Cars in the Park, Vintage American Cars, July 9, 2011

I went camera shopping early Saturday, with Kailey and Leland, then with just Leland so that sweet Kailey could get some sleep--she works graveyard. After a total of three stops, I found what I wanted and what I could afford at Ritz Camera, a Nikon D5100. You see, my beloved Nikon D50 has been erratic at best lately, plus I pined for the sharpness of a Nikon lens again. Now I'm all set and can see about getting the D50 to the camera hospital.

Buying a new camera, of course, means charging the battery before you can go out and about with the camera hanging around your neck. An hour and a half after I plugged in the charger, I arrived at the South Park Blocks for this Saturday's car show right before 3 p.m. I figured I'd be just fine because the advertised end time was 5 p.m., so imagine how my mouth dropped open when I got to the top of the stairs at SW Main and the South Park Blocks and saw the streets 97% empty. Immediately I hot-footed it to the closest car, camera ready. As I took a few photos, I looked up and saw about a block away a Woody--the first one I've seen in person! Then in a few minutes I saw a car driving away that reminded me of a gangster movie car. For a little while I rushed around, taking photos. Here they are for you to enjoy.


1937 Ford V8. I asked the owner, the man in the red T-shirt, for the name of the color. He replied, "Autumn Brown. Like fall. That's a stock Ford color." The closest to the correct color is in that sunny spot on the front fender and in the sunny spot between the headlight and the grill--naturally the shade made the color darker.


The Ford's hood ornament; I wish I had asked whether or not it is original.


The 1939 Ford Deluxe Woody Station Wagon that caused my heart to race as I approached it--praying the owner was not inside and about to drive off. On the wall behind it is an image of one of the cars on display inside the Portland Art Museum, part of The Allure of the Automobile.


I have to tell you, the wood on this car outshone any of the totally metal cars I have seen. Rich, mellow, satiny smooth, gorgeous wood. I heard the man who owns the Woody saying that some of it was original!


More of that grin-inducing wood!


This beauty quietly drove up and then past me as I stared at the Woody, so I missed getting a photo of the front. You can see from the next photo that both cars look very much alike, which makes me think this one is a Pierce Arrow, too.


I know this one is a Pierce Arrow because I stepped up to the window and asked the driver as he waited for pedestrians to clear the intersection. This car is the one that made me think of gangster movies. Love those black-wall tires!


1938 Pontiac Two-Door Cabriolet Convertible


That's the owner standing by it in the photo above. You can tell that he's got it partially parked on the sidewalk.


I think that oblong black thing is the step you use to get yourself into the rumble seat. I wonder if he had it open earlier in the day?


The Pontiac's hood ornament.


When I looked back towards the Woody, I saw this beauty pulled to a stop behind it. The owner's getting out as I snap the photo.




The hub cab says Packard Super Eight. Unfortunately I am reflected too much in this photo--gotta pay better attention next week when I go see the Multnomah Hot Rod Council's vehicles!


Lovely, lovely car.


The Packard's hood ornament.

Friday night at 3 Doors Down Cafe

Appetizers:

Pan Seared Sea Scallops, Peaches, Honey Basil Cream Sauce


Potato Gnocchi, English Peas, Prosciutto, Creamy Rosa Sauce

Cocktail:

Gin Fizz

Ready for fun last Sunday! The ride on the train pulled by the steam engine!

Here I stand, Deuter backpack over my arm, in front of the SP 4449, one gigantic steam engine. A few minutes later I boarded dome car G and found my seat for the ride from Portland's Union Station to Wishram, Washington, out east in the Columbia River Gorge. Despite having an allergy-riddled Saturday, I managed to thoroughly enjoy the entire day-long event. The reason I'm actually in a photo on my blog is that a nice stranger offered to take a photo for me! I'm frantically pulling at my sweater, trying to look neat, and he's clicking away. He did a great job!

