Yard, a sad day

[_shel_ny]

...

Edited September 10, 2011 by shel_bizzy_48

[greg g]

Well that is too bad, but I guess with steel scrap where it is it was inevitable.

Guess he got to old and sick to make a go of it. So he will get a bunch of bucks to crush the yard then somebody will offer him boucuop dinero for the land, and sombody will make a condo golf course deal.

[oldmopar]

I guess I see things differently but many people(not people here) seems to have no problem when a old car yard closes. Its good for the community make some money crush some rusty old metal. Now if you wanted to going and destroy museum of maybe row of a antique stores there would be a public outcry.

But is it not the same thing the museum or antique stores are a link to the past with irreplaceable things same for the old car yards.

Ed

[wilmot andy]

My wife likes to get a magazine called reminesce. In it there was a photo from a war scrap drive and the local fire dept donated a steam tractor, one that would have been pulled by horses. Couldn't beleive the photo with all the old cars, etc.

[old woolie]

We get that magazine too. Lots of good old time stuff in it.

[John Mulders]

Too Bad Shel,

anyways , thanks for picking up some parts and for the pictures !

John

[Normspeed]

It's sad. When you look at any single component from a 30s-50s car, it's almost art. And all that stainless, so beautifully shaped. Just look at a door key lock assembly on your old Mopar. Sad that it will go to scrap.

[BobT-47P15]

We lost a yard with a bunch of old cars a few miles south of Joplin a

couple years ago. The owner developed health problems and had to

retire. He tried to find a buyer for the place complete wth the cars,

but no takers. So, in came the crushers. Many of the cars were

pretty picked over for dash parts and some exterior things, but at

the same time there was still a lot of usable stuff left.

Went down there a day or two before the crusher was scheduled.

Mainly looked for small parts as I didn't really have need of a door

or fender. That's when I noticed much small stuff was gone.

He had a lot of cars that looked like this.....probably slow selling

on those remaining parts.

[PatS....]

Seems to me some of these yards are their own worst enemy. If they organized and cleaned up a bit and made it look and run like a car parts business rather than an abandoned scrap yard, they wouldn't attract as much negative attention and they would sell more parts to boot.

Someone looking in and seeing a 25 year old tree growing out of an engine compartment would be led to think there isn't much interest in parts from that car or the owner has forgotten it's there, either way, they would think "Who's gonna miss it?"

If they cleaned and organized into rows so they are accessible and can be seen, the business would do better and the neighbors and regulatory folks would be easier to get along with.

Sad to see them go, but if they don't "clean up their act", they'll all be gone soon.

[Young Ed]

Pat I agree. Its too bad the owner didnt have a son or something to help him clean it up. Still seems to me if it wasnt about the money he'd be having one final sale or an auction before sending in the crusher. Either way an auction or sale would be nice.

[Uncle-Pekka]

Sorry to hear the news, Shel.

Especially, when I have also benefit from the very place through your helpful friendly service.

The things are different here in Finland, but it will not hurt anyone if I think out loud:

Is there any local vintage car club that would be willing to help the old man of the yard?

What I mean, it could be organized from voluntary basis, that a part of the area is cleaned, maintained and the oldest and best wrecks moved there for some extra years and "controlled shutdown", maybe even a low profile "museum automotive graveyard park" ???

Just a thought, or maybe my daydream.

In nay case: What ever happens, you can tell the old man, that his yard has helped many of us in past years.

Kind regards,

pekka

[62rebelP23]

in the modern American society there is no place for such nonsense. why, in the modern society, everyone is too busy accumulating wealth to waste time say, helping an aging business owner save a salvage yard. those old rusty hulks should have been crushed decades ago and recycled into useful, new things to sell. why, if everyone decided to save an old car, it would cripple the automotive industry from loss of sales of NEW cars!

have i started to sound completely ridiculous yet? or have i just begun to sound like a green-Nazi?

how can we stem the loss of salvageable parts, if not cars? this is a most difficult question, as most of us already have a "mini-yard" we try to keep from losing to local authority. even if we each could buy one parts car, storing it becomes a hassle. if we start to take parts off a potential restoration, we lose that car.

perhaps as mentioned, a club could buy the whole lot and recover the cost sensibly scavenging the best parts and crushing the rest.

one thing for sure, it would have to be non-partisan! if you go in to save parts, save ALL the saleable parts from ALL makes! saving only those cars you are interested in is unconscionable.

[RobertKB]

Shel, sad about the yard and all those great parts lost to the hobby. But it was great seeing your pictures of the yard. I know just about everyone on the forum has enjoyed them! Thanks!

[62rebelP23]

the fact is that we simply can't save all we should. it's a pity, yes, and i would love to snap my fingers and make a win-win solution present itself.

think of the incredible amount of material that was gathered during metal drives in WW2; my relatives told me that many barnyards and backyards were cleared of (relatively) old cars and trucks from the early days. never to be seen again except as a bomb casing falling from a B17.

humans are nostalgic creatures; even nostalgic for things they've never experienced or seen, like myself. i dimly recall riding in my great Granddad's '47 Dodge coupe as a VERY small child, my mother driving, and not much more. but that was enough to get me following my Dad scrounging A Model parts, and reading Floyd Clymer manuals at an early age.

the thing to keep in mind, was that it was nice while it lasted. all things come to pass.

[dirty dan]

There was a small yard in Woodville, MS years ago that suffered the same fate. This country is becoming too urbanized.

Shel, I received the two post pillar switch from you today in the mail. Thanks. I can't wait to mount it up tomorrow.

[dirty dan]

Great, I hope it was not postage due:eek: I printed a label at "USPS Shipping Assistant". I put some stamps on it. It needed 10 cents more, so I taped a dime to the envelope. (you can do that with a rural mail box). Anyway, I knew what the cost was to send it. It was printed on the label, and I handle dozens of them at work each week. Normally I just take stuff to work and mail it from there, but I was not going in for 2 days, and wanted to get it out.

So, next day in my mailbox there is a post office envelope with a dime being returned to me. Not that 10 cents is a big thing, but if it was postage due, I am embarrassed that the postal employees at the office where I mailed it do not understand the difference between a package, and an envelope. And if it was not postage due, I am embarrassed that the postal employees on the delivery end did not know the difference. A lose-lose situation all around, except that you now have a correct working switch. Even the little things need to fall into place.

It wasn't postage due. Someone figured it out.

I live in a small town too (a suburb of Baton Rouge). It's become a flight area due to the excellent schools so it's grown a lot over the years. We've had our mail lady take taped coins before...A couple of times she's left small presents of fruit or candy in our mailbox. (I hope it was her!) Even with the daily hustle and bustle, the people in south Louisiana are still some of the friendliest people in the world.

You should have been here back in the early '60s. Everyone made it their job to help everyone else. It sounds like meddling, but it wasn't like that. Most people had a genuine care and concern for the wellbeing of others. No one waited for the government to pitch in...we all took care of our own. It was just something that you did. I can remember Mom being short on cash and buying postage stamps with "S&H Green Stamps". Do any of y'all remember those? The fire department in the town where I grew up bought their first ambulance with those stamps.

I miss those days.

Still, it's hot and it's humid and there are still lot of really poor Parishes (Counties), but I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather live.

Thanks again Shel. And like the others wrote, thanks for sharing your times at the yard.