Thank You Dwayne!

I still haven't come down off the "high" from yesterday!! I'm not the most religious person in the world, but yesterday was a true blessing!! Todd is right, a lot of things happened for which there is no logical explaination. The chances of seeing the business train not 10 minutes after talking about it......we oughta be playing the lottery!!! Then Jim gets to see "the prettiest damn fire truck ever built" (his words) on the way home.......double down on that lottery bet!! The only negative I can come up with is this...ya shoulda called me Jim, we'd have been back there in a large hurry.

Cary thanks for the video of all those old EMD beautys, a couple of real war horses in that "rainbow" consist. They sound so damn sweet!! It wouldn't hurt anybody's feeling to invest in a little paint, I didn't realize that "Conrail Blue" had such an orange tint to it!!!!

Before we left, Barb and I extended to Jim and Sharon an open invitation to come up to Bellevue any Saturday. We'll sit under our maple tree, shoot the breeze about any one of a thousand subjects, torture something on the grill, then go over by the "mini-plant" on Center St. and do some serious train watchin'...HELL YEA WE WILL!!

I will say this to one and all...if you ever get a chance to sit with Jim and Sharon for a good "visit" DO IT!! The man is a walking, talking encyclopedia on many subjects. The subjects we covered yesterday were just amazing. We had a good visit, just didn't last long enough.

The day got better after we got home. Our sons are in the Fire Academy at the local vocational school. I didn't know it in advance, but they did a "hot burn" yesterday. I would like to have been there for that, but we had a great time as was. Rob and his family came over last night and Zach tells me that Daddy "melted" his fire helmet. Of course I followed up on that. Seems Rob was in the first group in for the drill, and the Instructor(s) didn't realize exactly how hot they had got things. I've always told the boys, "you get on the front of that line, you get real hot, and NEVER be the guy to puss-out and say it's too hot"!! He didn't!!! It melted the shield off his helmet, melted the trim that goes around the brim clean off, and totally discolored the helmet!!! OH HELL YEA!!!!! When Brad's group got in, they had cooled it down a little, but he still had a good time. Chips off the ole' block, both of them, I'm so proud of them both.
 
Looks like you guys had a great time. And wow, what a turn out. I have got to make it to a Ohio chapter meet one day soon.

Josh
 
Jim Tighe said:
Here is a question: Can anyone i.d. the builder of the long black limo that Mike Stevens drove? There is no i.d. plate of any kind on that rig. It is a 2000 Cad base car modified by ??? Let the guessing begin. Bye for now. Jim
Click to expand...

Jim, by no means am I even a novice when it comes to limos, but the car did have a plate on the trunk that says "Ohio Limo and Coach" on it. I don't know if that's the manufacturer or just the dealership that sold it.
 
For all the railfans coming to Hudson, we'll be going on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway on Thursday. On the railway's website, they list their roster of equipment, so check out what you'll be riding on that day here: http://www.cvsr.com/roster.aspx You can learn about the points on interest that we'll pass here: http://www.cvsr.com/poi.aspx

Also, if you want to see even more trains, the hotel is just a short 30 minute drive from Berea, a city near Cleveland that is known for its trainspotting. The Norfolk Southern and CSX lines run next to each other here. On an average day 140-160 trains go through Berea, including four Amtrak passenger trains. There's areas where you can watch them near the old depot.
 
Loren Baldwin said:
Jim, by no means am I even a novice when it comes to limos, but the car did have a plate on the trunk that says "Ohio Limo and Coach" on it. I don't know if that's the manufacturer or just the dealership that sold it.
Click to expand...

That dealership is located on SR68 just north of the intersection with US33 north side of Bellefontaine, Ohio.
 
'my' limo

The limo I drove to Dwayne's is the one I drive for a family here in Springfield. It is the family car. The greatest perk to working (if you can call driving a limo work) for them is that I can use the limo when I need it. Yes, I would still like to have one of my own but that is in the future for now.
What we know about this car is:
2000 Cadillac
Northstar engine
8 lug 17 inch wheels with disc brakes all around
leather front and rear seats
still has the Cadillac video and owners manuals in the glove box
207,000 miles showing
one A/C unit for the whole car
tinted division window with another panel (white vinyl covered) for more privacy or to be used as the movie screen
all the power goodies you expect on a Cadillac
The car was bought from Ohio Limo and Coach Service in Bellefontaine, Ohio. We have been told the car came from New York after being in the livery service there. There are no id tags or stickers anywhere to be found. Not in the door frames or under the hood or in the trunk. I looked when I started driving this and found nothing to say who the builder was.
I put a magnet on all the panels today. It would not stick to the hood. Jim thought some of the body panels might be fiberglass. The hood is the only plastic piece I could find. I have an idea the car was white at one time.
Let the guessing begin.
Mike
 
The Seagrave we followed yesterday is a 1949 Canopy Cab pumper. The owner said he also has a '28 Seagrave. He was in a hurry, and I was still overloaded with the day's happenings, so I failed to pin down details. What I do know is that the rig is ex-Bucyrus F.D., has a Pierce V-12 ( Seagrave bought the Pierce tooling when Pierce-Arrow folded in '38 ) and that the owner has had it for 15 yrs. I think he said he also had an open-cab '47Seagrave. He must live in/near Bucy, and was surprised to find out about Dwayne and his vehicles. He was on his way to Galion to drive some prom-goers. Years ago, when I still entertained notions of someday owning a fire truck, this is exactly the one I hoped to find. Everything else is a pretender. THIS is a FIRE TRUCK.

