Santa Fe

MirandaB · 08-03-2016, 02:12 PM

I have tried to upload a current pic of our Santa Fe skoolie, but it keeps on failing even though I resized it per the required specs. Will try again later. I have had several railroad enthusiasts stop by our house to ask questions. Some want us to bring our Santa Fe down to the local railroad tracks for a photo shoot. We are currently working on the interior. More pics to follow as we get sections finished up.

BusFiend · 08-03-2016, 02:17 PM

We love pics! You have to have a few posts under your belt until you can upload pics. It's an anti-spam measure.

MirandaB · 08-03-2016, 03:04 PM

Hi Bus Fiend -- Thank you for the explanation. I would say that at least now I know I am not losing my mind, but that conclusion might be a bridge too far.

Until I can post some pics I will have to make do with descriptions.

History:

We bought our skoolie in late 2009 intending to rehab it and make it livable. We were joining a former military buddy and a couple of his colleagues in a startup company in upstate NY, and we needed a place to stay until we either succeeded and could buy a home, or failed and returned to Ohio.

We bought the skoolie from a family who had taken the bus, painted over all of the skoolie windows, and did a rough conversion for the purpose of simple weekend camping. They built bunks in the back for their 6 kids, built in some rough cabinetry, added an apartment-sized propane oven/range, and put in a toilet. Their efforts were certainly adequate for their purposes, but there was too much wasted space in both the layout and the actual construction/fitment to work for us. We removed all of the skoolie windows, relocated a couple of the frames to facilitate installing regular RV windows, and riveted semi-trailer sheet aluminum over all the window spaces. We gutted the interior, added 1.5 inches of additional framing to the walls to give us 3.5 - 4 inches of exterior wall thickness, insulated the walls, and covered them with lauan ply. Then we ran out of time and money, so we loaded up all of our supplies in the bus and moved to NY. There we lived in a tiny cabin for 3-1/2 years before we got the company up and running and turning a profit. Then we sold our interest in the company and returned to Ohio.

During our NY stay I was able to work on the Santa Fe to some degree, but I did not come anywhere close to finishing it.

Two years ago we bought land in western NC and began rehabbing the Santa Fe to live in while we build our home. Christine's cancer returned at that time so I was unable to work on the Santa Fe for about a year while she underwent surgery and chemotherapy. I was able to resume work last fall, and have been working on it as much as possible ever since.

MirandaB · 08-03-2016, 03:05 PM

BTW - when will I know that my ability to post pics has been enabled?

Thanks,

Miranda

BusFiend · 08-03-2016, 03:37 PM

I'm not sure. Try visiting our user profile and see if you can add an album and upload photos. Forums usually make you wait for five posts or so before you can upload.

I'm glad to hear that Christine pulled through her treatments well.

Time to get cracking on that skoolie!

MirandaB · 08-03-2016, 04:05 PM

Ha Ha -- I am working now. Putting in beadboard wainscoting in the forward passenger area as we speak.

Thanks re Christine. She got thrpugh her second full course of primary chemotherapy and has been getting preventative chemo every 3 weeks for the past year. Cancer is gone but she has the BRCA1 gene mutation, so she will get chemo for life unless something else better is developed.

MirandaB · 08-04-2016, 04:49 PM

We purchased our skoolie from a family with 6 kids who had outfitted it for weekend family camping. It met their needs until the kids got older, but their layout and space utilization was very inefficient for long-term living. They had also left the original skoolie windows installed and just painted them over, which was neither very aesthetic nor well-insulated. The firs thing we did was gut the vehicle of all of its rough carpentry. We also removed all of the windows, relocated a few frames to accommodate regular RV windows, and riveted semi-trailer aluminum sheeting over the window frames. We also replaced the regular bumper with one from a semi tractor. I have tried to upload a pic of our Santa Fe in its post-window-conversion state, but apparently I have not yet earned photo posting privileges. Will post as soon as I am allowed.

Carytowncat · 08-04-2016, 07:21 PM

Miranda, hello!

Many of us, myself included, simple upload pictures elsewhere (imgur, photobucket, pinterest, etc) and post the links here. Even after i was a memeber long enough i still never got the uploader to work.

Good luck!

milkmania · 08-04-2016, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carytowncat

Miranda, hello!

Many of us, myself included, simple upload pictures elsewhere (imgur, photobucket, pinterest, etc) and post the links here. Even after i was a memeber long enough i still never got the uploader to work.

Good luck!

I've been here a while... When I upload from laptop, it works great... When I upload from iPhone... Not so much!

I found it easier to take my image, screen shot it, then upload to photobucket, open the pic in Chrome, copy the url and paste it in browser.
Much cleaner & faster... But, I've been practicing a lot!

Bonus, I can compile my picture's in iPhone notes, then email my note to friends/family

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