Death Valley Road Run

[Old Henry]

Thought you all might be interested in our Death Valley Road Run. Here's the story in pictures.

The magnetic signs I designed and Chuck's sign company made for the car doors:


Up until the day we were to depart we had 12 people going in 3 cars, my '47 Fordor, Chuck's '47 Tudor, and Paul's '51 Custom. The morning we were to depart the couple that was going to be in the back of Paul's car called to say she had fallen the night before and had a concussion and was real sick so they couldn't go. So, we left Orem and Spanish Fork, Utah Wednesday with 3 cars and 10 people. Here are my back seat passengers. My wife's mother on the right at 86 years old and our very adventurous neighbor on the left at 92 years old. She was as excited to go as anyone.


The first night we stayed in Delta, Utah and the next morning were taken on a tour of the Topaz Museum (one of 10 Japanese "internment" camps during WWII housing 8,000 Japanese "relocated" from the west coast and stuck here for three years). Here we all are with the cars at the museum Thursday morning. One of the original "barracks" housing the "internees" is the tar papered building behind my car.


Then, on the way out to the Topaz site we stopped at Van's Dance Hall, a historic old dance hall that ran from the 20's to the 70's in town, closed down in the 70's and has just been left since then as it was then. Here it is:


More pictures of the place: http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours/to...&tour_id=13645 More stories of the place: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/3...ING-AGAIN.html

Then we drove out to the site of the internment camp.


Learn more about Topaz here: http://www.topazmuseum.org/


On the way back to the highway we went "cross country" on snow covered dirt and gravel roads past this venture in wind generating equipment abandoned before completion 10-15 years ago.


While at the Topaz site Paul's wife got a call about a family emergency so they went home to take care of that. That left 8 of us in two cars.

When we got to the highway where Paul took his '51 Custom left and we went right toward Death Valley I had the first, and fortunately last, mechanical problem of the whole trip - a tire low on air. Had to pump it up then and the next morning but not the morning after that for some strange reason.


37 miles west of Delta something broke in Chuck's drive line that was, of course, not repairable on the side of the road. I towed him to a shoulder where he could get off the road.


Then we took one last picture of the two cars together before I went on down the road with my 4 and chuck waited for a tow truck to come and haul his car and 4 passengers home. So, from then on we were on our own in "Old Henry." A little scary and lonely and a bit of a disappointment since I had put so much effort into planning this trip for 12 people in three old cars not just the 4 of us in one. But, we were determined to make it on our own.


Driving across Nevada we climbed over a half a dozen passes that got progressively higher until this one which was the highest - Conner's Pass at 7,722 feet. That was the top. Then we headed down more than that 7,722 feet to 282 feet below sea level.


After staying the night in Tonopah, Nevada and squirting a little of dirt off the car we headed toward the ghost town of Goldfield, Nevada - our last stop before Death Valley. Right at the entrance to Goldfield there was this collection of 4 old junker cars and trailers decorated to the nines with junk glued onto them turning them into most interesting works of art. Here's just a couple:


Goldfield, Nevada is a great ghost town with a lot of great old mining shacks, train cars and engines, and even an old Dodge Brothers car body.


Even the remains of an old motorized bicycle.


And the famous haunted Goldfield Hotel. (Really. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdAZy6ZThVQ)


At the elevation that I live at - 4,800 feet - I can run with ignition advanced all the way and vacuum advance as far as it will go. But, when we started down to below sea level I started to get premature detonation (knocking/pinging) and had to stop 4 times to screw in my vacuum advance progressively more and more to get rid of it. Then, on the way back up to higher elevation, screwed it back out for maximum advance. When we got down to sea level the engine idled rough and could have used an adjustment of the idle mixture but I didn't bother with that as we were soon to start climbing up again.


Had to stop at Scotty's Castle. An amazing place with a most facinating story.


Learn more here: http://www.nps.gov/deva/historycultu...tys-castle.htm

My favorite part was the 1933 Packard owned by the builder and owner of the estate, Albert Johnson.


Down in the valley, the valley so low. Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.


It was amazing how colorful this desert was that only gets an average of 2 inches a year of rain (and some years none at all). This is "Artist's Pallette" on "Artist's Drive."


