One of the 25 UP "Big Boy" fleet. As a kid, I got to see #4012 up close in 1964 when it was being towed to a museum and jumped a track in the Manchester, NY rail yard. #4012 was saved from the scrappers and originally went in 1964 to a museum in Bellows Falls Vermont. In 1984 it was moved to a Scranton Pennsylvania Museum that eventually went bankrupt. The Federal Government bought the entire museum collection in Scranton and established the Steamtown National Historic site where since 1993 Big Boy #4012 has been on display.
The “red” color falls right in with the February Valentine’s month… “what red?” An old Friday Art post… based on one of our favorite Model A Coupe styles. Hello, The Model A Coupe of the Champion Speed Shop from Northern California had different builds and variations of the flamed coupe. Here is my version I did for an old Friday Art thread. The Model A Coupe was our selected first choice of a hot rod build, even from way back in 1956. We even towed one home to start it up and run it for a while, as we started gathering parts, etc. But, then it got sold as a running Model A coupe and along with a nice 51 Oldsmobile sedan, sold to a neighbor, that got the whole drag racing 1958 Impala into the 50s picture for a couple of Long Beach kids. Now, it was almost two years of weekend racing until we started our Gas Coupe build of our 1940 Willys. But, the racers from Northern California had all sorts of build levels, including different paint and flames. From purple to red color with the early crab claw flames highlighting the hood and doors. "Jim McLennan had already opened Champion Auto Parts in South San Francisco. His speed shop quickly became "the place" to go for rodders seeking specialty parts, hot tune ups, or to just hang out. When Jim heard that a 3000' long, 60' wide ribbon of concrete was available, he quickly negotiated a lease with the city and took over the track. Jim turned this remote little auxiliary airport into the hub of drag racing in the late 1950s. With Half Moon Bay and Cotati (which Jim also owned) open on alternate weekends, drag racers in Northern California finally had a legitimate option to street racing." Half Moon Bay is rather sparce area of Northern California coastline. It is considered a destination spot for big waves coming in from the North during the Winter swells. Dangerous, rough and certainly not just your average surf spot. Jnaki Early in our coastal travels, we drove right through Half Moon Bay on our way to San Francisco. After staying in Monterey or Santa Cruz, it was a two hour+ drive up the coast to get to S.F. So, as is the case, it was not a normal stopping point as we neared our final destination. One year, we wanted to see the Half Moon Bay Dragstrip location, so we decided to camp out on a bluff area. It was windy, cold and had lots of play areas. The ocean looked as mean as any we had ever seen and did not look inviting. But, the drive was through some of the nicest portions of the coastal highway along the shoreline in this area. Here is a story about Half Moon Bay and Champion Speed Shop from an early post: When we took our son camping on the beach, it was a part of our family coastal tour that ended up in the S.F. Bay Area and then across California to the deserted Highway 395 for a different trip home. Early on, my wife and I took this route many times as it allows a lot of different stops and sights to see. A part of the tour for vacations and photo shoots was get there, set up and shoot for several days and appointments. But, in between, and afterwards, we always took our time coming back home to So Cal. When we went up there for our son’s camping and California tour vacation one year, we happen to stop at an old campground in Half Moon Bay. We were state park visitors all over California, so we stayed at a state park campground on a beach side spot. On the way out and North to San Francisco, we drove by the famous surf spots and then made a jog inland a few short blocks to the old airport, where the original Half Moon Bay Dragstrip was located. A historic site near the ocean, on a bluff with moisture filtering in the air, was how it felt. The time we were there was cool to warm, but windy, the daily breeze, coming off of the ocean. During our drag racing days, we thought that it would be a cool thing to tow up to Half Moon Bay and then go across the S.F. Bay to race at Fremont Dragstrip as a grand Northern California tour for our Willys (B/Gas and then C/Gas) 671 SBC coupe. My brother had big time ideas all set up for our drag strip racing adventures. We had seen all of the Drag News reports about the races and racers located in Northern California and that was a place we wanted to explore back then. So, a vacation plus racing seemed like a fun thing to do for us. Come to think about it, my brother also had plans to tow back to Detroit for the Nationals after we got our C/Gas Willys 671 coupe in record setting tune. This Northern California tour would have been a preview of what was ahead for us. NOTE: It opened June 15th 1957 by owners Jim McLennan, Don Smith & Ted Gotelli. (well known names in Northern California drag racing) “The airstrip at Half Moon Bay had been used by a couple of the local car clubs (the Lightning Rods and the Piston Pushers) as a place to race legally, but the city wanted improvements and insurance. Without the money to sustain their pastime, the car clubs had to give it up. By this time, Jim had already opened Champion Auto Parts in South San Francisco. His speed shop quickly became "the place" to go for rodders seeking specialty parts, hot tune ups, or to just hang out.” “When Jim heard that a 3000' long, 60' wide ribbon of concrete was available, he quickly negotiated a lease with the city and took over the track. Jim turned this remote little auxiliary airport into the hub of drag racing in the late 1950s. With Half Moon Bay and Cotati (which Jim also owned) open on alternate weekends, drag racers in Northern California finally had a legitimate option to street racing.” NOTE 2: Recently, with the fall seasonal storms coming down the Westcoast from the Northern Pacific Ocean, the swells hit Half Moon Bay with a flourish. It is "the" big wave spot for those brave souls... To commemorate the annual Big Swells making their trip down the coast, my wife and I did a road trip memory with the viewing of the movie, "Chasing Mavericks." It is a real life adventure of one of the area's famous surfers who conquered the towering masses of water. It was/is a great inspiring movie. A must see movie for this fall to winter season, actually, anytime is inspiring. Note 3 The memory of the Half Moon Bay hot rod/drag race area is history. Currently, Half Moon Bay is more noted for the above huge wave location for all of California's + the USA "Big wave" center. Above photo: One of the biggest waves in the world broke at Mavericks near Half Moon Bay during a jaw-dropping swell this December. "Big wave surfers caught bombs on December 23, 2024, while professional photographers documented the Pacific Ocean’s raw power." YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
