History's Finest Junk
Campo's Motor Transport Museum showcases both restored and worn vehicles.
photos and text by Heather Quinn

Relics: The Motor Transport Museum primarily showcases antique trucks, but there are plenty of other types of vehicles on display, like these vans.

Go ahead and call it a junkyard. The members of Campo’s Motor Transport Museum won’t be offended – it’s just part of the charm. But don’t assume that the 200-plus trucks and other relics rusting away in the yard of Campo’s old Feldspar Mill are just junk. Museum members have endless stories to tell about the vehicles and the rich and often overlooked history of motor transport.

Take for instance the 1912 stage coach that the museum recently renovated for the Julian Historical Society. The vehicle was used by a stage line that carried passengers from Foster, near Lakeside, to Julian, said museum corporate secretary John Thomas. The difficult journey – about 30 miles over rough roads in an open chasse that started on a crank shaft – wasn’t taken lightly.

“You didn’t casually go to Julian for a piece of pie like you do today,” Thomas said. “You really had to want to go.”

The Museum staff is meticulous in their restoration work, making sure every last detail is historically accurate. Luckily for them, the Mack Truck Company, the manufacturer of the coach, was equally meticulous back in the day, documenting every part used in the vehicle, Thomas said. Volunteers crossed referenced a detailed build record with an illustrated parts list and made wooden models of each missing piece to use for a mold.

The only detail that was compromised, in fact, was the crank shaft. The stage was restored to be fully operational – specifically as a parade vehicle – and the old crank method simply took too much muscle. According to Thomas, for the inexperienced the old crank can even be dangerous. So instead they compromised with a hidden electric ignition that still preserves the original look.

The work took nearly three years, but it was finished in time to be used in Julian’s Fourth of July Parade in 1999.

The museum is in the process of renovating a second stage vehicle from the Julian stage line, a 1924 model that can be viewed inside the mill. The newer model had the advantage of a closed chasse and was also in better condition for refurbishing, having most of its original wood intact, Thomas said.

The later stage coach has its own colorful history. After its service on the Julian stage line, the 1929 stage car was bought by a Doctor Willard in Borrego Springs who transformed it into a medical office of questionable repute.

“He ran a belt from the wheel to a generator inside and he actually offered electric shock therapy,” said live-on docent for the museum Bryan Butler. “He had a cure for just about everything.”

It’s not just the story of how the vehicles were used, but the stories of how they were found and preserved that make the museum such an interesting place. The

Above: The 1929 Stage Car, renovated from the ground up by museum volunteers. Below: The Feldspar mill building that houses the Motor Transport Museum.

museum was initially formed in 1986 in Campo as a space for collectors who had no other place to store and preserve their antique vehicles. Much of the trucks on

display are from private collections, others are donations. Even when they are simply rusting away on the museum

grounds, all of the vehicles reflect a piece of history that would most likely be lost without the museum’s presence.

“Basically, what we’re trying to do is just preserve it,” Thomas said. “Once these things are gone to the crusher they’re gone.”

Both of the stage coaches’ stories are illustrations of the precariousness of this link to history. The 1912 coach was initially found by a member of the Julian historical society, who discovered the metal components of the frame near Cuyamaca Peak, Thomas said. According to Thomas, Zerby purchased the frame from its owner and brought it back to Julian, where it sat for another 20 years in a storage parking lot, lacking a transaxle to repair the engine. Carl Calvert, the president of the Museum, happened upon the right piece and set off the restoration effort.

The 1929 stage, on the other hand, was found rotting out in the desert since its last adventures with Doc Willard, and the elements were much more forgiving to this relic than its predecessor. Most of the parts were still intact, Thomas said. Not intact to the point that it was useable, but they served as a basis for the creation of replacements.

In addition to the restored stage coaches, there are several other restored trucks housed inside the museum, safe from the elements and in a favorable viewing environment for museum visitors. And of course, seeing pristine classic antique vehicles is always a treat, especially given the attention to every detail paid by the volunteer staff. But there are plenty of places – from car cruises to private collections – to see restored vehicles, and closer to home, too. The thing that really makes the hour drive out to Campo worthwhile is the rest of the collection – the junk yard full of dilapidated vehicles in all their rusty glory.

The junk yard is where you really get a sense of the importance of preservation. The trucks outside, contrasted with the show room trucks, present a striking before-and-after. Seeing the years worth of damage from wind, rain, sun and the steady passage of time really gives you an appreciation that you are looking at something from another time, something that, without the intervention of the MTM, would have been lost entirely.

Aside from is historical significance, it’s also simply a pleasure to explore the junk yard. Thomas and Butler are usually available to give tours to curious visitors, and this is a great way to get a sense of what these trucks meant to the people who once used them, in an age when trucks were crucial to America’s economic development.

Butler said he tries to give visitors a story for as many of the trucks as possible, even though some of the actual history of the vehicles is unknown. The museum is very much a place of continual learning, even on the part of the staff, and they do their best to share at information they have.

“I learn new things all the time, and quite honestly, there’s a lot of information here that nobody knows,” he said. “You have to kind of carefully display information to people, because you don’t necessarily want to tell a lie, but you’ve got to give them something.”

But they are also happy to let visitors explore on their own, which is a much more exciting experience. There are around 200 trucks and other antique vehicles – some odds and ends like golf carts and sirens – to explore in as hands-on a way as you would like. The museum only asks that guests refrain from opening door and hoods, as much for the safety of guests as the trucks. The day I visited was particularly windy, and Thomas explained that doors could potentially fly off and injure unwary visitors.

All of this is set against the backdrop of another piece of interesting architectural junk –and old Feldspar mill. Alongside Highway 94 and standing nine stories tall – making it the tallest building in Campo and the surrounding area -- the old mill itself attracts quite a few visitors to the museum. This striking landmark operated from 1926 until the 1940s, when workers started complaining of health problems from inhaling the white feldspar dust, which is used in porcelain products, Thomas said. This unique setting adds to the varied allure of the site.

“This is sort of an eclectic place, so it’s not everybody’s bag,” Thomas said. “The ladies usually just stay in the car and read.”