We recently returned from our trip to TX after taking time to enjoy a little vacation time for anniversary's sake as well as take advantage of the vast supply of automotive hardware that is littered all over the TX landscape. Our first destination was to Galveston Island in southern TX. We rented a pickup truck specifically for this trip due to the idea that I was ready to bring back a number of large items that would need to be hauled back in the bed of a truck versus in the trunk or floor of a van or SUV. Driving to Galveston was fun as most road trips tend to be since we get to see the landscape from the windows of a vehicle and get to stop in various places along the way, even if it is just to refuel, eat and go to the can. While in Galveston we took time to check out some tourist spots that offered something for the both of us. For me mostly I was interested in the Railroad Museum and Seawolf Park as these involve some tech, even if it is old tech. For the ole lady she was interested in checking out some of the old historic houses in Galveston, along with an aquarium and some other things. Really all of the stuff we checked out was of shared interest but for the sake of this techie oriented page we're going to focus on the tech oriented aspects of the trip. The first of these is the Railroad Museum. At this location there are all sorts of old railroad hardware ranging from locomotives and various rolling stock as well as some railroad oriented artifacts, staged inside a miniature museum built within and between a couple of rail cars. Walking through these rail cars and looking at these items they had takes you back in time to how this means of transportation and the industry that depends on this technology. Looking at the styles of the locomotives and the rolling stock like the passenger cars and comparing them to the modern tech of today is interesting since it shows how things evolved as the tech evolves and tastes evolve. What was cool about this place was the idea that you can go inside many of the locomotives and rolling stock. Being able to walk through a caboose and seeing how they were set up inside for the railroad crew that rode on those trains back then was interesting. Seeing how the passenger cars were set up and the styles used for the interior as well as the accommodations even for those distant times was interesting as it gave you a feel of how a passenger 30, 40, 50 years ago rode across the country. Climbing inside the later model locomotives, and being able to take a look inside the panels at the machinery opens one's eyes at how these huge machines are built and would operate. The huge diesel engines inside power electric generators that power high torque electric motors to help pull the long trains that we typically see crossing the rails every day. Seeing how the engineer's cab is set up also helps one to understand what these people typically do and have to endure when they're piloting a train cross country for what amounts to hours and hours. These guys are much like our truck drivers, with the exception that they are stuck on the rails unlike truckers who can take different routes and stop in various spots along the way. For anyone who likes trains and railroad history this would be a place to check out. As stated, being able to go inside these machines to see how they're set up is a good educational experience that kids and adults alike will enjoy. Another thing that was cool about this museum is that they offered a short ride on a train that leaves the station where the museum is located, goes about a mile up a spur line from the station just before it gets to a commercial line that's still in use, then returns to the station. The locomotive is a small switching locomotive towing a caboose set up with benches and some outside standing areas. Few select riders get to ride in the locomotive to watch the engineer operate the locomotive while the "conductor" talks about some of the railroad history and points out some things along the route that we passed by. We of course were blessed enough to be able to ride in the cab with the engineer and conductor so that was a little extra treat during this excursion into history. The other tourist spot in Galveston that we checked out was Seawolf park. Here there are two WW2 ships set up here on the ground. One is the submarine USS Cavalla and the other is the Destroyer Escort USS Stewart. Of course you're able to go inside these two ships to see how they're set up inside and get a glimpse into how the sailors lived and operated during WW2 and beyond as these ships served during their time in the Navy. Going inside the Cavalla shows what nerve one would have had to have during WW2 as the quarters are very tight in this ship. Since this sub was home for many for weeks to months on end, one would have to be used to tight quarters, not claustrophobic as they would be sharing quarters with many dudes, no matter where they are in the ship. Even the officers were not exempt from having to deal with the tight quarters of this ship. What also fascinates me was the idea that the tech used in this ship, a ship that would go underwater and chase down other ships to destroy them, tasks that you would think require a lot, are rather primitive compared to what is used in running machines today. If we were able to tour a sub of today, it would make this sub look like a wooden sailing vessel being compared to a metal battleship. After leaving the Cavalla we proceeded to the Stewart, climbing on board to check out what the life was like on the ship that was the submarine's worst enemy. This ship was of course larger than the Cavalla but still tight for all intents as this ship was built for speed and carrying enough ordnance to ensure that any sub that fell prey to it would not resurface. This ship has weapons to ensure a sub's destruction as well as ensure that any aircraft that may attempt to attack will also be in for a rude awakening. At least on the Stewart the accommodations