Elmer\'s Trip To California

[Ryan]

Nebraska farmer, Elmer J. Sweet, treks to Southern California by Model T to visit his sister and 'wonderful pal' Jane and family, accompanied by L.E. Cruise.

The pictures are nothi... To read the rest of this blog entry from The Ford Barn, click here.

[Rolleiflex]

Those are awesome beyond words!

[TBone69]

Wow! Some quick mapquest math shows 1397 miles! Now that is a roadtrip, maybe one of the original roadtrips.

Anyone know if the SanteFe trail as mentioned in the pics became Route 66? All the names are there from the song.

[Rolleiflex]

The Santa Fe trail went from Colombia, Missouri (roughly) to Santa Fe, New Mexico(hence the name). So I'm not quite sure why they are referring to the Santa Fe trail west of Santa Fe.

But, yes some of what they may have travelled between Raton Pass and Santa Fe possibly could've become what we know as route 66.

Also pre-1937 route 66 went through Santa Fe post-1937 it bypassed it altogether. Route 66 was first opened on November 11, 1926.

[Elmo Rodge]

When we did the "Sea to Sea in a Model T" trip in 2008 we took the pre 1937 Route through Santa Fe. These pictures are great. Wayno

[lesbliss]

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Great pictures. My father made the same trip in 1921 for his honeymoon. Drove a 1917 Chalmers. Everyone feared crossing the Great American Desert(roughly Kansas through the Calif.line.) Very few roads outside the towns. You just followed the telegraph lines across the desert.

Les Bliss

[crossover]

Hey all, thanks for the kind words about my baby blog. Hopefully Elmer is enjoying his fifteen minutes. I've also wondered about his using '$anta Fe Trail' for places farther west, as well as what 'Topek.' means at the Colorado River bridge and how often you could depend on finding gas. Anyway, thanks again, and there will certainly be more Fords in the future.

[dewickt]

Very good, actually amazing..

[allen]

any idea how long the trip was (week wise) or months

[Labold]

Too Damn Much Water!

Great post, I'm envious of the trip.

[Tommy Gun]

What a trip! Those are great photos!

[Old Redneck]

Love it Love it Must never let these pictures get away from us. The very best they are belong words. Thank you I enjoyed very much.

[flatheadernie]

amazing adventure, impressed by the Elmers posing Style, a Neb farmer hmmmmm! The guy has Class!! ernie n Tx

[joe plumber]

Typical Nebraska farmer ,tough ole boys for sure .The good old days

[LOWRIDER]

Great pics. An adventure for sure. I've been to most of those places on 2 wheels. I'm sure I had it alot easier than Elmer.

[dumb person]

i wonder how many tire tube repairs he made on that trip?

[flatheadernie]

In the late 20's a recent grad of west point name of scot, on his way from Paris to china on a motorcycle recounted he was sitting in the middle of a dirt road in Checkoslovakia (sp) making his 31 st tire repair of the dayand crying like a baby. You may recall him later as General scot of the Army Air Corps, det to clare Chennalt general of the Flying Tigers in China, Col Scot wrote "God is My Copilot" at the later stages of WW2 was still active in his 80's , they were tough old birds Gob bless m all . ernie n tx

[rhinodaddy]

Thanks for sharing the pics. Way cool. To Respond to Crossover's post #7, there seems to be a couple of references to "Topek" and "Colorado River" on the net, but they are dead ends. They seem to be linked to Ft. Irwin. Assuming the pictures are in order, and assuming you arre unfamiliar with the area, Peach Springs is on the Hualapai (misspelled on the trading post sign in the pic) Reservation in northern AZ. It's where the new sky deck over the west Grand Canyon is located. You could follow a path from there to Needles along the lower Colorado.

Also, at the turn of the last century there was a Topeka Iron Works that built bridges. If they built it there might have been a name plaque on the bridge in which the letter "a" was missing.