Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Long been one of my favorite movies, and having grown up in the Greater Bay Area, I am familiar with many if not most of the scene's locations!

Not so hard to turn a steam engine into a pump, especially if you are only pumping air. Low volume to be sure, but in the situation depicted, you'd not want more than a small volume anyway.

I'd love to have an E-Type done like that one in the movie ..... even though it is a bit morbid and generally I avoid such things, but really .... WOW!!!

While there is a bit of gold around here, the pickin's are really rather poor as the Mother Lode was on the other side of the mountains. However, I do have a place about 500 miles away on the Cal/Ore border where I have most commonly done fairly well. Problem is that four or five years ago a firestorm of awesome proportions swept through there leaving the deep old growth forest looking like blackened toothpicks pointed skyward, or giant pick-up-sticks piled on the steep hillsides. I used to call it my "Green Cathedral" and the last few times up there before the fire, I would spend far more time in my hammock slung over the little creek listening to it burbling while staring up into the green canopy, than I would actually digging and sluicing. An age sort of thing if you get my meaning.

I set three dates last year to get up there and see what the fire damage looked like on the ground, and failed all three times, another age-related thing I suppose, but though I have serious plans again for this year, the results may still be about the same! Heck, I was even planning on going to Texas to catch the eclipse in April, but those plans are looking less likely as every day passes as well.

Think my truly active gold diggin' days may be behind me at this point!?!?

It's good to have such fine memories at this time in life, but it would be far better to have a much younger body and some spare change for gas money!!!