2012 at the Hammond Barn

[RHClarke]

There was some activity at the barn last weekend. Bob and Grant returned from their trip to the states for a MV show. Bob might chime in with some observations. Back at the barn Bob continues to strip down his truck to determine where the misalignment between the front frame horns may lie. Grant sandblasted the nose to his truck.

I spent last Saturday propping up a few of the wrecks we got last year. Most of our latest acquisitions sit in the open with tarps over the valuable bits. The ground in the back field is somewhat soft, so every year we have to readjust the frames so that wheel assemblies (with and without rims) are out of direct contact with the ground.

The preferred tool is the tractor, but when Bob isn't around we rely on the trusty farmer's jack. Once the frame is in the air, a log is stuck under the frame. The jack is lowered and the truck's journey to China via the direct route is halted.
Cheap insurance from premature rot. Some shots follow.

Photos:

1 - Grant working the sandblasting equipment
2 - Elevated truck
3 - Another one
4 - One more
5 - Last one

[RHClarke]

This past week I had the honour of attending the birthday of our very own Gunner's father, Colonel (Ret'd) Michael Calnan. Gunner ain't no spring chicken but his dad has fewer grey hairs than Gunner has.

Prior to the festivities I spent the morning at the Swords and Ploughshares Museum doing grounds work. The rear of the main building needed a severe clearing as swamp maples had grown up between the building and the sea container. Once that was done, Gunner and I hooked in two guns that would later adorn Gunner's father's front lawn.

This event was interesting as a lot of senior retired gunners made their way to Kars to join in the festivities. Fortunately, most of them do not (or maybe choose not to) remember me, so I got to avoid rehashing some old misdeeds...for now.

It was good to see some of the old crew still kicking around, but I had to fetch my youngest from another birthday party in town and bowed out before the beer and wine really started to flow.

It was nice to see the Colonel and Barbara again. I also like their lawn ornaments!

Photos

1 - A Russian copy of a German gun used by the Finnish Army (true stuff!)
2 - A FYR gun we saved from the cutting torches
3 - Lawn ornaments

[Bob Carriere]

Been busy raiding across 3 different borders..... Ont. PQ, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia


A truck load of 19 sets and parts from Bob Estabrook too which we are very thankful. Also meet Jason Mead in the flesh and dropped off parts.

Hope Bill M. doesn't find out I was 8 km from his place but had no time to drop by.

Drove 2587 km in 36 hours.....decided to sleepover as we are getting to old for 15 hours of straight driving.....

Observations.....

Your butt goes numb after 8 hours...

The scenery is to die for.....

Man this is a big country......

In PQ you need two to drive,,,, one to look for police cars hidden in the tall grass of the medium..... on to make sure you stay around 110km .... and they love foreign plates...

In NB you drive at 125 to 128 and don't even see a cop car.......


Now the fun part.... unload and sort out the loot.

Bob

[jason meade]

Well Bob I was really happy to be able to put a face to the name of you and Grant, Got the parts all cleaned up and installed, sure looks good now.
I thankyou very much. I trust you and Grant had an uneventful drive back.
Did you guys end up staying in Nova Scotia for the night or come back to Frederiction?

[Alex van de Wetering]

A truck load of 19 sets and parts

19 sets of what?


Looking forward to hear what you guys picked up on this trip.

Alex

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Jason

We crashed in Dieppe...... logic prevailed over teenagers attitude of being immortal...... slept for 8 hours and ready for the road again..... driving awake is so much more fun and safer !!!!

Alex...... wireless 19 sets...... four of them...one very complete on wooden board...one less complete on a metal board and two more P/S and radio/variometers.... and a working 110 power supply to 12/24 volts. Oh yes... we now have a power supply that was a DND convertion to run on 110 volts..... all yet to be tested.

Sadly a lot of basic cabling is missing...... spare tubes.....C5 box...antennas or is it antennies ..... dummy antenna, etc. what really hurts in the equation is the $573 dollars of fuel.

But we had fun !!!!!

Bob

[Alex van de Wetering]

Bob,

I am jealous about the 19 sets; about 10 years ago you could get one on every street corner for a penny, but now prices have gone up and it's pretty hard to get a complete working Canadian set together....or even a dummy which looks complete....as you say, antenna's can be quite hard to find and expensive to buy.

Alex

Oh...$573 for 2500km sound like a great deal out here. We now have to pay 1,90 Euro for a litre of petrol.

Alex