Just thought it would be fun to hear what got others into the hobby? Was it a Family run station from years past?
A friend who collected and gave you the bug or just because you thought the stuff is just fun to hunt down and beautiful to display or was it just one item you saw and that was all it took?
Honestly I just wanted a pump for my "mancave" yes I was that guy!
I started collecting Railroad stuff first and still do from time to time but then realized that was just bringing work home with me and so I thought a pump would be cool so I started looking and found a Wayne 515 already restored for 1500 bucks and it was done in Frontier, a place I knew from working on the railroad in Cheyenne as they were one of our larger customers in town and the "Rarin to go" design always caught my eye so I went and looked at the pump it was in the back of a barn full of old cars and it was beautiful and I had to have it no questions asked or measurements taken! other than how the hell was I going to get it out since we had to squeeze our way to it?
The owner said no problem I'll hook the tractor up to the cars and move them around I said sold!
I went back the next day and he and his son already had the bonnet and jar taken apart for me we loaded it up and away I went, once it got it home and I took it out of the truck I knew there was going to be a problem as the thing wouldn't fit through the garage door standing up and it's an oversized garage! that's when I knew it was too tall for the 8' ceilings of the "cave" so it had to stay in the garage.
I kept it there on display with my railroad signs for 6 months and finally decided to sell it and find one that would work (still regret that), I ended up selling it to a employee of the Frontier Refinery back up in Cheyenne he put it in his living room and as far as I know it's still there.
I ended up buying a 39 short that had been a Texaco originally and had been krylon painted into a Frontier and used as yard art I bought it knowing what it could look like restored and I knew it would fit.
I spent my free time for a couple of months restoring it with my boy's bit by bit it came along and once I finished it I knew I had to do more of them! that led into the "HUNT" for more and then it was signs and cans or whatever I could find to add to the collection this dang thing just took over but it's full of memories of searching with my Wife and Son's and time spent together restoring them that they'll remeber down the road.
I remeber some of these items in use from when I was young growing up with my Grandparents and time spent at the station in Idaho and my second job working at Little America west of Green River WY, so while I may have started as "That Guy" looking for a pump for his mancave it has really brought back some fun memories and created more for my family I think thats what brings most of us to this hobby.
What's your story? I'm sure we'd all like to hear...
Bob.
How my "addiction" started...
The 39 short,
39 short after,
The garage now...
Most recently I added this to the list of "addictions"...
