Maine Winter Fun

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2005: Maine Winter Fun
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By James A. Golden on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 10:29 am:

Mark Wetherbee recently shared this winter fun photo. Mark evidently didn't take a chance on the heater not working, but he is obviously having an enjoyable day with his early Ford. Do the rest of us folks have to keep our Fords locked up for six months out of a year or are winter tours a possibility?

Mark


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David_Cockey on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 11:44 am:

Snow doesn't bother me, salt does. So far this year north of Detroit there's hardly been any of either.

Looks like the old and new bridges across the Penobscot narrows. See on the state website that the new bridge will be openned later today, and a procession of antique vehicles will be the last across the old bridge. Anyone here involved?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Michael K Johnson on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 01:14 pm:

What about salt spray after a Winter tour? Can't you just drive by the local jet spray car wash and give it a rinse and fluff dry?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David_Cockey on Sunday, December 31, 2006 - 03:48 pm:

The car wash is okay if they use fresh water and don't recycle the drain water. But you still have to get home from the car wash and will presumably pickup more salt along the way.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lowell E. Spicer on Monday, January 01, 2007 - 11:02 am:

Snow never bothered us much way back in the 40s when i was in high school we kept the Ford in the cow barn so it would start put the iron to the rear wheels an it would wade through a foot of snow with no problem so we could get to school about 8 miles away never missed a day and it beat trying to walk that far Kids have it too easy now it never hurt me any i am 78 and still building stuff in my shop.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill Alexander on Monday, January 01, 2007 - 01:12 pm:

Took the battery out of my '24 this am so my T days are over for a bit. Freezing rain here and the salt trucks have gone by so Lizzie is at rest. We both are looking forward to springtime here in Maine. Even a T will outrun the blackflies.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Monday, January 01, 2007 - 01:19 pm:

Back in 1999, we had a big snow here in St. Louis and I got to thinking that I had never driven my T in the snow, so off I went. I got into some streets that hadn't been plowed yet, but the T chugged right through them. I drove around for close to an hour before the cold started to outweigh the fun and I went home again.

Yes, the salt bothered me, but it warmed up a few days later and I thoroughly hosed off the underside of the car.

snow


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ben Cochran on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 - 05:02 pm:

Here in New Hampshire we just pull the king pins, slip on the skis and install the rest of the West Ossipee snowmobile kit. Our problem is there is no snow this year yet!!!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Wetherbee on Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 04:19 pm:

I was away when Jim posted this, but I thought I'd give you the whole story.

That is the Waldo-Hancock county bridge between Sandy Point and Verona Island in Maine. It is (soon to be was) a real beauty built in 1931 and while restoration had started in 2002, the Maine DOT found some problems in the main cables that were not repairable sometime in 2003. That is where the new bridge came from, which is a little out of place in the Downeast area for my tastes but that might be why we love the old cars, right?

Anyway, about mid-week one of the other members of the Downeast chapter MTFCA called and asked if I were going to the opening and if he could park his trailer at our house as we are only 7 miles away. I was OK with trailer parking, but had no plans of getting the T going. That Friday, 12/29, several people at work were riding me for not planning on going since it's a big deal in the area, and one of my coworkers gave me a clipping from the paper explaining that the last car over the old bridge, before it was closed for good, would be the oldest car to show up at the parade.

That night the member that called initially had called to cancel off the trip, so I thought about going just to make an appearance in a T. So Saturday morning, still not sure I'd go for the ride, I cranked the 15 and she started, with the mag only, on the fourth pull! Well this was too much to resist, so onto the computer for the weather outlook which at this time was overcast and cold with the low possibility of a snow shower accumulating up to 1". Time to bundle up and get going!

As I'm leaving the house at 11:15 there are a couple of flakes in the air, plus the one getting into an old Ford. The parade is set for 12:30 and we were milling around talking cars as the snow got heavier, the people running the show got us all lined-up and closed both bridges to traffic, and the snow got heavier again delaying the parade for an extra 30-45 minutes during which time I'm on the far side of the still closed bridges from my home, and more than a little nervous.

We finally get to go and about 1/2 way over the bridge I stopped and picked-up a local reporter hoping to get copyright permissions on her photos for our club's newsletter. We get to the other side and up go the jersey barriers, and this is when the photo was taken. Well I had my few minutes of local fame, at which time the reporter I had given the ride to asked how the T was in snow, to which I honestly answered that I was about to find out. I made it home fine taking back roads which avoided most of the salt and traffic.

The big surprise was getting the Sunday paper and seeing that the AP had run a story with another picture, which had also been printed in the Worcester Mass paper where other friends and my parents had the chance to read about it.

A fun ride and the honor of being the last car on the old bridge was quite the experience, but while the T is not too bad in snow, the other drivers were more dangerous trying to get around me in the mess and made for a very stressful ride home.

Respectfully submitted,
Mark Wetherbee, Editor
Downeast Chapter MTFCA


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David_Cockey on Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 06:01 pm:

Link to the short article in the Worcester, MA newspaper with a photo of Mark and the Model T driving across the bridge:
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061231/NEWS/612310491&Searc hID=73268260801952

Another article from the local newspaper:
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/Business/story.cfm?storyID=84379


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tim on Saturday, January 06, 2007 - 11:18 pm:

My T went over that bridge too - only a couple of weeks ago. It was in a box trailer behind my truck, does that count? At that time it was only one lane wide with people taking turns going back and forth. No one took any photos of us... :-(


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Sherm Wetherbee on Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 12:45 pm:

Mark, the picture was also in the Brattleboro Vt Reformer, WOW my kid is world famious. To Tim, I think you bought a really nice Fodor, I was sorry to see Bill selling it but I guess age catches up with all of us. I hope you enjoy it as much as Bill did. Mark Tell them How you got in the papers the last time for getting up at an ungodly hour to be first in line at the season opening of Liberty tool, a used tool store. Then everybody will know How crazy you are. love mon and dad.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By andy samuelson on Sunday, January 07, 2007 - 07:29 pm:

Sherm; I think the kid learned that the early riser gets the warm donuts, just look at him, and also those early Z tools.
Happy New Year to you and the misses.
Andy and Sue

Happy New Year to Mark and his little misses too.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Wetherbee on Monday, January 08, 2007 - 11:17 am:

I have actually found a lot of Z tools there, but the competition for them is getting fierce. Sooner or later I'll have to start selling them off on t-bay...


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