Moonshine Alley #13970

The Story

In the form of a 1931 Ford AA truck, an interesting ghost from the past came to rest in this patch of high grass of a Minnesota junkyard. Like the old saying if walls could talk, what tales could this old traveler tell? It would be most of interesting novel all by itself. The wooden stake body sides are surprisingly still there as is the wooden frame that makes the metal-sheathed cab. Obviously, this was a working truck made to do heavier work than average because of dual rear tires.

All the body tin has a wonderful even patina of brown rust yet there is a still-shiny stainless steel grille surround. Now blinded, the headlights lost their lenses a long time ago, probably for parts. The cab is actually a wooden frame with metal fitted over it. Look closely at the roof to see several nails which have backed their way out over time. Imagine, nails holding a vehicle together. There were once wooden floorboards too, but they were long gone leaving only grass to see looking through the windows. Fred Flintstone could easily start this thing right up and beat feet right on outta there.

Way back when this old Ford AA truck came to final rest here in what I called Oblivion Hollow because of being struck on the back end that twisted the frame. It sits up over the hill from the rest of the junkyard, out in the back, with the next generation of rounded-off cars from the 1940s as junkyard neighbors. There are probably more rabbits and deer around than humans back here most of the time. Being nearly one hundred years old, there won’t be many calls for parts from this rusty old truck anymore. This Jed Clampett throw-back has already far outlived its peers, so it is literally out to pasture forevermore.

This was a very large junkyard full of interesting things to see like this truck. I made a lot of pictures around this section of the junkyard over the course of four days, but on this morning I had to wait until a brief rain went through. Afterward in the wet stillness, there was only the non-sound of time and rust at work which always goes far slower than we humans can detect. Once in a while, a single rabbit would kick out of the high grass and that’s all the traffic there usually is back in Oblivion Hollow.

If a vertical version of this truck suits you more, see Waylaid In The Weeds #13980. And if Chevrolet trucks are more your thing, as well as seeing a bigger view of this junkyard on the prairie, have a look at these old five-window Chevys lined up in The Last Drive-In #14158.

Location: rural Kandiyohi County, Minnesota. Picture and story © Andrew Dierks