Objects in the Mirror...

Jeffrey Butts

The drawback to not having the discipline to update this page every month is that I have trouble remembering the details of the things that I have been doing, a function of age I suppose. Summer is here in full swing and there has been a lot going on.

At the end of May I drove up to the Rock Creek campus of PCC for the 40th Annual Draft Horse Plowing Exhibition. If you don't recall my story from last year, this is an event that is sponsored by the Washington County Historical Society. There are usually displays of pioneer wagons, booths that sell homemade quilts, a music stage, antique cars, and the like. The real attraction though is the opportunity to see teams pull plows through the fields near the college. Transportation between the displays and the open field (for those who don't wish to walk) is provided by wagons pulled by horses or mules. Draft horse breeds include Percherons, Clydesdales, and Belgians. These babies are big, weighing nearly a ton each. Horse pulling is a sport where the horses are the competitors. They were only demonstrating plowing here. In the early 1900's, farms of 500 acres were not uncommon and specially bred horses were used for the heavy work. There were several different types of teams plowing this weekend, both two and four horse groups and a two-mule team as well. Teamsters were both men and women. In sport competition, teams compete by pulling a weighted sled up to 15 or 20 feet (if they can) without departing from a taped lane. This is the only equestrian sport where the human cannot touch the horse. Although they were not competing this day, it was very interesting to see the teamsters start, stop, and turn the horses with only a word and a very subtle tug on the leads. An awesome display of horsepower. For the rest of you who, like me, are not farmers, this is something well worth seeing. It is a 19th century version of the monster truck rally.

On the second Saturday of every June the town of Sherwood hosts "Cruisin' Sherwood", a car show of magnificent proportions. It had been my intention to enter this show but the high school graduation party for one of our neighbor's children precluded my participation, but not my attendance. You have to understand that this Cruise is of epic proportions, at least for this part of the country. A little (wait for it...you know it's coming...watch out Ken) history is in order. Sherwood, the town, was platted back in the 1880's and was a railroad town. This becomes relevant later in the dialogue. Originally, James Smock wanted to name the town after his wife Mary Ellen. Wasn't that sweet? Alas, it seemed that all the versions of Mary and Ellen were currently attached to other burgs and so, in a selfless move, he named the town Smockville. That only lasted a couple of years. You gotta admit it doesn't sound all that appealing (unlike, for example, Zig-Zag). Anyhow, the town was set up as a result of Smock deeding a right-of-way on his property to the railroad. As a side note, I was in Sherwood a year or so ago and noticed that there is a road named old Highway 99. Sure enough, it is a part of the old road. It stretches for about half a mile and is concrete slabs with tar snakes covering the expansion cracks. A reminder of pre-Interstate days when Sherwood could also count on the highway in addition to the railroad for commerce. Anyhow, back to the town. Although it has grown in the last 20 years to be yet another bedroom community for Portland, the original town laid out by Jim Smock has historical charm. Many of the buildings are constructed of brick made from a foundry that was once a major industry the town. Additionally, the downtown streets still have some of the wood-frame buildings and the overall charm of the "old town" is alive and well.

Into this quaint setting the car show hosts well over 600 entries. They are backed into the curbs on every street in the old town area. Essentially the town is closed. First entries are allowed to arrive at 5AM to find good locations and they continue to arrive almost all afternoon. Those that don't make the 11AM deadline continue to park on the roads leading to town. This weekend, counting the late arrivals, there were probably close to a thousand classic, hobby, and collector cars. There were cars of all varieties. Muscle cars, classic cars, ricers, sports cars, and racers. There were trucks. There were motorcycles. This year as a special attraction the SP4449 steam locomotive pulled a string of Daylight Special baggage and passenger cars, along with a Great Northern F7 diesel locomotive. There was something for everyone. Last year the crowd was estimated at between 16-20,000. That's a lot of people and if you enter your car, you're there from start to finish. There is no leaving early.

I looked at all manner of wheeled vehicles. There was a tidy Sprite, although it had some aftermarket touches that I was not particularly enamored with. Since there are several current and former Bugeye drivers in this club, I will include this photo and tell you that I thought the louvered hood was a bit silly, even if it had a 1275 engine in it. This is the second Sprite I've seen where the tonneau snaps (which used to line the opening behind the cockpit) have been removed, the holes filled in, and the tonneau now goes back and connects on the clips for the soft top.

There were three Pantera's in attendance; one was remarkably (and verifiably) stock looking. It is a 1974 Pantera L, with just over 31,000 miles on the odometer. Purchased new for $11,500 from Terry's Lincoln-Mercury in Orland Park, Illinois, the largest portion of that mileage was done when it was driven out here. The motor is a 351 Cleveland. The only work done on the car has been to replace the half shafts (the original u-joints were sealed) with a "greaseable" version made in Denver. The body is all steel and the car weighs in at a hefty 3200 pounds.

The real peach of the show, arriving three hours late, was the 4-8-4 steam engine. This former Southern Pacific Daylight Special is the same locomotive that pulled the Freedom Train across the United States in 1976 as a part of the Bicentennial celebration. Now privately owned and resident right here in River City, it is a sight to see. It has been repainted with the Daylight livery and is carefully maintained by a loyal group of railroad enthusiasts. When it makes forays into the countryside, sometimes going as far as Sacramento, the expensive tickets sell out early.

I was able to experience a real lesson in horsepower this month, ranging from the biological namesake, through steam and diesel locomotives, to varied examples of the combustion-engined classics.