Inspired by... days gone by

Inspired by... days gone by

 

There are a lot of special and neat things about where I'm living now. And today I'm going to share one of them with you.

Anybody know what this is?

 

 

Most people guess: a cannon. But it's actually an engine from an original 1898 oil rig. Not only is it a neat story (how it came to be sitting where it is today – that is my cottage, Casa Verde, in the background) but it also provided me with an interesting composition from which to create an abstract for this week's Photo Art Friday Challenge!

 

A screenshot of my layers is at the end of the post. I layered the original photos and used Bonnie's Chinks of Light and Off Kilter textures to create the affect.

 

The Story: Back in the early 80's my friend's dad was working down in south Texas on the oil fields. He would travel the pipe lines, through the vast south Texas ranches, and read the pressure gauges to make sure there weren't any leaks. Over the course of 80+ years the oil companies had left a lot of junk treasure laying around. Eventually, one of the ranchers asked my friend's dad if he knew anyone who would be interested in cleaning up his ranch. He immediately contacted his son and grandson.

If I haven't lost you already, here's where the story gets interesting...

 

On the rancher's property, nearly hidden by trees, was an old tin building about 30ft wide x 100ft long. The building had been erected some 60+ years before by Magnolia Oil to preserve one of the last known, complete, original oil rigs. Somehow, as Magnolia became Mobile, became Exxon, the rig down in Web County was forgotten.

For my friend, it was love at first sight. He's still looking for the pictures he took of the rig as they found it inside this tin building, and I'll post them here when he does, but see if you can imagine what he saw:

The engine, pictured above, was attached to a wheel, about 14ft in diameter which rotated and engaged the walking beam, a 24ft x 18inch x 20inch solid piece of wood, mounted on an "A" frame. At the end of the walking beam was the shaft that went down into the earth, usually a quarter-mile or more, and brought up the oil. A massive, complex system with many parts, the oil companies quickly engineered to the more streamline rigs you still see today.

 

It took about a year-and-a-half, but my friend and his son cleaned up the rancher's property and moved the rig with the intent of setting it up exactly as they had found it. As you can see, they got as far as the engine. But the other parts have been preserved and one day (hopefully soon) people driving by won't be pointing to the "cannon" anymore...

 

 

Tico 2

Titusville Iron Works

Titusville PA.

Pat. 1898

 

The last picture is textured with Kim Klassen's awaken. It's just enough, don't you think {wink}. I've enrolled in her Beyond Layers class, and am looking forward to a "year of art full inspiration!"

I have to admit, I'm intrigued by stories like the one shared above. I love old equipment, gears, rigs, etc. and believe history comes alive when you can teach it through personal stories. It's more interesting and meaningful, because it's the people in history that makes it matter.

I hope you've enjoyed the story. And if you have one of your own or know about these old rigs, I'd love to hear from you!

 

Blessings,

 

 

 

Sharing inspiration here: