"the old car in the barn"

A few days ago I was on a secluded ranch to take care of some business. It was the kind of place you get too by taking some winding gravel (muddy this time) roads that follow a creek a couple of miles or so. Passing under some low hanging tree limbs after crossing a very dangerous looking old bridge you suddenly come to the ranch entrance. It is one of those types of entry ways that has a cattle guard which means there is a grate made from pipe that you can drive across but cows cannot walk across. The driveway is long and narrow and winds it's way around some big hills with lots of exposed limestone overlooking a very nice meadow of grassland along the creek. Very scenic and private. Must be a peaceful place to live with lots of deer and wild turkeys. Anyway the old stone farm house and barn soon came into view and I liked the looks of the old barn even though it is listing to one side somewhat.....

I drove on up to the ranch house which is very old and totally restored after sitting empty for many years. It looked like a museum inside and I loved it...

There is a new addition on the back side that is very rustic and fits into the style of the original home just right. I left some medical equipment for the man of the house for him to use when he gets home from the hospital. His wife is someone I had known from a few years ago and we had a good visit after showing me her beautiful home that she is so proud of. It is all 1880's era inside and is perfect. 

Soon it was time for me to go and the lady of the house suddenly asked me if I knew anyone who wanted to buy her "old car in the barn". I said that I would like to see it right quick so we walked out to have a look.We were accompanied by the ranch dog, a nice Weimaraner named "Hazel" Not far away in yet another barn that was listing to one side was our destination to see the old car that her and her late first husband had dated in.....and his aunt had bought the car new. Here is the old barn....

As soon as I walked inside I saw some hand painted old gas station signs that I really liked.

And there in the back of the barn was the 1939 Ford tudor sedan with flathead V8 engine. It was a solid bodied, unrestored, original car that needs everything.................

I tried to envision the car with a lowered stance, a new interior, and the rumble of a rebuilt flathead under the hood coming from new dual exhaust. Would it need to be repainted or would the old paint shine up to a vintage patina that might look ok? And I took some more photos.....

I was impressed with the lack of rust on the old car but the truth is....it would take alot of money and labor to bring this car back. And it is not a popular model like the coupe would be. Anyway, she told me the price she had in mind and I told her I would pass the word to anyone looking for a car like this......and then we walked out into the sunlight where I took a couple more photos of the other barn.

By now my time was up and I had to move on.............I drove away thinking about all the barns I see each day and wondering what lurks inside them. It was a nice winter day and I enjoyed the drive thru the Kansas Flint Hills region and once I got on the county blacktop road I saw another barn. This one was well built and standing up straight like it was supposed to. 

And not too far away was this old concrete silo for storing ensilage (fermented and chopped corn and the like) that is sitting abandoned like an icon from the past....

As always I had a good time driving thru the countryside and some time later I passed by an old rural school that is sitting there like time has just stood still.....

And speaking of time standing still I soon entered a small ghost town where this old farm implement store that would have sold tractors and equipment was sitting near the center of town. It looks like it might be used for storage now so I assume it has a good roof on it yet which is a very good thing.

And there you have it.....another day in the life a Mid West wanderer who travels the back roads looking for vanishing Americana while it still exists......thanks for riding along with me. 

---a little bit of everything---

Today's blog is a mixture of photos from my world taken by me from this week. There is no theme or particular order. Just whatever caught my eye that day and at that time. I start my photo journal with a shot of the Salina Union Pacific railroad depot in the early morning light. This is the biggest one in town and is still used for offices and crew headquarters.

and then an old Chevrolet from the late 20's or early 30's that is being used as an advertising piece in a small NW Kansas town.....

and since I love to eat I wanted to throw in some pots of soup we had the other day for Saturday dinner that were served in a bread bowl by my sister in law Nancy

and getting back to old cars how about this 33-34 Ford sedan I saw at a shop that they must be getting ready to restore soon ? Very solid body and not rusty...

And then just because I liked it I have this photo of an Odd Fellows park in a very small town (International order of Odd Fellows) that has been well kept for a hundred years or so.....I sometimes park near the fountain and eat lunch in my work truck when I am in this town.

and just down the street in Barnes, KS is this old structure called "Adobe Flats".......I am guessing it is an old abandoned bar or tavern but not sure. I am guessing that the owners were as poor as the owners of Poverty Flats are.....

and this public telephone sign was at the side door of an old telephone office in the same town....

and I still like this old abandoned livery stable in a small town that I pass thru once in awhile.......just don't see these anymore. A place to stable your horses while you are in town overnight where they could rest and eat and be groomed too.....was built in 1885 the same year the town of Waterville was founded (I think) and like most barns this one has a loft for hay on top which made for good insulation in the cold and hot seasons both....

old octagonal shaped barn at the Marshall County fairgrounds in Blue Rapids...

and I still like this old "Church lunch" building that serves food at the same fairgrounds......

