Boomer K. said:
Great link Joe.
What Boomer said. That was a fun read.
I have really enjoyed researching Chuckawalla Slim.
I don’t remember meeting him but we had many of the same haunts. When we take Interstate 10 to Quartzsite I think of him since the Chuckwallas are south of the 10 along the route.
My truck will be much like his but I have decided to personalize the burlap sides. I’ll have to decide if I want to spell Chuckwalla the way it’s spelled today or Chuckawalla as he spelled it.
The way he spelled it is way more funner. You gonna put snakeskins, animal skulls, and dead lizards on your canvas roof too? Also frypans, and Godonlyknowswhatallelse…
Looks like a real fun project, though it’s not exactly a revenue generator for the railroad…
If you use an ertl-type truck, you’ll want a 1:24th figure for sure, anything else wouldn’t look right. By default I do all my scenery, buildings and figures, to 1:24 scale.
But I haven’t been tempted into 1:20.3. If I had, I guess all my scenic stuff would probably appear too small for the trains.
I stick to 1:22.5 and 1:24 on the rails.
Ahh, John; you and I know that the 1:20.3 fad will soon end, and all will go back to the good old !:22.5/1:24 madness and reliability/durability. Then B’mann will start producing more in the old Big Hauler line, and the new “fad” will take off like mad.
Heck, they have upgraded the Annie, so some good news is bound to come out very soon.!!
Yea, certain fads will end sooner or later. 1:20.3 scale, Diesel-lectric locomotives, and so on. 
Here’s what Slim’s truck would look like if I followed the directions.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/doug_arnold/_forumfiles/Ford1.jpg)
And here’s what an old kit looks like when it was never put together!
Doug ,
Preiser make a large range of extremely good figures in 1/24 and 1/22.5 , they are crisply moulded and a doddle to paint . They make civvies , military , train crews , road workers and so forth . They are available in packs of 20 different figures and can be modified using the usual adhesives .
Ebay sells a lot of old diecasts at 1/20-1/24 scale , and also available are plastic kits at the same scales .
With the veteran trucks and vans , you can get away quite easily with 1/24 alongside LGB .
Mike
I finished cleaning up the flash, undercoating and painting the truck today. I even started assembling! Lots more to do.
Joe Satnik said:
IIRC, counter-clockwise swastikas are seen in American Indian art, though I’m not sure which tribe or tribes used them.
There used to be a town named Swastika, in New Mexico. They even had a Swastika Railroad. Both the town and the railroad changed their names during WWII.
Interesting that all y’all are calling Slim’s Swastica reverse. It actually was the NAZIs who reversed the Swastica, for reasons that made sense to them.
I may be eyesight-challenged but I’m making progress on Slim’s truck.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/doug_arnold/_forumfiles/Ford4.jpg)
Good story Boomer and a great figure as well.
Reminds me of the story my Dad tells about one of my great-great-grandfather who went from Ohio to California. He came back with $5,000 and nobody knew if he robbed a bank or struck gold. Bought the family farm.
That should look great next to the truck.
Slightly off topic! Don’t know where Swastika, NM was, but in Raton (Spanish for “Rat”) there is a Swastika Hotel. Although it’s been renamed, the swastika on the parapet is still there. I’ve got a photo of it somewhere.
Dick:
Continuing to be a bit off topic here is what the web has to say about its location and brief history - Swastika New Mexcio.
Does a “rockologist” hunt rocks or fish for them?
isn’t “ology” the study of? If so, then a rockologist is “one who studies rocks”.
Cmon, Dave, stay with the flow of the banter. Does he “study” fish or hunting for rocks?
I am sorry, I was analyzing his title. Since he is doing it on dry land, I would suppose he a rock hunter.
Nice work on that figure! Great story too!