Umapine Garage
While I was going to school in eastern Oregon I kept hearing this urban legend about an old lady who had a wrecking yard full of classics. One Monday morning a buddy came in to class, sat down next to me, leaned over and whispered, "I found it." He then told me about spending most of the previous Saturday driving the back roads looking for this mythical place. We were out of class at noon and by 1:30 we were sitting in front of, what looked to be, an abandoned farmhouse. The back half of the house and about five acres was surrounded by a combination of old 6' fence, barns, buses and truck trailers. When we knocked on the door we were greeted by small, frail woman who appeared to be in her late 70's. She knew Jerod from earlier but seemed a bit weary of letting us in since she hadn't met me. Jerod assured her that I was Ok so she led us through the side gate. She escorted us just to be sure. It looked like someone had started parking cars against the back fence several decades ago and just kept stacking them up until the entire lot was full. There was no real pattern to the placement but there were a couple "roads" through the collection. There were small trees and waist-high grass everywhere. Along the northern fence was a continuous row of pickup/truck cabs used to prop the sections of fencing up. When I commented that it was unfortunate that most of the roofs were caved in she replied, "It seemed like a good idea when we put them there. Turns out it just made it easier for the thieving bastards to make a quick get away." She explained that her husband had a repair shop "in town" and that these were just parts cars and abandoned vehicles. It was never really a wrecking yard at all but the more cars he had, the more people would give him (like stray cats). Frequently, he would go out to get the morning paper and find cars left on the gravel road in front of the house. She went on to tell us that he had passed away several years ago and she tried to sell off the cars and parts but people started trying to take advantage of her and theft became a problem so she just stopped. After we pulled a windshield frame and seat springs for Jerod's '38 Chevy we asked if she minded if we wandered around for a while. She obliged but still followed us around for a while. The newest cars in there were some late 70's Hondas which she said she was going to crush. The oldest thing in there was a '20-something farm truck. REO maybe? There was a 40's school bus that was full of hubcaps in 3-4' stacks. A Corvair van full of manual transmissions (no, there weren't any Muncies). A Crosley stacked on another Crosley. A '57 Chevy 4-door that was pretty well stripped but had a 12" Alder growing up where the engine used to be. There was a half-dozen Hudsons - Jets, Wasps and Hornets. Under a lean-to next to a shed was a row of Stovebolts, no big Jimmys though. There were also 3 Javelins that she used as parts cars for the one she drove. There were many odd thing we found in cars like a Cragar shifter on a 3 speed in a Falcon and an adapter to put a Studebaker engine in a Willys wagon. I would estimate 100-120 cars and trucks. It was truly a surreal experience and I will never forget it. We went back a couple more times over the next year or so. I was always amazed that when we asked if she had a part, she could walk us right to the car or even tell us which bus to look in. The scary thing was that she could tell id someone had stolen a part from a car since the last time she was in the yard.
Last summer I was in the area so I thought I would see If I could find it again after 12 years. The house and most of the fence remains but, from what I could see, most of the cars were gone. No one answered the door so I don't where they went. Hopefully they weren't crushed because there were literally tons of rust free parts to be saved.
Now that's gross.....