At the bottom - 282 feet below sea level. The lowest point in the United States. Sea level is marked with a sign up on the side of the mountain 282 feet above "Old Henry."


Now for the rest of the story of the second car that went home.

As I said, they broke down 37 miles west of Delta, Utah with 52 miles to go before Baker, Nevada - out in the middle of nowhere. They called their new insurance company for a tow that was part of their policy. Poor old Chuck had such a time with that girl. She just could not process his request without knowing his address or nearest cross street. (Any such was at least 37 miles away.) Finally she told him to call 911 and have them "ping" his location so she'd know where he was. (Apparently she had no map to just look at 37 miles west of Delta.) So with another cell phone he called 911, told them it wasn't an emergency but that he could not get his insurance company to send a tow truck until the dispatcher "pinged" him to tell him where he was (whatever that meant.) The dispatcher immediately said, "Are you that red car on the side of the road?" He had some way of connecting the location of the cell phone triangulated between the various cell phone towers to a satellite that would zoom in on his exact location. We were all quite amazed. Anyway, whatever information Chuck got from the dispatcher didn't quite make it around his head to the other phone where the insurance company person was trying to get the information. So, they hung up and said they'd get back to him. I then called my AAA service who had some of the same difficulty but not quite as much. They did ask me a few time after I told them I was 37 miles west of Delta what was the nearest city. I repeated Delta and she said but what city is nearer to you than Delta. I said Baker, Nevada 52 miles the other direction. "Oh, so Delta is the nearest city to you?" Duh. Anyway, she was having a hard time getting hold of any tow truck to send and put me on hold. After a while Chuck's insurance company called back to say they had a truck in the way. I was still on hold without any confirmation that AAA was sending anyone so just hung up and we took off down the road leaving Chuck and his group to wait for the tow truck.

Out there in the Nevada desert cell phone service was "spotty" to say the least so we didn't get the rest of Chuck's story 'till later in the day. After "sunbathing" (in 50 degree temperatures) on the side of the road for a couple of hours waiting for the truck to arrive one did. They just got the car loaded on it when a second truck arrived! Turned out the first truck was my AAA truck that came from Fillmore and the second one was Chuck's insurance truck that came from Delta! Chuck stuck with my AAA truck since it would tow them 100 miles toward home instead of just to the nearest town as his insurance truck would.

Later in the day I got the voice mail my AAA truck had left saying he was on the way.

So, the AAA truck hauled their car to Mona, Utah, still 40 miles from home where Chuck's passenger's son had brought a car trailer to take the car home and Chuck's Cadillac for everyone to get in with their stuff to try to catch up with us. Since they didn't have a map with them (they were just going to follow us for the trip) they took a little "different" route to try to catch up with us. They made it to Ely about midnight that night when were were staying in the next town 170 miles away in Tonopah. The next day we went into the north end of Death Valley National Park which they also did but we went clear to the south end to the "bottom" at Bad Water while they left the park midway toward Beatty and saw the very interesting ghost town of Rhyolite. We finally met up that night at the Indian Springs Nevada Casino and motel where we all had reservations to stay that night and came home together the next day.

End of a very interesting story.

Prior road trips:

Pike's Peak in July 2011: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19141

Route 66 in April 2010: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57511

[ken ct]

Great pics OH.Too bad all the trailer queens couldn't enjoy all the mud on the cars,they would be horrified. Pics were beautiful. enjoyed. ken ct.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by ken ct

Great pics OH.Too bad all the trailer queens couldn't enjoy all the mud on the cars,they would be horrified. Pics were beautiful. enjoyed. ken ct.

Thanks for the compliment and thanks for recommending the .049 jets. I trusted your judgement from your experience and used them instead of the stock 51's I also had and they seemed to work fine. It was amazing to me how much more power my engine had at that low elevation with the greater air density. I envy anyone that gets to drive their flatheads near sea level all the time.

[Vic Piano]

That looks like an outstanding road trip. Thanks for posting all the interesting photos and information, I really enjoyed it, looking forward to my next road trip. Vic

[TonyM]

Great Photos. I worry a lot when I am driving a late model F-150 in Death Valley that I am going to end up with hood up. You guys are gutsy. I love Death Valley. The photos make me want to return soon.

