Down by the Railroad: Pictures of assorted cars and junk found near the Eugene, OR Union Pacific railroad tracks

Derelict drive-through coffee shop, circa early 1990s. This used to be Fast Lane Coffee's Oakway Mall location in Eugene, if I remember right. Never in my life would I imagine I would find one of these in a junkyard.

Dead trucks, camper and random junk near the same junkyard-type lot that the coffee stand was in. There was a house with a large Free Souls Motorcycle Club banner displayed prominently directly across from this, so I left as fast as I could.

Smashed 1960 Dodge Pioneer 2-door sedan with top removed. I doubt that this car has ANY usable parts at all, except possibly the Pioneer script on the rear fender.

BMWs and a Datsun Z-car, again, but with better chances of being rebuilt than the other ones I posted about two weeks ago.

Partial 1940 Ford two-door sedan, nose into the weeds next to the wing off of an outlaw-style race car.

Abandoned Building: Danebo Flowers & Gifts, Eugene, Oregon

During my photographic travels of today, I decided to take a picture of this long-abandoned florist's shop in West Eugene, fairly close to where I live. This flower shop closed sometime in the 1990s, and was one of several casualties of the neighborhood's business slump, caused by a heinous murder at a nearby convenience store in the early 1990s (the infamous Dari-Mart Murder), and not remedied until a new subdivision with a shopping center, two gas stations and a replacement for the store the murder occurred in were built in approximately 2003.

 

Viewed from the front. Notice the graffiti on the unbroken windows.

From the side. That appears to be the remains of a topiary of some sort on the opposite side of the tree from the sign.

Poster advertising professional florists still hanging on a wall. Despite the abundance of broken glass and other vandalism inside the building (I didn't go inside, but I saw it through the windows), it's strange that this poster and the office window next to it are intact.

Empty 40-ounce malt liquor jug on window ledge, behind filthy glass and peeling paint. Someone's definitely been inside this building since it ceased business, and it wasn't me!

The building being slowly taken over by ivy. This used to be the side door.

Considering that there is a childcare facility directly across the street from the part of the building still bearing signage, and that the rest of the neighborhood has been extensively redeveloped, it surprises me that this building hasn't been renovated or demolished.

Castoff: Roadside Fiat Spider

I spied this relatively well-preserved circa-1980 Fiat 2000 Spider sitting beside a road in Eugene, Oregon that borders the railroad tracks on St. Patrick's Day, but it was almost completely covered by a tarp. But when I saw it again a couple days later, the wind blew the tarp off almost all the way. While this car appears to be in restorable condition and still proudly wears its classic Pininfarina lines well, it is not as likely to be restored than a 1968-73 in similar condition due to the complicated electronic fuel injection, NHTSA-mandated impact bumpers and the later models having somewhat less attractive styling than the original design, which debuted to rave reviews in 1967 and was inspired by the Corvette-based 1963 Rondine show car, also built and designed by the good folks at Pininfarina. (stock photo below)

Returning to Nature, Part 3

1960s Mercedes-Benz 220S "heckflosse" (fintail) sedan and 1970s Ford Econoline van. The Mercedes may have a possible future as either a parts car or a project (older Mercedes are often worth more in parts than as a whole car, particularly in this condition), but the Ford next to it is little more than scrap metal.

1960s Dodge walk-in delivery van, returning to its elements in the same yard as the Mercedes and Ford van. About the only usable parts that one can see here are the Dodge script and possibly the side mirror.

Burnt 1950s school bus of unknown make with 1940s-50s-era locomotive carcass behind it. Again, worthless except as scrap or photographic subjects.

1970s or 80s Toyota Tercel, parked in front of a West Eugene home. There were hornets flying out of every opening in this car they could fit through, including those on the wheels.

Returning to Nature, Part 2

This 1970s-era Chevrolet Malibu stock car appears to have not moved in years, and is pretty well hemmed in by vegetation, both dead and alive. It is located next to the yacht and bicycle in Part 1.

Returning to Nature, Part 1

Today at Lane County Photos of Interest, we have a multi-part series of vehicles returning to nature.

Here are a derelict yacht, an old bicycle and a few garden implements including a wheelbarrow and potting bench, returning to their elements in a West Eugene front lawn.

A Car Graveyard in the Heart of Eugene

I have known about this stash of 1970s/80s era cars and parts, mostly BMWs and random parts thereof, located in the Whiteaker area of Eugene, Oregon, for many years, and have always wanted to get close to them, take pictures, and maybe even rescue a car or two. Well, I got the first two out of the way, and building a Revell plastic model kit of an E21 BMW 320i, similar to one of the cars here, will have to do for now as far as rescuing a car from here goes. 

The cars here include a W107 Mercedes-Benz SL roadster with a hardtop and some front-end damage, an early-model Datsun 240Z that was so badly wrecked that it would be impossible to rebuild but undoubtedly has at least a few usable parts left on it, a chrome-bumper BMW 2002 that looks to be a viable project car if it's not too rusty, an E21 BMW 3-series coupe, an E30 3-series coupe that would make great parts cars (or 24 Hours of LeMons/ChumpCar race cars, if one could be bought for under $500), and an extremely rusty "boattail" 1970s Buick Riviera. The parts include many doors, boot lids and bonnets from BMW E3 (Bavaria) and E12 5-series sedans, numerous tires, wheels, suspension struts, hubcaps and other bits that (for the most part) look to have come from BMWs and Datsun Z-cars, and many nuts, bolts and other fasteners. Due to all the interesting stuff out front, I would think that the garage/warehouse directly behind these cars would have similar if not better contents.

2002, E21 3-series and Buick Riviera in background, E30 parked in front

SL, Z-car and E30, E21 and Riviera in background

SL and BMW body parts

SL with 1970s slot-mag wheel, janitor's plastic mop bucket and unidentified steel disc wheel in foreground

Ninkasi Brewery: Construction Photos

I was in the Whiteaker neighborhood of Eugene, Oregon today, and snapped these pictures of the Ninkasi Brewery, maker of many types of fine, craft-brewed beer and ale. This brewery was a former plumbing company headquarters in its previous life, and has had the original building extensively remodeled to incorporate a tasting room and a far more modern esthetic than its previous iteration. Construction is far from finished, though, and much more is being added to the old plumbing-company building as I write this and these pictures show. The strange thing about the location of this brewery is that it is slightly more than 100 yards from the JESCO Club, an establishment used chiefly for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, which also has a tavern located two doors down from it. Clearly a foolish place for a building that AA meetings are held in.

 Tasting room and brewing tanks.

From the side, looks like it might be the start of the brewhouse or a bottling facility.

From the back (Blair Boulevard). 

In addition to the brewery, a warehouse appears to be under construction in the shell of this long-abandoned bakery outlet store. Little can be seen in this picture, but I was also in this area a few weeks back when most of the doors were open, revealing hundreds of gallons of beer and ale contained in single bottles, palletized six-packs and draft kegs. 

This Bridgeport beer bottle (brewed in Portland, Oregon, and a rival of Ninkasi) was lying in the grass between a sidewalk and the street across from the side of the brewery site seen in Picture #2. Oddly, there were no Ninkasi bottles in the area, or other alcoholic-beverage containers for that matter.

An Update, At Last!

I have been busy with many other things, and am just getting back to work here.

If anyone's noticed, I have added advertisements to my blog, and I will be paid for people clicking them to go to the service or product that the ad links to.

Anyhow, more pictures are on the way, and enjoy!