Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana a Trip Back in Time

Day 2 of an amazing trip back into the past, in search of a rather large load of very old gas pumps.
Last night we got to experience the east coast snostorm, up close and personal! We didn't have trouble with our rig but we had to avoid the traffic, because they just aren't equipped for the snow out here.
We are 50 miles from our destination and I will be sure to take lots of pictures.
I can't tell you who I'm with and neither can Tom Buckles and John Kramer. We're somewhere on the east coast and still headed east. We're slowly driving out of the snow and its 45 degrees and no snow at our destination.
Ill try to post more later but won't have photos until next week when I get home.
Have a great day! WE ARE!

Go West Old Men, Go West

Sounds like Moe-Larry-and Curly on a road trip. Just picture in your mind the scene where the Stooges were attendants at the Gas Station and blew-up the old car with the Professors. Better buy Chevron Stock if the silver Dodge is on the road! LOL.
Ed.

"We're somewhere on the east coast and still headed east" I don't know where you could drive and do that. Sounds like you're on the water. Looking for a cache of pumps in mythical Atlantis? LOL

Who are you with?

I'm calling Tom Buckles & John Kramer to see if they can shed any light.

Hope you have plenty of food and water Kevin ! Stay warm , find us some good pictures and treasures.

Based on the company you are keeping, this is no load of 5' pumps. If there is a spare G&B 84 or 85 Showcase, put my name on it, haha!

Can't wait to see what they have got in store for us all to see!!

LMAO!! Love the narration,this sounds like it's gonna be fun!
Rick,I'm thinkin he's with Tom and John.

Just called Tom & John and they said they are NOT with Kevin and have never heard of him.
Coincidentally,they too are on the road.

Rick so what, from I have seen on the news it appears everyone in the SE is on the road! But they aren't moving fast if at all.

Can't tell the story yet, too pooped tonight. Mick...too funny.

Its got to be warmed than ND though. So that is a plus! Good luck on the hunt! I need an M&S 80 so just drop it off on the way home!! LOL

Ok, so we drove out of the snow this morning and found some 40 degree weather. That was just fine for a "working" afternoon, so we took inventory and unloaded the tools and went to work.
Tom is a h**l of an organizer and John is a pump gutting machine! We started late and still managed to gut over 20 pumps while we emptied 4 different buildings of parts and pumps and organized it all for loading!
We saved the best for tomorrow and hopefully we'll be able to.start loading in the afternoon. Lots of pumps yet to work on and a big dumpster to load with scrap.Plenty of work for 3 people, but every one of us had a big smile on all day.
I'm taking a lot of pictures and will start posting them next week after I get. home. Weather looks a lot better for travel the next few days too! Finally got a good meal and we're going to get a good nights rest before the big day tomorrow. This truly is a "trip back in time"!

Drive safe guys! Love the story and cant wait for pics!

Cant wait to see the pics. From the sound of things, I hope you brought plenty of

So these three stooges disappear over the Smokey Mtns to some ultra secret location with a renowned pump gutter armed to the teeth with wrenches (solid and liquid) and probably BEER. And they disappear! Sounds like an OG version of Lord of the Pumps as our veterans disappear into the Misty Mtns (cue Led Zepplin's Ramble On)!
Hopefully a few pictures are tossed our way soon to satisfy our curiosity about their quest. It should be quite the tale.

The load has arrived in Indiana and I'm currently sitting in the Indianapolis airport waiting for my flight home. I'm pretty darn tired and worn out, but I had a really great time and had a truly unique experience that truly was a "trip back in time"!
Pictures will follow tomorrow after I get home and get them downloaded.

Travel safely Kevin, we are all in a state of high anxiety waiting for pictures and as ol' Paul Harvey said "the rest of the story".

Not that I am all that smart, but how are you going to get pumps home on an airplane? LOL

Sounds like you had a good time!

Ryan I think they must have found a bunch of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360859974467

Very easy to get on the plane and no worries about the residual gas in them either.

Good one.

Can't wait to see the pic's....

OK--Here we go with the pictures! I'll try to let the pictures do all the talking, and I will add comments below each one to try and define what you're looking at.
We journeyed by vehicle from Toms home in Indiana, to the Lowry Oil Co. bulk plant in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. We made a diversionary side trip to view Thornton Beroths collection on the way there, and were treated to a full tour of his complete and impressive collection. We also were able to stop at the Wayne Story antique store on the way home, where we sold a couple of items and we even purchased a couple of pieces! We were then Waynes guests as we were given the full tour of his impressive collection!
There are far too many things to be able to tell you about on this web site, such as how Tom found this plant and began negotiations 20 years ago, to the weather problems we encountered, to all the fun and funny little things that happened to us! You'll have to get those stories from each of us at the upcoming shows around the country!
NOW FOR THE PICTURES!