Here's some great information from the Friends of SP 4449's Web site:
SP 4449 was built in 1941 as a GS-4 "Northern" type locomotive. A 4-8-4 wheel arrangement, she is 110' long, 10' wide and 16' tall. The locomotive and tender weighs 433 tons, and it operates with a boiler pressure of 300 psi. Her eight 80" diameter drivers and unique booster truck can apply 5,500 horsepower to the rails and exceed 100 mph. The only remaining operable "streamlined" steam locomotive of the Art Deco era, this grand Lady of the High Iron pulled Southern Pacific "Daylight" coaches from Los Angeles to San Francisco over the scenic Coast Route and then on to Portland until 1955. Retired to static display at Oaks Park in 1958, most thought SP 4449 would never run again.

In 1974, she was selected to pull the American Freedom Train throughout the United States, and was subsequently rebuilt. SP 4449 ran for three years to the delight of over 30 million people. She is arguably one of the most beautiful locomotives ever built -- and kept that way by the all-volunteer Friends of SP 4449!

Here are a few more photos of the SP 4449 and some of the cars that I took before we pulled out of Union Station.










I walked through this car on the way to the baggage car as the train headed east. I wanted to take photos from the open doors and/or look at and/or buy souvenirs. I had a great time in that baggage car, let me tell you! I found online that the Goombay Sunrise is a diner/sleeper car.




The name of the baggage car and the Daylight logo. I read online that the red and orange paint job is on the Southern Pacific 4449 so that it matched the passenger train also known as the Daylight which it pulled for most of its career.

I wish you could have heard the engine like I could when I stood at the open door in the baggage car! What a sound it made as it steamed along at a fast clip. And then there's the whistle, one of the greatest sounds around, ever!

Sunshine and blue skies, predicted for the majority of our thee-day weekend!

Here's how I feel about it all!

I'm about to eat some oatmeal, finish getting ready to go, catch the bus and head for the Park Blocks to see today's American Muscle Cars, then onward to the rest of Saturday! Actually, I can't believe I'm awake this early and about to be out and about again because it was well after 1 a.m. before I fell asleep. Plus my allergies hit with the force of a sledge hammer yesterday, all day and into the evening and continuing into today--all because I was an idiot and stirred up some dust which immediately flew into my lungs where it went to work, wreaking havoc!

Here's the reason I was up so late (after taking an hour and half nap when I got home from work). I went late to the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival and about 9:15-10 p.m. listened to Robert Cray and his band. Sarah and I lucked out and got a place to sit down on the grass where we could see the stage off in the distance and the giant TV screen right in front of us! Super! Then I made it to my first ever After-Hours show at the Marriott where I thoroughly enjoyed Maceo Parker and his band along with my friend Sarah and her friend Teresa. After a couple of songs from the Rebirth Brass Band, we realized we were done for the night and got a cab back here where Sarah had parked her car. We're doing it again on Sunday night so that we can see Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk and another group, Honey Island Swamp Band. I imagine we'll try to get there in time to get into the festival itself for Buddy Guy! All it takes for admission is a suggested donation of $10 and two cans of food. The festival is a huge source for the Oregon Food Bank.

Cruisin' Sherwood #3

Yellow vehicles here and there to enjoy ...


1951 Ford F-1 Pickup, wonder where the hood is.


Back at the garage, I'll wager.


The particulars.


1955 Chevrolet Bel Air two-door hardtop




I like the turquoise interior beside the yellow and white two-tone exterior.


If you came up behind this car on the highway, you'd have no idea it was a two-tone vehicle.


1973 Plymouth 'Cuda, one of the cars I couldn't resist photographing even with its hood up. I wonder just how fast it can go?






The hood's up on this beauty, too, a 1970 Chevrolet El Camino Super Sport.




The particulars.

He spells it clinker, she spells it klinker, but it's all brick to me.

On May 19 I enjoyed an Architectural Heritage Center Neighborhood Walk, through the Hollywood District. We saw lots of interesting houses and buildings, heard lots of interesting history, and walked lots and lots of blocks. Since I don't have house architecture styles memorized, I can't remember what we saw where, drat it. But I can remember clinker bricks. I've had some fun with Picnik on these photos.


