing red lights, just a sign that read Railroad Crossing. Someone had nailed a sign on the 4 by 4 pole holding up the crossing sign. I slowed down to read it, and it said, "The average time it takes the trains that use this rail line to cross this highway is 24 seconds, whether your car is on the tracks or not. Have a good day."
That coupe is an icon for the hobby. The last time I saw the coupe it was under a tarp in the back of Art’s (Chrisman) shop, I always stopped to see Art when I was in the LA area, on one visit I had lunch with him, his son Mike, Roy Fjastad, and Thom Taylor, the conversation was interesting to say the least. The coupe will be offered at auction in January: https://www.mecum.com/lots/FL0122-487694/1954-chrisman-bonneville-coupe/
It, along with several other hotrods, was in the art museum display in Salt Lake City the year I was went to B-ville. Glad I saw it finally.
Portland's Steel Bridge- Now maintained by Trimet, Has a Hand windlace winch system that can actually raise the bridge- Used Once for a demo when new.
The Jalopy Journal