TonyM.

[AlDeBear]

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Thanks so much Prof. Henry, for sharing the story and the pictures. Glad you were able to make the whole trip as you had planned despite your friends' misfortunes. Looking forward to the end of the intermission! lol Always enjoy your posts. We haven't heard from Harylufa in a while, have we? Regards, Larry

[fourtydlx]

Great Photos,Thanks so much, Les

[53F100Jeffie]

Sounds like a nice road trip. Post some more pictures when you get a chance. Good luck on the rest of your run.
Jeff

[TJ]

Old Henry, we did the Death Valley trip after we left the western meet in St. George, Utah.It's a great place to visit. On the way home we stayed in Lone Pine, Ca. where they filmed all the old western movies(Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, John Wayne, etc). We had 16 cars on the tour and we had a great time.

[Old Henry]

"The Rest of the Story" just posted at the end of the original. Worth a read. Pretty funny.

[Mike in AZ]

great story and great pics....thanks for sharing....Mike

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by TJ

Old Henry, we did the Death Valley trip after we left the western meet in St. George, Utah.It's a great place to visit. On the way home we stayed in Lone Pine, Ca. where they filmed all the old western movies(Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, John Wayne, etc). We had 16 cars on the tour and we had a great time.

That's amazing to me that you could get 16 out of 16 cars through the trip. I only got 1 out of 3. I'd love to see pictures of your group if you have any.

[Seth Swoboda]

Well done as always. I admire your sense of adventure and willingness to get down and dirty on your road trips. Not many would attempt your Death Valley cruise. I enjoyed the pictures, keep them coming.

[donald1950]

great pictures & story... thank you... don

[Old Henry]

ADDENDUM: Have just calculated some interesting things:

Total miles traveled: 1,081 miles.

Overall Average mpg: 11 mpg. (I've gotten 13 before with just my wife and I in the car. Overdrive would sure be nice once in a while.)

Highest price paid for gas: $4.56 per gallon in Death Valley itself. (Luckily we bought from the "cheap" station. The other station was $5.26 per gallon.)

Average price per night for motel: $45.00 (Pretty cheap in the "dives" and we stayed in some real "dives." Just part of the adventure.)

Furthest distance between available gas stations: 169 miles between Ely and Tonopah, Nevada with nothing in between. Gas gauge got pretty scarry at the end. I was coasting every chance I got. As a result we got 13 mpg on that stretch or we wouldn't have made it. (This was late at night and I told everyone to prepare to bed down on the side of the road for the night. There wasn't even cell phone service to call AAA for some gas.)

[larry/Texas]

What broke in Chuck's drive line? It would be good to know and maybe some of us need to take a look.

Looks like it was a good road trip and adventure.

[trulyvintage]

Very nice of you to post pictures & details of your road trip


Thanks !



Jim

[Elmo Rodge]

Henry, 6 or 7 years ago there was a little store with a gas pump midway between Ely and Tonopah. It was quite helpful. Wayno

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by larry/Texas

What broke in Chuck's drive line? It would be good to know and maybe some of us need to take a look.

He just got it up on jacks yesterday and it is in the differential. He had a whine back there for a while before it went out. It seems most likely the star gears stripped. He bought the car a year ago which had just been sitting for an undetermined amount of time. A few months ago he took it to a "Jiffy Lube" kind of place to have it "serviced." I don't think they checked the transmission or differential oil nor added any. My guess is that there was virtually no oil in the differential and it just burned up. If so, that will be an expensive oversight which might have been prevented by just checking and topping off the oil.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Elmo Rodge

Henry, 6 or 7 years ago there was a little store with a gas pump midway between Ely and Tonopah. It was quite helpful. Wayno

The place is a ghost town called Lockes (http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/lockes.htm). There is still a building and gas pump there but no gas being sold as far as I could tell.

[Russ/40]

Thanks much for your photos and dialog. I enjoyed them very much, as they bring back fond memories of having made that tour years ago.