First fuel stop on the way there.


Heading thru the mountains and seeing the first bit of snow!


Some mountains were too big, so they provided tunnels thru them! LOL


The closer we got to North Carolina, the more snow!

More pictures of our first views of the untouched bulk plant and the objects that we found, and just as we found them!

A few pumps in the main storage building.


Unique oil display rack that has doors that rotate to open.


View of pumps sitting by a lean to shed, back towards bulk tanks.


More pumps stacked inside the lean to shed.

More!

Doors and skins inside the lean to!


More pumps piled up at the end of the lean to shed.


A glance around the corner of the lean to shed! Wow!


Pole signs back by the fence!

More pictures by the steel storage shed!

Hidden 6 footer--What else could be under there?


Bennett double with Phillips badging.


Phillips glass badge on the Bennett double.


Texaco Marine sign, lighted with enclosed neon!

Amazing who wouldn't love to find all those pumps great story ! Almost like being there . The pic of the 850 clocks under the pine trees is priceless ! You can tell that stuff has set for many years . More pics! Thank you for taking the time to post Kevin !

Pumps stored in a steel storage building at the very back of the property! This building held a few secrets!

Lighted Texaco with plastic faces! We had to leave this one as we just didn't have room for everything!


Inside the steel storage building.


More pumps inside the steel storage building!


Even more pumps in the same steel storage building!

Signs found inside the steel storage building! This building held quite a few suprises and hidden treasures that no one knew were there!

Beautiful 6 footer stored in the steel storage building.


table full of pump plates in the steel storage building. I wonder how many more there are?


More pump plates and a rare dealer plate in the same building.


Box full of NOS plastic stars found under a bench!

More of the sign treasures that we found in the steel storage building!

NOS Skychief localized for you --tin signs!


Box full of NOS Fire Chief localized for you--tin signs!


A huge pile of NOS Texaco Gasoline localized for you--tin signs!


Several boxes of NOS Texaco Marine Lubricants display racks!

This is what I thought was the find of the whole trip! It was a complete, untouched case of Skychief lenses for glass bodies. It was hidden behind some boxes on a lower shelf and when Tom reached down and pulled this box out, we were all speechless! What a treasure!

Complete case of NOS Skychief lenses!

Wow, looks like an awesome trip. Great finds.

Wow...just wow!!!

I'm feeling dizzy right now.
Ken.

I toured their bulk plant about 10 years ago. It was amazing to walk around on the grounds. It looks like nothing has changed since then. Brady

Pictures of Tom & John gutting more pumps and a COOL Tok 39 with an unusual pump plate add on!

Gutting pumps in the main storage building! Happy workers!


Tokheim 39 tall with that crackled paint type patina!


Something we had never seen before! A porcelain pump plate add on "No Smoking" sign that was attached to the Tok 39. Dated 3-10-47


Tom & John gutting pumps in the lean to shed.

There were a lot of junk pumps and parts left over from the gutting process and they were all loaded into a large steel recycling dumpster. It wouldn't hold everything we wanted to put into it, but we worked pretty late into the night, trying to get it as full as we could!

John is a certified forklift operator and got the job of loading the dumpster with the junk pumps and parts that came from the gutting!


Junk pumps that we lined up outside for John to haul to the recycle dumpster!


The dumpster wouldn't hold everything but Tom was determined to get as much as he could on it! LOL

WOW! I love that Tokheim 39!

Looks like a blast! Thanx for sharing Tom, John and Kevin!!!!

Thanks for sharing this great find.

Wow,what a blast! Trip of a lifetime there,congrats guys!

Great find, glad they went to a good home. Kevin, did you not put one in your carry on?

Cool. I think the find of the box of lenses is the best

I think I just wet myself LoL. That is a awesome find there for sure!!!!!

Back by the fence, there were 2 pole signs that were in good shape, and some pieces of pole signs that had been cut up and destroyed! You could just make out the fact that there was one buried under a bunch of leaves and trash, and when we brushed everything aside, it looked as though there was another one underneath it! Looked like we'd have to do a little excavating, but probably worth it! Was that ever a surprise!!

Buried Treasure here!


HHhhmmmmm? Looks like maybe more than one!


My god--there were 4 of them under there!


Looks like this one was preserved pretty darn well!

Wow, what an adventure!!
Thanks very much for sharing!!

Just curious, having sat there so long, how did those lenses look as far as paper marks?

...that place was the worst-kept secret in the state...did you get the aluminum-sign Texaco Marine rack with the seagulls? Didn't see it in the pics...

Pictures of the loaded trucks being finished up for the trip back!