some cool old mid 50's Ford T Birds I saw along the road in northern KS

and a sod house at the Marysville park/museum. There would have been no trees on the prairie for our first settlers to use for lumber so a sod plow and a good pair of draft horses would have torn up chunks of sod to be laid as block for the first homes. They weren't bad for a starter home I guess and gave adequate protection from the elements until something better could be built from native stone or imported lumber.

and I liked the looks of this old country school about 3-4 miles south of  Bremen, KS-----

and a real solid old 63-64 Chevy hardtop along the road somewhere along the way---

and the mill pond at Washington, KS where the old original flour mill and electric plant would have been located---

and an old barn that has been decorated recently along a highway I frequent---

and so goes the collection of some photos along my journey this week and I hope you enjoyed looking at the view from my windshield while I travel the roads to everywhere... Thanks for riding along again....

--more random road trip photos--

I guess you would call this part two of my blog a few days ago entitled "the long way home". I had been to SW Missouri a few days ago and on my return trip home I literally took the long way by using some back roads including some I had never been on before. I have been on a mission of late to document ghost towns and disappearing Americana. And on this trip I never used a map and just followed road signs and I stopped ALOT.  All of the following photos were taken in KS and the first one here is at the border town of Baxter Springs. I have always liked this old gas station even though it is not fancy. I do remember when it was open for business.

And while I was parked in an empty parking lot that seemed to be part of a downtown municipal parking area of this town.....as I was returning to my car I noticed an old hydraulic car lift in the middle of it all......I was indeed parked on the site of an old gas station without first realizing it.....irony....

Not many miles down the road was Chetopa where I tool alot of photos and on the western edge of town was this charcoal factory. Have you ever seen one? Just imagine everything surrounding the place being covered in black soot like a coal mine-----I think that tv show "Dirtiest Jobs" needs to come and film there. I'm not trying to put it down but it was a VERY dirty place.

I didn't get very far at all (a common theme on this day) when I saw a tiny sign pointing to Bartlett which was a ghost town with only a grain storage business remaining open. I loved this old abandoned "Farmers Store" building with the loafer's bench out front.

Across the street sat the vacant post office....closed forever earlier this year with only a gas heating stove sitting inside that was left behind.

But my favorite item of interest in tiny Bartlett was the town jail which sits right on the north side of the post office. Crude and primitive with only a fold down steel bunk, you can see it was a cold and or hot place to be held. And what really seemed funny to me was thew fact that it was chained and locked up to keep folks OUT now instead of locking people inside........more irony.....

An abandoned school I found interesting at the ghost town of Valeda...

Again I didn't travel far before seeing the tiny town of Edna so I pulled off the main highway and entered the town and took some random shots from there.

Next photo is from tiny Dearing where I saw this cool old drive in hamburger joint that is still open.

Soon I was at Tyro which was a ghost town with a cool old building downtown where I took these photos...

Next up the bigger town of Caney offered another chance for me to picture a very patriotic drive in eatery that happened to be for sale but was still open for business

Same town I saw this very old home that was perhaps a boarding home or hotel in it's earlier life

And then the tiny village of Niotaze where this former general store still serves as the US Post Office for the handful of residents there...

 And a roadside photo at a crossroad intersection in the country where there were 3 of these old cabover work truck from the early 1940's.

 Later in the day I saw this cool old Air Force trainer that is now a Veteran's Memorial in a  park setting at a ghost town in the middle of Flint Hills region that was named Moline, KS. I was told that it has recently been moved here from Independence, KS where it was no longer wanted.

Not far away I was at the county seat town of Howard which was full of cool things to see including this old drive in that was busy with coffee drinkers on this cold winter day.

Then some scenes from Severy, another ghost town along my way...including this abandoned station that I just love

and this old packer roller that would have been used to pack the dirt streets and help make them a hard surface to drive on which was sitting behind an old city garage building

and yet another old jail from the frontier days of this ranch country where misbehaving cowboys would have been locked up and await their turn with the local judge...

And then my favorite ghost town of this region....Beaumont....where the 1800's Frisco railroad water tower still stands after supplying water to countless steam locomotives for decades...

This town is also known for it's grass landing strip that allows small plane pilots to taxi right up to the parking lot at the historic Beaumont hotel which is a good place to eat and serves as an "oasis on the prairie " if you will. This place has been bought and sold and remodeled many times over the years. I have seen it abandoned and neglected and all restored and somewhere in between over the lats 30 years or so.

An old church that reminded me of Christmas...

 A new highway by passes this town but close by is this abandoned service station that looks forlorn and lonely on the old road to nowhere....

and then some "ageless iron" I saw along the highway at a farm....

And by now it was getting late and I only took a few more photos that were not that interesting and darkness was fast approaching so I kept the pedal to the metal and drove the reaming 2 hours or so home as focused on the road ahead as possible. Waiting for me at home was supper of french toast and bacon with hot coffee.

And that was the end of my road trip from last week.....it was another good day indeed.....thanks for riding along. :-)