[46fordnut]

my old car does not like it above 70 i dont think it would make it more then a few miles before she had a fit... "over heat"

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by 46fordnut

my old car does not like it above 70 i dont think it would make it more then a few miles before she had a fit... "over heat"

That's why we went to Death Valley in February when the average daytime temperature is 75 instead of July when it's 117 (record high of 134° F on July 10, 1913, the hottest temperature ever recorded in the western hemisphere). Car probably doesn't mind the heat quite as much as the bodies inside the car do.

[blucar]

In the early spring of 1955 myself and a friend took a tour through Death Valley in my '36 Ford coupe... I was living in Vegas at the time, we drove the 90 miles to Baker, CA then into Death Valley. After touring around the Valley, including a stop at Scotty's Castle, which at the time was not open to the public because Johnson's wife had donated the Castle to a religious group..
We went onto Rhyolite.. there is a very large train station there which never had a train connection because the mine (s) went broke about the time the tracts were laid. From Rhyolite we went on to Beatty and then south on 95 back to Vegas.
In 1962 I was living in Ventura, I had made arrangements to join my uncle in Eastern Idaho for a deer hunting trip... We had a '55 Pontiac and my '36 Ford.. My wife needed the Pontiac for her and the kids so I loaded up my '36 Ford and headed for Idaho.
My favorite route to Idaho is via Bishop, CA then #6 to Tonopah and Ely.. Ely to Wells/Twin Falls via #93.. Twin Falls to Idaho Falls via 93 to Arco, then into Idaho Falls.. It is 1,040 miles Ventura to IF. I made this trip non stop except for fuel and eats... total elapsed time 18.5 hours... I got to IF at 2:30 AM.. I have done it in 17 hours in one of my modern cars.
One must keep in mind that my Ford has '42-48 suspension, a well built 59 AB engine and a '48 Columbia rear axle with 3.78 gearing... The car runs very well at 70 + mph with fuel mileage in the 18's.
It was not until about 1968 that all of the 'watering holes' along #6 & 93 started to close up... The 168 miles between Tonopah and Ely use to be broken up by Warm Springs (@ the junction of the road to Area 51) Current Creek, 60 miles from Ely , Black Jacks @ the junction to Lund about 20 miles out of Ely.
I love the Great Basin area of Nevada...I travel it about three times a year.. I dislike the Interstate through Utah and Vegas...

[dullchrome]

Looks like you had a blast. Thanks for sharing.

P.S. Nice car !!!

[Old Henry]

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Just received a PM inquiring about what tires I ran on the trip maybe thinking I would run radials for such a trip but I ran the stock 6.00 X 16 bias ply tires. Here's why:

I like to use my car as a time machine to take me back to 1947 every time I get in it and it usually works pretty good as long as I keep it totally authentic original and know that it is. That way I get the exact experience driving it now that I would get driving it then. So, I avoid having anything on the car or in the car that would "destroy the illusion" for me and I've found that almost any intrusion that's not authentic will do that. It's like the scene from the movie "Somewhere In Time" where Christopher Reeves has so authentically reproduced his life as it would have been in a former time that he actually traveled back in time to that time that he recreated. It was all going so well until he pulled a penny out of his vest pocket from his future time. That was it. The end of his illusion that he was never able to get back. Now you know why I run the stock bias ply tires as much as radials would be easier to drive and more economical. They would not provide the realistic experience I constantly strive for.

[peewee2you]

Old Henry, that was some trip, your a real trooper and so are your passenger, I laughed and laughed with enjoyment reading your adventorous story. Very cool in the ol' Fordor.

[Elmo Rodge]

Originally Posted by Old Henry

The place is a ghost town called Lockes (http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/lockes.htm). There is still a building and gas pump there but no gas being sold as far as I could tell.

Henry, I don't think that's the place. The one I'm thinking of was on the left as you headed towards Tonopah. It was a small wooden structure about 100 feet off the road that sold sodas and candy bars. By the way, I took a quick trip to Orem yesterday. Next time I'll try to remember to holler at you beforehand. Wayno

[oldford2]

Henry,
You are an inspiration to all of us with your travel adventures. They are exciting. Last year my wife and I (we are 73) decided to take an "adventure" and drive our 46 to Nova Scotia (1600 miles r/t). Scary we thought but so much fun we are planning another trip this year to?? The 46 never missed a beat). No fun sitting at car shows when you can be touring. I carried every spare part you could have (except a set of tire chains for snow) and a spare rebuilt engine at home. Only repair was to change spark plugs cause she pinged a little in the Maine mountains.

