Truckster! 11

In these days of international suspicion and hostility, this story from a half century ago almost makes me nostalgic.  The photo below I took at the Brockway museum near Cortland NY.  Brockway, a heavy truck manufacturer eventually absorbed into Mack, custom built vehicles, starting with carriages, which you also find in the museum.  The firetruck below was built in Cortland in 1925 for a fire department in Argentina, where it was used until the mid-1950s.  Four members of that department, very satisfied with the performance of the truck, decided to drive it back to Cortland NY and order another.  Imagine driving that route today.

What the fire fighters, limited in their travel budget for a journey they thought would take a few months, needed lots of help along the way.  And the trip took several years and lots of diplomacy and help from fellow fighters and their communities.

Folks along the way signed the truck.

 

The brotherhood and sisterhood among people of the same profession transcends national boundaries and ideology.

 

Rather than retell the story, I’ll let you click here to read one account.

Here’s another account.

Maybe we’ve lost this sense of universal brother- and sisterhood these days.

Find previous truckster posts here and a previous Brockway photo here.

Issuma’s Tow

Issuma has traveled off four continents in the past two years:  Europe, Africa, South America, and North America.  In the past year alone, Issuma‘s landfalls have included Argentina and Nunavut.  Yet, Issuma‘s skipper Richard Hudson has logged hundreds of hours sailing in the sixth boro, as well.  His tow, the vessel slinging here on the towline–for sale–is none other than the charming Rosemary Ruth.

Issuma is Richard’s third schooner.  See all the stories from Issuma back to Orbit II (which now lies thousands of feet below the surface of the North Atlantic between Iceland and Ireland)  here.

Here Richard and Gabriela pose in front of the two schooners at anchor off Thomas Cole-base, Catskill.

Issuma–unstepped mast lying cabintop–by now might be off farther north and west, headed for Toronto before winter closes the Erie Canal.  The tow will be left behind in Catskill, awaiting a new owner.

Here Richard and Bowsprite return from a sounding trip up Catskill Creek.

More fotos of the trip up the Hudson Valley coming soon.  As an aside, with a vista like this, I find it credible that Henry Hudson, making this trip 401 years ago, could have believed this waterway would lead through the continent.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.  If you are interested in Rosemary Ruth, contact Richard today.

Related:  Rosemary Ruth IS a signed piece of art.  See the weld signature here.