A 26 foot Penske truck was loaded with the majority of the pumps, doors, and things that we did not want getting wet! It was pretty well loaded by the time we left!


Heres a pic of Tom & John loading the final pieces into the Penske truck!


A super nice Bennett double that went on the truck! Original paint and decals with an original Exxon Tiger decal on the front!


Tom was busy strapping down the load that got delegated to ride in his trailer! Did you ever see so many Tokheim 850's on one trailer? There was even a terribly rough one that we parted out, in addition to the ones we loaded!

Heres the last pictures I took as we rolled out to the front of the bulk plant and said our goodbyes before we hit the long trail for home.
It was already Saturday afternoon and we had to stop at Wayne Storys yet before we could find a room for the night. After figuring out our time schedule, we ended up driving until 1 AM, so that we would have enough time to make it to Indianapolis and still get me over to the airport for my flight back to North Dakota! I had to explain that the Warden was expecting me, and tardiness would not go over well with her after this much time being gone! LOL

Raining on Saturday, but we were loaded and ready to roll!


Toms truck sitting in front of the office on Saturday afternoon and in a few minutes we were on the road!


The big sign out in front of the Lowry Oil Company and the last picture I have before we rolled out of the bulk plant, all loaded and smiling!

Great story and pictures! Thanks for taking us along.

Here are the last of the pictures as we headed back to Indiana and the end of a very satisfying trip and a great experience between 3 good friends!
I feel very grateful to have been able to experience this in my lifetime, as age seems to creep up on us at a high rate of speed and it won't be that many years before I would be physically unable to complete a trip such as this!
It was very physically demanding, with long hours, little sleep, and hard work! BUT---man-o-man, was it ever worth it!
I hope all of enjoy the pictures and the descriptions and be sure to ask any of us about the trip at the next show you happen to see one of us at! We'll all be at Peotone, so the stories should flow rather freely yet! LOL

THANKS!! Tom--John--Kevin

Saturday afternoon, just before we headed into the mountains!


A lot more snow on the roads as we headed back home on sunday morning!


Getting close to Indianapolis and the end of the line!

Being a Texaco fanatic , I think I just woke up from a dream ! Thanks for showing us your great once in a lifetime find. All I can say is WOW .

Yes, it went on the trailer! Not in the best shape, but couldn't find a picture of it?

Great pictures.... Really cool to seeing this stuff being unearthed.

One question - When you asked John if he could drive a forklift, did he reply "I can drive any forking thing made"?

Ray

I don't see my G&B showcase in the pile? Great pics, and an awesome story, thanks for sharing your epic adventure!

Thanks for the story and photos Kevin. Great times, great friends and great hobby makes the hard work well worth it!!!

Onnly in our dreams for most of us petro collectors,Thank You Kevin for the ride along and taking the Time to Post Pics!!!

Speechless! Not many places like this exsist anymore! Thanks Kevin, Tom, and John for sharing your trip with us!

Hey this gives us all cause for hope that we can find the mother lode. That combined with a little luck and 20 years of perseverance, you too can get lucky! Thanks for letting us see the trip and the discoveries.

Thanks for the images, Kevin... And bringing back,some similar memories...

When I started in the Hobby, most every Bulk Plant (most every medium sized and above Community had such a Plant) had such a "grave yard"... The difference of course was, there were very few "modern Pumps" and instead there was an abundance of "Clock-faced" and early Computers..... With some visibles that were finally being upgraded...

All too often such 'yards... Were used a fill materials in the "New" Stations of the 1960s and early 70s... Before the "Gas Shortage"...

If only we had had a "crystal ball" that would tell us how much this Hobby, would explode in popularity.....

Thanks to all involved. Especially thanks to Kevin for taking the time to post the pics

Thanks for the pictures and the monolog on the trip. My favorite part was digging up the 6 foot TEXACO Signs, as if they were Potatoes! They all looked in very good condition. These stories are always more interesting when you know the players. I'm sure it was backbreaking work, but enjoyable with good friends! Kudos!
Ed.

AWESOME!!!! AWESOME!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!

Wow! Thanks for sharing Kevin! I've read & heard stories of bulk plant clean outs. Now I understand. Are you sure you guys checked the ground real good?lol

Now I am sure some of you local Oldgassers that knew of this place will want to know how I found it, how long ago and how I got it bought.

The year was either 1993 or early 1994. My "wife to be" at the time and I were on a road trip down the coast and all the back roads I could take seeing the sights and of course I was checking out bulk plants. I ask Janet the other day what year she thought it was that we stopped there for the first time. She said if you will remember we stayed with my aunt in Eden NC and she made us sleep in separate rooms because we were not married yet...LOL, so that pins the years down fairly close since we married in 1994.