John

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by oldford2

Henry,
You are an inspiration to all of us with your travel adventures. They are exciting. Last year my wife and I (we are 73) decided to take an "adventure" and drive our 46 to Nova Scotia (1600 miles r/t). Scary we thought but so much fun we are planning another trip this year to?? The 46 never missed a beat). No fun sitting at car shows when you can be touring. I carried every spare part you could have (except a set of tire chains for snow) and a spare rebuilt engine at home. Only repair was to change spark plugs cause she pinged a little in the Maine mountains.

John

You have done our dream trip - Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Green Gables, etc. But, for us it's a 6,000 mile round trip. Even if we don't take the old Ford that far we're going to fly there and rent a car to see that part of the world someday soon. Sounds like you've really got you car running reliably. Sure makes for a more comfortable trip rather than spending a lot of time on the side of the road that I did in my previous trips on Route 66 and Pike's Peak.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Elmo Rodge

Henry, I don't think that's the place. The one I'm thinking of was on the left as you headed towards Tonopah. It was a small wooden structure about 100 feet off the road that sold sodas and candy bars. By the way, I took a quick trip to Orem yesterday. Next time I'll try to remember to holler at you beforehand. Wayno

I know the place you're talking about. That's the place I was talking about. I thought it was Lockes but maybe not.

[56 Fairlane]

Originally Posted by Old Henry

You have done our dream trip - Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Green Gables, etc. But, for us it's a 6,000 mile round trip. Even if we don't take the old Ford that far we're going to fly there.

Henry, thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Newfoundland is also a great place to visit, beautiful scenery and nice down to earth people.

[Elmo Rodge]

Henry, next time I take that road I'll look closer. I tell ya, some of these roads in the West are fairly desolate. On my 2004 trip to Bonneville from Southern California on the way home I went West from Austin, Nevada on 50 to 361 South through Gabbs. Once I left 50 I never saw another car. The 10 gallon tank in my '36 was getting a little low. There have been other times too. Wayno

[oldford2]

56 fairlane,
We just might head to Nova Scotia again this summer. Would like to take the ferry to "Newfie" land (please correct my spelling. I know you folks are great (Bugs and Debbie have a song about Newfoundland) Maybe you have heard about them. They used to entertain on the ferry. Are you in the EFV8 club roster?
John

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by larry/Texas

What broke in Chuck's drive line? It would be good to know and maybe some of us need to take a look.

It was as we had supposed. Here are the pictures:

Small puddle in the bottom of the differential. That's all the oil that was in there. The pile of metal next to it is the pinion gear teeth.


What's left of the pinion gear. You can see where the teeth were from what's left of them at the left edge. The pinion gear bearing is also totally frozen up.


Some damage to the ring gear.


Fortunately, as soon as Chuck had some idea what was wrong I looked on Ebay and found a complete rear end to replace his for way less than buying new gears. He's just waiting for that to come then we'll be "On The Road Again."

I'm thinking Chuck probably won't go to that lube service again that didn't check his differential oil before the trip.

[Graeme / New Zealand]

Great story Old Henry and well written. I'm a bit of a running nut (as well as a Flathead nut). The place has fascinated me since back in the late 70's a New Zealander (ex pat Brit really) by the name of Max Telford ran Death Valley both ways in the height of summer (but Im not that much of a running nut). He can be googled.

GB

[slyck14]

You are an inspiration!!! I want to congratulate you for taking those lovely ladies on such an adventure and commend them for having the desire to do it. That is cool!!! I am still planning my Route 66 and also sent you a separate email.

Joe

[56 Fairlane]

Originally Posted by oldford2

56 fairlane,
Would like to take the ferry to "Newfie" land (please correct my spelling.
John

Hi John, didn't want to hijack this thread, I sent you a private message. Brendan.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by slyck14

I want to congratulate you for taking those lovely ladies on such an adventure.