BTW, Russell is much too kind. If I am an encyclopedia, there are a lot of pages - maybe entire chapters - missing. What a day it was.
 
Jim, I think we need to have Dwayne run this guy down (not RUN OVER) for us. Then we go down there and get some photos......can you say short road trip????? What think you???

Don't sell yourself short on the encyclopedia thing.
 
Well where do i start? I made it home no problems the new eagle coach performed wonderfull and it was a super nice ride. Tim could agree to that since he was asleep for a good couple hours on the way home. The car looked like it did about 18 1/2 miles to the gallon on the way home. I was reall happy with that.

Now as for the get together, it was flying tru my brain all the way home. It was a super fun day. Everyone that came out thankyou, It was so nice to finnaly put some faces with name's i have seen or been talking on the board with. It was so much fun hanging out with you all im really looking forward to the international meet this year. Jim dont cut your self short, you a welth of great knowlage and thankyou for sharing just a little of it with us.

Dwayne thankyou for all you did to open your place up for us i know how much work that is to get ready for something like that.

One last note my friend Tim that came along with me is a huge gear head and this get together really open his eye's up to all the different facets of our procar hobby. I thought that was a real neat thing to see. And if sometime Dwayne's Miami town ambulance is missing i would suggest looking in his garage first. I have some pics i would like to post but there looks like there are some issues tonight so i will try later.
 
Rocky, glad you made it home with no problems. That sure is one nice coach you just bought. It was nice to meet you in person, as well as ALL of the other PCS folks that I have never met before, but talk with on here all the time. As everyone has said so far, it was a great day for sure. I am sorry I missed the train chase, but thanks to Sarah, we have a great video to watch. Really looking forward to seeing everyone soon in Hudson!
 
Rocky, good to hear you made it home ok. I bet it was a pleasure driving that new Eagle coach all that way!

I gave Rocky a new top hat this morning, he said he wore it all day. Thank you for the hoodlum T-shirts you gave kiddo & I, we love them.

Jim & Russ... i'll ask around this week & try to track down the guy with the old fire trucks. Having a few connections around town should help find out where he is. Keep us posted if you guys go to visit him, we'll take Miamitown over since he seemed interested...
 
THANKS FOR A GREAT TIME !

It was a fantastic day.... FOOD - FRIENDS - FUN !!!!!


I just got back to Toronto tonight at 10:30pm


Let me tell you a little about my trip first.....

I left Toronto Friday morning and headed to Buffalo.
I stopped at the Niagara hobby shop to pick up a '59 Cadillac Ambulance slot car. (Thanks Dana for letting me know they had them.)

I drove to Mansfield, OH and got a hotel. Before getting some sleep I drove over to the Ohio State Reformatory to take a few photos. It doesn't open to the public until May. I was a few days early as it was April 29th.
The lady at the hotel told me there was a ghost tour there tonight but it was sold out so no chance of getting in.
As I was getting back in my van to leave after taking some pictures, a lady police officer asked me what I was doing. I told her I was taking some photos. She says, I can let you in and show you the museum and gift shop. I took her up on the offer and in we went !

The museum had a display case full of knives and homemade guns and things they took off inmates over the years, a full scale replica Electric Chair as well as many other interesting historical items.

I can't wait to tour this incredible place after the PCS meet in Hudson this July !


The next day I drove over to Dwayne's place for the meet.
Between the hotel and Dwayne's I stopped at an antique store and bought an Champion Embalming Fluid Bottle !!!

It was a beautiful day ! The sun was shining and no rain !


Meeting up with members I knew and making new friends was the highlight of the meet for sure !!!

There were a dozen procars lining the driveway ! All of them clean and gleaming like Saturday at a PCS meet. So many sweet cars.


Dwayne and his daughter Caprice were awesome hosts !
They stood by the BBQ cooking until everyone was stuffed !

His home and shop are a guys dream. Some where to eat and sleep and a massive shop to store and work on cars !
A place everyone attending would have liked to have called home as Dwayne did !

I got to meet Caprice's cat too. A super cool and spunky cat for sure.


Really great to see Jim and his wife Sharon at the event.
He was just as informative on just about all his passions (procars, cars, trains) as he was when I met him at the MM reunion last year.


Looking forward to seeing all the new and old friends in Hudson this summer !!!

Thanks again to Dwayne and everyone who was able to make the meet.