are a little wider allowing for more freedom on the ship unlike the sub. The bridge has plenty of wiggle room as well as some of the quarters and equipment rooms on the vessel. Even the recreation/dining areas are more spacious than the sub. Of course what that means is it takes a unique kind of dude to be a submariner. Even though the destroyer was way more spacious, I still have a fascination with submarines and the idea of being able to go underwater despite the tight quarters of the old subs. To each his own I guess. But with that it was time to get down to business. The first place we checked out was a local salvage yard in Galveston, where they pull the parts. They just so happened to have one 5spd M5OD manual transmission for an early 90s Ford F150 with a V8 engine. I'm in the process of building our own FMT (Fort Muscle Truck) and wanted to convert it to manual transmission so as to be able to take transmission problems out of the equation when it comes to long distance driving and hauling. The guy had the tranny, flywheel and whole clutch for $450. We grabbed that and came back the following day to pick it up after they pulled it from the truck. That was round one. Round two took us into Houston after checking out of the B&B to look at an old 1951 Chevy Suburban panel truck a guy had. This is a rust bucket of a car but a diamond in the rough because, well its a 51 Chevy!. Well after looking at it and talking to the guy, $800 less in my pocket and we're now the proud owners of a 1951 Chevy Panel Truck. Since we didn't have any provisions to pull the truck back, we will have to come back later on to retrieve our new prize. From here we crossed over to the west of Houston to meet up with another fellow car guy who had some 65 Mustang floor pans for sale cheap. Since we have to replace those pieces of sheet metal this was an easy buy. Meeting that dude was a pleasant experience as he moved up to restoring the exact old trucks like the one we purchased. He had three of them in his garage/driveway. One was a daily driver, one was a truck he actually rents out just for photo shoots where it isn't even driven but merely parked and staged for said photo shoots, then the other was a work in progress. He also had several super old motorcycles he had built or was working on. These aren't the motorcycles you might've seen on "Happy Days" but the motorcycles that would put you in the mind of a heavy duty bicycle with a small engine on it, when motorcycles were literally in their infancy. All cool stuff. So after chatting it up about cars and stuff for a minute we had to hit the road and head on up to Dallas, the next leg of the journey. Once we made it to Dallas and checked into the hotel for the night with some food from one of the chain truck stop gas station novelty stores that are common in Texas, Buc-ee's, we planned out the next day's runs. This would involve going to check out an engine/tranny combo that a guy had that he pulled from an old RV. This was a mopar 413 big block with a 727 Torqueflite transmission. The RV had 44k miles on it, and was shown since the guy pulled the gauge panel from the RV with the odo reading on it. He even had the powertrain set up on the ground resting on a tire but wired up to a battery and a hose from the fuel pump going to a bottle full of gas to allow him to start the thing up to demonstrate that it does run. Even without mufflers and a leaky carb, the engine ran very smooth and quiet. So $600 less and a few minutes with a front end loader and some chain, we were now 800 lbs heavier with the mopar powertrain on board. Next and our final stop was a dude north of Dallas that had a rear bumper and transmission crossmember for our 1976 El Camino. These are the bumpers with the taillights built in, very hard to find. Plus our car was missing the crossmember. Both parts when found command a pretty penny. This guy let these two parts go for $120. That was a no-brainer. So into the truck those parts went. With our parts supply run complete, we went back to Dallas and checked out a 2nd hand store to grab a couple articles of clothing for ourselves, then went to the Gas Monkey bar and grill plus went to their gift shop to get some T shirts and get a look at their operation from the outside in before hitting the road to head home. After getting home we unloaded everything, staging the engine and transmissions in the garage where they will be installed in their respective vehicles whenever. The mopar powertrain may or may not enter the Dodge's engine bay, but if it does, it will be documented here. If not, then it will be a powertrain that is available for us to drop into another mopar project we may find ourselves getting our hands on in the future. Of course the F150 will be dragged up to the garage to install the engine and transmission when the time comes to do that phase of that project. The Elco parts were staged in the bed of the car where we will obviously need them when the time comes to work on that project and get the body put back together. Of course after returning and getting settled in from the trip we had to immediately reserve another truck so we can make the run to go pick up the 51 Chevy. We will end up needing to get a 3/4 ton diesel truck like we rented a few times before to make car pickups as the truck we used for this trip did not come with a class 3 hitch nor was the truck capable of towing a car trailer with a car on board. That trip will for all intents be a condensed/watered down version of this past trip as we won't be doing any really touristy stuff but will get to partake of some TX food fare while picking up this truck plus we are planning on following up on a lead for another vehicle that we didn't have a chance to check out due to not being able to meet up with the guy as he was only available on Saturday and we were already home by then. That's ok, if its meant to be its meant to be. Until then, its back to work time.
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