They came to be known as "The Queen Mothers." Betsy (the 92 year old on the left) brought along "Bob" and "Ray", her oxygen tanks to help get her through the night. At time of departure.



At the bottom three days later at "Bad Water", the lowest point and only perpetural standing water in Death Valley.

[Mart]

I've been to Death Valley many times and am familiar with the places you have mentioned. It must have been a great trip, and I'm glad it came out incident free for you and your venerable passengers.

Mart.

[Ol' Ron]

Really nice read. I like the stories of the building of the railroads, the fact that there were two surprised me.
Take care

[Old Henry]

Why Death Valley, for heck sakes!

My daughter in Virginia just read my story and emailed me with the question:

"I couldn't figure out why you were going to Death Valley since my only memory of it was that it was hotter than....well, you know."

My response was:

"I don't know if you know the standard answer that mountain climbers give when asked why they climb mountains: "Because it's there" is their only reply indicating that they merely do it to see if they can do it. I got that from my law partner a lot who was always climbing mountains, including Everest. Reaching the top of the mountain was a secondary goal to pushing himself to his limit just to discover exactly what he had in him which he could only know by pushing to the limit.

After driving to the top of the world on Pike's Peak last year we just had to drive to the bottom in Death Valley this year. Although I think everyone should experience the heat of Death Valley in the middle of the summer, I had already experienced that so we went when the average daytime temperature was 72 degrees. On the day we were there it was probably more like 75. Very pleasant and comfortable for our quest."

What's next now that we've done Pike's Peak, Route 66, and Death Valley?
Any suggestions? (Like to keep it within 500 miles from Provo, UT.)

[TonyM]

Originally Posted by Old Henry

ADDENDUM: Have just calculated some interesting things:

Furthest distance between available gas stations: 169 miles between Ely and Tonopah, Nevada with nothing in between. Gas gauge got pretty scarry at the end. I was coasting every chance I got. As a result we got 13 mpg on that stretch or we wouldn't have made it. (This was late at night and I told everyone to prepare to bed down on the side of the road for the night. There wasn't even cell phone service to call AAA for some gas.)

Glad you made it.

Back in 1999 I had my own gas scare on the Tonopah to Ely trip. There used to be a gas station in between. When the EPA standards for buried fuel tanks changed, the service station at the stop in between Tonopah and Ely was no longer selling gas. We did not know that this time around. So we carried on and set a course for Ely.

About 50 or so miles out of Ely, a semi truck and trailer was trying to make a u-turn out on that two lane in the middle of nowhere and got stuck in the ditch on the side of the road--the drive wheels were off of the ground. The truck and trailer were blocking both lanes of traffic. We were the first eastbound car to happen on the scene. We were low on gas and it was hotter than he!!. We could not idle there forever and wait or we would never make it to town.

As my wife sat in the car I walked into the desert. I found two spots where my low profile Pontiac could make it without hanging up. I got back in and turned around, drove to the spot of desert where I could get off of the road and drove into the desert about 50 yards. I then passed up the semi incident and drove east to the patch of desert where I could get back on the road east bound. Got on the road and high tailed it to Ely where I told the sheriff who just happened to be at the gas station.

Remainder of the trip to Salt Lake City was uneventful.

TM.

[Old Henry]

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

[Old Henry]

Larry, aka AlDeBear just emailed me this story printed in April 2012 Hemmings motor news about a 10 day round trip from LA to Death Valley by three model T's in 1926. I enjoyed it so much I'm posting it here for you to enjoy as well.





Here is the link at the end of the article to the 76 actual photographs and their captions. Great stuff! (Scroll down about half way for the links to photos) http://cdn.calisphere.org/data/13030...tf367nb34j.pdf

[2935ford]

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OH....hats off.
What a great trip with great pics. Not afraid to get 'em dirty.
Love it!
To me...that's what this hobby is all about......get them out there on the roads.

[richard crow]

Prof.henry you are amazing

[john mullen]

Wow what a great adventure. I am in awe from reading about your adventures. Well done as I felt like I was there when looking at the photos. Thanks ever so much for sharing your adventure.... John