Great to meet Rocky and glad he made it home safe and sound with his new ride !



After the meet I continued on to visit some friends in Michigan and ended up putting 1560 kms on my van this week-end. Just shy of 1000 miles !

I was quite happy to be only paying about 4.10 a gallon as it is at least a dollar more a gallon in Canada ! 1.36 a litre for regular or 1.55 for premium.



Until we meet again... in HUDSON ! Wooohoooo 2011 meet committee !


Take care everyone,
Darren
 
Last edited:
Thanks

Dwayne, thanks for hosting this event. We had a great time.

I truly enjoyed meeting everyone and got a kick out of comparing the differences between Ron's 64 and my 63 mm

We had to leave early because of some half-hearted commitment to participate in a parade in Lorain but the trip to Bucyrus turned out to be too much for the old beast and by the time we were 30 miles from home, she started to run poorly and refuse to idle. We were able to limp it home but it will be down for a bit.

Herb
 
Herb, we would love to see that car in Hudson, for one thing so many people have never seen it before and the other it is just a sharp looking car. I have a special place in my heart for those junk yard saves. Wish we could spring a few more of them from the bone yard.
 
Mike (owner) lives in Brokensword just off of OH 19 north of Bucyrus. I do have pics of that engine it used to be Engine 3 at BFD. It was used for many years as the last out engine (even in the mid 70s). It used to be parked at major fires and used as a pumper for extended hose lays and amounts of time. I recall they put up both sides of the hood so that it wouldn't over heat. I can remember seeing them putting gas in it several times at a few fires. Lawrence Furniture Store fire and possibly the Silver Dollar Fire in downtown Bucyrus. It also used to pump for the 1955 Maxim aerial that was used until 1976 when BFD got the Ladder-Tower. It was even then used as a backup and did see action. I don't know how to add pics to the forum or I would put them on.
 
good hosting, good cooking...........

I too would like to thank Dwayne for hosting this event. I enjoyed myself very much and it was totally worth the 8 hour round trip drive from Indianapolis. Dwayne did a great job on the grill and nobody left that place hungry, I can tell you that. I really enjoyed getting to visit with everyone and Dwayne's building is very cool.
 
Looks like you all had fun last weekend. Would like to attend one of your Ohio meets, but had one of our own last weekend. I can still offer a contribution, though. Here are some photos of Rocky's beautiful 1992 Eagle Cadillac hearse, as new at the Thomas Funeral Home in Minot, North Dakota. The Thomas family has used some variation of this color scheme for many years. They traded a 1985 Collins Cadillac for this car in '92; the Collins had this color roof, but was more of a creamy-beige color. They traded this car for a 2000 Eagle Cadillac that is a gold mist color. The '92 was sold to Goodrich Funeral Home in Durand, Wisconsin, where it remained in service until last year.

I had the opportunity to buy this '92 from Johnson-Williams Sales in Mpls. last year. I took the car for a ride and checked it over carefully. As you guys know, it would be difficult to find one this nice. I passed on it, but will probably always wonder why... Enjoy your new coach, Rocky, and we'll catch up with you guys in Ohio this summer!

(T. Karsnia collection)
 

Attachments

  • zzzThomas 001.jpg
    zzzThomas 001.jpg
    97 KB · Views: 112
  • zzzThomas 003.jpg
    zzzThomas 003.jpg
    97.9 KB · Views: 113
  • zzzThomas 004.jpg
    zzzThomas 004.jpg
    94 KB · Views: 111
  • zzzThomas 002.jpg
    zzzThomas 002.jpg
    97.5 KB · Views: 111
Tony Karsnia said:
Looks like you all had fun last weekend. Would like to attend one of your Ohio meets, but had one of our own last weekend. I can still offer a contribution, though. Here are some photos of Rocky's beautiful 1992 Eagle Cadillac hearse, as new at the Thomas Funeral Home in Minot, North Dakota. The Thomas family has used some variation of this color scheme for many years. They traded a 1985 Collins Cadillac for this car in '92; the Collins had this color roof, but was more of a creamy-beige color. They traded this car for a 2000 Eagle Cadillac that is a gold mist color. The '92 was sold to Goodrich Funeral Home in Durand, Wisconsin, where it remained in service until last year.

I had the opportunity to buy this '92 from Johnson-Williams Sales in Mpls. last year. I took the car for a ride and checked it over carefully. As you guys know, it would be difficult to find one this nice. I passed on it, but will probably always wonder why... Enjoy your new coach, Rocky, and we'll catch up with you guys in Ohio this summer!

(T. Karsnia collection)
Click to expand...

Thankyou for posting the pics, and filling me in with some history info on it. The car is very nice, im going to tweak a few things and make it that much nicer. My wife still has not warmed up to is so well yet. She stilll says she will not drive it. I think that will change over time we will see. It is making a good splash in my neck of the woods. i had a couple of people that did not see me driving it but thought that i owned it. So i guess it is a good fit. Im loving it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top