The junk yard I visited was indeed very large. For two hours I moved from one spot to another without lingering at any one place too long. Part of the reason for the haste was the threat of rain, indeed it occasionally sprinkled. Among the very large number of vehicles, and a large number of photographs I took, I have picked several because they captured my eye and imagination. The GM car with its stacked headlights (probably a Pontiac) was the summary of that era styling. There was a white Thunderbird with highly designed lines and a Gremlin was perched on top of a container commensurate with its name. Below that was a blue VW bug which has changed very little over the years. Some car bodies were totally rusted, even the grass around them looked rusty.

There were a couple of Cadillac bodies, a red one and a blue one. The fins stood out as the dramatic reminders of that era, I guess 1960s. Tucked behind a row of newer cars was a green Chrysler that still had a strong presence. I remembered riding on similar cars serving as dolmuş (jitney) in Istanbul many times. On the way out, we were allowed to enter a fenced in area where there were a couple of more Cadillac’s and a red Dodge truck. Having photographed the two Caddies before, I did not focus much on the black one there. I believe it was a 1959 or 1960 with very high fins that had two tail-lights on either side of the fin making it look like a spaceship. The red Dodge had a lot of character and I photographed it from different angles.

Afterwards, we thanked the proprietor of the junk yard who allowed me to take one photograph of him given that I was not from the FBI or the CIA. I assured him that I was neither. He grinned, I photographed, we left.

I have been after a visit to a junk yard, where cars are piled and scavenged for parts. A while ago Jude told me that he found a junk yard where they would allow people to go in and take photographs. Apparently many such yards do not allow anyone in for liability concerns. Yesterday we took off for the junk yard up in northern Rhode Island. When we arrived I was looking for some signs of junk and cars but we were in a residential neighborhood and there was no hint of a junk yard from the street. But as Jude drove up the driveway I started seeing cars in ill repair, although it is probably improper to call them “in ill-repair”. They were beyond repair and were there simply for parts and possibly scrap metal. We proceeded to the office and paid for admission, very reasonable I might add.

As we stepped out from the other side of the office which is their chop shop, a huge vista of junk cars appeared for as long as I could see. Near the office and the chop shop were a long row of trailer containers used for storage. Each had shelves built-in, storing countless number of parts for many different make and model cars. Each carried a tag and most, maybe all had some numbers written directly on the parts. A small forklift truck was carrying parts to these storage bins like a bee going after the pollen, darting in this container, then the next, …

We strolled around for about two hours and photographed whatever struck our fancy. Although all the vehicles there were broken in one way or another, some made me think of the driver and the passengers in them as the vehicle was contorted into a strange form most likely after an accident. Later I saw their flat-bed towing vehicle with a sign on the side confirmed my suspicion: “Last Call After Alcohol“. Sad!

In this post I will show you photographs that establish the lay of the land and give you an idea about the scope of the place. In all likelihood we will make another trip there one day as the potential is great. The weather yesterday was heavily overcast with gray skies, it even sprinkled on occasion but not enough to prevent us from taking photographs. Stay tuned for other photographs; but now, here is the junk yard we visited.