Art & Inspiration Identify this train wreck

For those of you, like me that enjoy theses sort of puzzles, see if you can identify this wreck.

 

Here's a closeup of the visor, which provides a unique identifying mark. Another clue is that it has split rim wheels.

 

From the firewall i'd say E*** or Hudson.

 

Too sad for me to dwell over.

 

The first one that posts "That'll buff out" wins some sort of ****y prize! Oooops!

 

Looks to be a 1930 Hupmobile by the look of that visor....here is a coupe version....

 

In pic 6, there appears to be what looks to me like the remains of a hydraulic line coming off the backing plate. That doesn't help me any but I'll be glad to split the dinner with whoever uses the clue to identify the car.

 

Here is the 1931 Hupmobile dashboard. I don't know if the 1930 dash was the same....column drop is the same.

 

I'd rather have a ****y prize.....

 

Such a sad end for a dual sidemount sedan. See if you can get any of those wheels and those engine splash pans. There is still a lot of good stuff on that carc***.

 

I wouldn't advise trying to restore it. Those Hupmobile parts are hard to find.

 

We have a winner!

 

I could sure use a chicken dinner....

 

I knew it wasn't a train!

 

I think that a lot of parts have been picked off of it over the years. The rear half of the drive shaft was still in it, but the front half had been sawed in two. That made me think that someone hiked up there and sawed it off, so they could steal the transmission. That seems unlikely for a couple reasons: 1) It is far out of the way and hidden from view for the most part. It is more of a climb to get to it than a hike. I can't imaging doing that with a transmission on your back. 2) Not that many people have a use for a Huppmobile transmission.

We don't know if it was driven off the cliff. I ***ume it was pushed and not driven. If the transmission was removed in a shop, why wouldn't they have just unbolted the rear u-joint? That dragging driveshaft would have been a bother when dragging it the many miles to the top of the remote cliff. I suppose they could have tied it up with something?

I am sure the wheels were robbed from the driver side after it came to rest there. It was bearing weight on the p***enger side wheels, so they were not easy to steal. No tires were present anywhere and the locking rings were gone off both of the p***enger side wheels. Was it pushed off on bare rims during a time when old used tires were being saved for other things?

The radiator, which would have been salvageable metal was picked off, but the radiator shell was left attached to the frame.

 

I haven't told that part of the story, yet...

 

Now, THAT is funny....and mysterious....

 

Yeah......****ies...

 

The Hupp went down the ravine ON the flatcar, which was stolen, stripped, picked clean. Only this axle remains...
Well, Banacek'll be here soon, then we'll find out...

 

rail tracks above?

 

Man those sure came with a neat gas pedal!

From here I can see at least a dash, column drop and firewall that I'd be willing to pack out. Cool find!

 

I thought it was an AMC Pacer

 

Easy fix

 

I really hate it when you get your first parking lot door ding on a new car!
So, what's the story told by the locals?
I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

The Huppmobile and and the wreck of the Colorado Midland 303 share the same final resting place, but they most likely met their demise in separate events-probably decades apart.

I was unable to get any local reports or find any do***entation on the wreck of the 303. Here's what I know:

This is a place called Hell Gate on the west side of Hagerman P***. Hagerman P*** was the first standard gauge railroad over the continental divide in Colorado-first opened in 1887. Hell Gate consist of a rock cut that opens to this palisade on the west and corresponds with a canyon called Hell Gap on Ivanhoe Creek several hundred feet below the old railroad bed.


If you look in just the right spot when you p*** this spot on the cliff at Hell Gate, you can see this unidentifiable rusting corpse and a set of railroad wheels laying near the bottom of this boulder field.

 

You can also see what looks like a large hunk of rusting "sheetmetal" nearby.

 

It was getting late in the evening when we spied this junk, and we also saw bears in the area, so we came back the next day hiking up from the bottom instead of scaling the cliff to explore further.

We were rewarded for our climb by finding this frame, which cannot be seen from the road. It's upside down. The big cast iron donuts are where the trucks attached. I presume the broken cradle held an air cylinder for operating brakes. I think it is a coal tender, because it only had a coupler on one end. I presume that the end connected to the engine had a different kind of connection which was more permanent.

 

Standing by for more...

 

That "sheetmetal" spied from above is quite thick when you see it up close.
I think this is the body of the coal tender. You can faintly make out the words "COLORADO MIDLAND" on one side of it. I crawled under the other side to find the giant numbers 303.
Who knows about trains? Did they haul coal and water in tenders like these?




I'm guessing it looked something like this, except 303 instead of 306



There are ****tered pieces of cast iron everywhere

 

trying to ride it down the hill like a sled?

... here...hold my beer, watch this