Here's a close-up photo of the same front porch column. I wonder if it is completely made of clinkers or if they just cover the column?


Around the corner and down the block, more clinkers decorate this porch.


I saw this house before the one that is in the top photo, but seeing the clinkers painted gray bothered me too much to put this house as the first photo. However, I have altered the photo in Picnik so that you can see the design developed with the clinker bricks. And thank goodness the person who wielded that doggone paint brush didn't get up on the roof and paint the chimneys!

I think you'll learn lots from this Old House Journal article, “The Accidental Charm of Clinker Bricks”.

And here's some info from Wikipedia: Clinker bricks are partially vitrified brick stones used in the construction of buildings.
Clinkers are burnt under temperatures so high that the pores of the fuel property are closed by the beginning sinter process. Thus they are considerably denser and therefore heavier than regular bricks. Clinkers hardly take up water and are very resistant.
In early brick firing kilns, the surface of the bricks that were too close to the fire changed into the volcanic textures and darker/purplish colors. They were often discarded, but around 1900, these bricks were discovered by architects to be usable, distinctive and charming in architectural detailing, adding the earthy quality favored by Arts & Crafts style designers. Modern brick-making techniques can recreate the appearance of these bricks and produce a more consistent product.
In the United States, clinker bricks were made famous by the Pasadena, California architecture firm Greene and Greene who used them (often in combination with native rocks) in walls, foundations, and chimneys.

Cars in the Park: Italian Cars

Ferrari 430 Scuderia, one machine whose calmness at the curb surely belied its need for speed. I read on the Internet, zero to 62 mph in 3.6 seconds with a top speed of 198 mph. I read on the Internet that it weighs just under 3000 lbs. and has a 4.3 liter V8 engine with 503 horsepower. I thought as I looked at it from every side, this car inhales asphalt at the hands of the woman who owns it. But where can she legally drive it, I immediately wondered, as it desires to be driven? I doubt I'll ever find out, but oh, how I would have loved to have heard that engine at least start up.






A look at the engine.




Gotta love that guy's grin!

A bit more from the Internet, from Edmunds dot com:

What Edmunds Says

If you want a race-ready Ferrari for the street (and really, who doesn't?), the 2009 Ferrari 430 Scuderia is where it's at. Just don't expect three pedals on the floor.

Pros

Wicked acceleration, otherworldly handling from lightweight chassis, closest thing to a racecar for the street that Ferrari sells.

Cons

Wallet-vaporizing price, conventional manual transmission unavailable, not ideal for the daily commute.

I couldn't find an exact cost easily, so I gave up looking when I saw almost $300,000!

Just a quick glimpse of rodeo royalty on their way to the start of the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade

The morning of June 11, as I rode the bus to Sherwood to Cruisin' Sherwood, I figured I get to see lots of folks lining streets the bus would cross, waiting in their chairs and sitting on the sidewalk. The parade was to begin at at 10 a.m. I took these photos about 8:30 a.m. as the bus rolled alongside buildings close to Memorial Coliseum, the starting point.




Carnival of Roses, the parade's theme, decorates the banner beneath the flowers. I also think it says Vancouver Rodeo on it. I found this on the marching order for the parade: Miss Vancouver Rodeo Queen, Courtney Miskell. I don't know who the other girls are, but they certainly are riding beautifully decorated horses.


These are the St. Paul Rodeo Queen and Court. I found on the Internet that they won the award for Rodeo Queen and Court. I found there names on the St. Paul Rodeo Web site: Queen, the girl in front, is Ashley Fults. The princess on the left is Julie Drescher and the one on the right is Barbara Jayne Lerwick. The 76th annual rodeo is July 1-4, in St. Paul, Oregon.


Here's glimpse of those folks lining the streets and/or walking around looking for somewhere to sit. We crossed Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard as I snapped this photo--we're looking north. This is just before we went downhill and found the rodeo royalty!