Of course they were not interested in selling. The one thing I told them was "it's your stuff, if you don't want to sell then keep it, it's yours to do as you please" They seemed to appreciate that because some people would get pushy or upset that they said no. They always said they appreciated my attitude. Over the years I would always call at least twice a year just to remind them that I was still interested in buying it all. On many calls I would not even ask if they wanted to sell yet. It got to the point that when I called they would call my kids by name and ask how they were doing, our daughter went to school at UNC.

So I just gave away my trade secrets (not all of them), be nice/respectful and be really, really, patient....good things come to those who wait...or something like that.

I finally got a call last October that they were interested in selling, I about died. They had other people that they promised to give them a shot at it so I had to wait till all the others were in and done. I was the first one to make an offer (usually not the best plan but...) and the rest is history.

I have to thank John and Kevin for their help, they are some of the best friends you could have!

Now on to the next haul...............There's more, I don't know when but I know where.....

Tom.

Congratulations on the purchase. That is the haul of a lifetime.

Great story Tom. I know of a bulk plant about an hour from me that has about 100 electrics and 20 visibles. I do the same with them and hope one day patience does pay off.

AWESOME!!! I bet your guys jaws dropped when you were finding all of those pump, signs, and the box of NOS gill lenses!! Looks like you guys are set for life on Texaco stuff!!

That's the coolest thing I've seen posted since I joined. The kind of find we all dream of. Congratulations guys.
Thanks for the narrative and the great pictures.

Oh my….very sweet things! It's great to know that it is still out there in BULK! I know of a bunch of stuff in one area to. Thank you to Kevin for the pictures. Great stuff you guys!!

..boy that Exxon Bennett Double is really growing on me.

Remember Tom,"it's your stuff,if you don't want to sell,then keep it,it's yours to do as you please"...and I look forward to seeing you twice this year @ Peotone like always.

Great story.It seems to me John will be the winner in all this.All he has to do is wait a while to split the haul and the the other two Amigos will be too old to fight over it! Thanks for sharing with us.

Shorty

Thanks for sharing guys.....it's neat to see pictures of settings like this before they are dismantled as you rarely see these types of finds anymore. I know I never have, nor will I more than likely.
Darin

Remember guys--this was strictly Toms deal, and John and I went along, just to help Tom, and for the experience of it all! We got paid at the food counters we visited, as Tom usually picked up the tab, but we weren't along for compensation--just the experience!
Darin is right when he says he more than likely will never have an experience like this, and I was of the same mindset until this opportunity came up! To even get to experience something like this, is all the compensation that I needed, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
The laughter was frequent and the company was great. There weren't any problems that 3 guys couldn't handle, because we worked as a team, and we enjoyed every minute! Truly the experience of a lifetime, and a real life journey "back in time"!

AWESOME!... thanks for sharing the pics and taking us along for the ride.

One of the best stories ever , I can't imagine how exciting that was .

neat trip, something that doesn't happen very often. thanks for sharing!!

Having bought out several bulk plants myself and doing all the moving, in most cases with paid help, Tom's trips are a Hoot! He takes care of everything and I was just the labor. I was fortunate enough to go along into Mississippi a while ago on a pick. Had John with us then as well. Great bunch of friends. Wore me out in two days but met many "colorful" locals and had fun. Tom's trips are like a "Disney World Ride" for old guys! As Kevin said, the stuff is all Tom's, the trip experience is the real value. Paul www.severngaspumps.com

Paul was one of those colorful locals in Mississippi named Dixie?!

Just WOW! What an absolutely priceless experience. Thanks for taking the time to include us in your journey Kevin, much appreciated.

Thanks to all involved and the great pics.I am spellbound!

Bob, You are correct. Quite another story there. Paul www.severngaspumps.com

Sweet guys, thanks for sharing!

Love these stories. Thanks for the peek into it guys.

One of my other thoughts looking at all those pictures is all the great stuff that gets saved and will be back out there in circulation or in someone's collection being cherished , not sold for scrap to be melted or buried and mashed with a high lift in a hole by a throttle happy farmer! Lol ....I know the bulk plant is different but we have all heard those horror stories. I hope we see more of these documented trips on here in the future , puts a smile on ones face to read such a wonderful story!

thanks for putting on K W ..... that's what dreams are made of..... I wish we had that opportunity down here in Aus

All I can say is WOW Homerun out of the Park. Thanks for sharing!

It just dawned on me that for all the work Kevin put into documenting our adventures his mug was not featured, glad I had a camera.

Someone has to change the Blades for John & Tom!
Kevin's hat ain't even Dirty!

Wow....Texaco heaven......

Lookit da hed on dat one!! LOL