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Deckhands

Page history last edited by Kevin McHale 10 years, 11 months ago

back to the Index, or to the previous report



report covers:   29 May 2139, 0900 PT to 15 June 2139, 1500 PT

 

29 May 2139

 

weather report: CAVU,  light winds from NW; nightly low temperature 20 C, daily high temperature 28 C. No precipitation.

 

     Standing amidst the wreckage of the fort at Biggs, the team realized their victory was complete (and then some). The River Folk were celebrating on both sides of the river, and on the center span of the bridge. Tom Teglin, the captain of the River Folk from The Dalles, said that a dozen or more of his people would show up on boats by mid-day, to add to the defenses. The team salvaged some gear and traveled, with Tom, to The Dalles.

     At The Dalles, people were happy to hear about the victory, and the lack of casualties (well, friendly casualties). The team sat down to a big breakfast with Tom and the other River Runners, discussed a few deals (including the exchange of the Browning machinegun stolen from the Foundation), and were invited semi-officially to join the River Runners clan (which controls both The Dalles and Bonneville, plus other sites upstream to the McNary dam). Tom said that to really join the clan they'd need Captain Parker's say-so, but he didn't think that would be a problem.

     The team caught some sleep in the afternoon, but by sunset several steam boats arrived from Bonneville, led by clan-captain Emma Parker.

     A big feast to celebrate the victory took place! The team was mighty tired by the end of the night.

 

30 May 2139

 

weather report:  high overcast 10%, moderate winds from N; nightly low temperature 22 C, daily high temperature 31 C. No precipitation.

 

     A more sober "war council" was held in the morning, along with another hearty breakfast. Discussions and the disclosure of useful information kept the team busy until after lunch. Then, with their vehicle re-packed and ready to go, R54 left for Bend, late in the afternoon. 

 

31 May 2139

 

weather report:  high overcast 10%, moderate winds from N; nightly low temperature 20 C, daily high temperature 29 C. No precipitation.

 

     Well before dawn, the team found a secluded camp site about 12 kilometers north of Bend, not far from US 97. JJ set off immediately on foot, to scout the fort. As the Pale Riders were having their breakfast, JJ was hidden on the slopes of Awbrey Butte, about 2 kilometers from the middle of the fort. He observed the Riders through most of the day, and scuttled stealthily back to the team's camp after sunset. The team decided there was "no time like the present" to attack the Riders; every day that went by would increase the chance that the destruction of Biggs would be reported somehow.

     A bit before midnight, the team attacked the lookout tower on Pilot Butte; once in control, the V150 was brought up to the peak and Gootz shelled the mortar in the middle of Bend. After the large explosion of the mortar's magazine, the team swept into the fort itself. For the next half-hour Jesse and Gootz patrolled the parade ground in the V150, while the rest of the team cleared the buildings and tunnels.

 

1 June 2139

 

weather report: high overcast 10%, moderate winds from N; nightly low temperature 22 C, daily high temperature 28 C. No precipitation. 

 

     The Pale Riders in Bend were all slain or driven off; 10 harem lads and lasses were located in the headquarters building, along with 4 slave servants.

 

Slaves of the Pale Riders

All the slaves had an iron shackle riveted around their left ankle. For most of the harem slaves, this was only nominal restraint -- they were able to slip the shackle off. A couple of the oldest harem slaves, and all the servant slaves, needed the rivets struck from their shackles if the shackles were to be removed.

  • Ten harem slaves, 14 to 21 years old, taken last summer (2138) from various towns in Washington state. They came from the United Combine, Purity Corp, or the Hand of Jehovah (not all of them used those terms, however -- you were guessing in some cases). Three of them were male, seven female; three were pregnant (about three or four months along). They were not too badly abused, in the sense of beatings or maiming, but clearly in terror of Men With Guns. They were very hard to understand -- their various versions of Road Talk were especially think, slangy dialects.

  • Four servant slaves, 18 to 27 years old, in service anywhere from 1 to 5 years, all male. One was butcher and kitchen staff, one was a stable boy, one was a laundryman, and one (Enos) was chained in the workshop as a smith's assistant (the only slave you found actually chained in place).

 

     Worried about possible sniping from outside the fort, or undiscovered tunnels, the team worked themselves to exhaustion searching the buildings, moving the loot, and preparing three horse-drawn wagons for travel. The four slave servants were some help with this -- at least, they knew how to hitch and drive a wagon. 

     As the wagons were loaded and prepared to move, the team torched the entire town.

     Late in the day the team, the three wagons, and the saddle horses headed north out of town, but only got about 6 kilometers before sunset -- the team pressed on to the somewhat-hidden campsite they'd used the day before. Making camp, feeding and guarding the slaves, dealing with the horses and wagons, posting watch, and re-securing some items of the load meant that none of the team members got to sleep before midnight.

 

2 June 2139 - 5 June 2139

 

weather report: winds generally moderate from N or NW; nightly low temperature 19-22 C, daily high temperatures 28-30 C. No precipitation. 

 

     Four hot, tiring, dusty days of slow travel, north along US 97 to Biggs. Once the team arrived at Biggs, late on the 5th, the River Folk were able to provide much welcome help in caring for and feeding the slaves.

 

6 June 2139

 

weather report:  wind moderate from NW; nightly low temperature 25 C, daily high temperatures 31 C. No precipitation.
 

     The team left the captured saddle horses with the River Folk at Biggs, and traveled west to the Dalles. Some River Folk were brought along to help with the wagons and slaves, and a couple of the less healthy slaves were sent downstream by boat.

 

7 June 2139

 

weather report:  wind moderate from NW; nightly low temperature 22 C, daily high temperatures 30 C. No precipitation.  

 

     After another long day's travel, R54 arrived at Bonneville Falls with their three wagons. The River Folk were mighty impressed by the team's accomplishments -- various heroes, expeditions, strategems, and skullduggeries hadn't done so much against the Pale Riders in ten years, compared to what R54 had done in just a week! The team gratefully placed most of the slaves into the custody of the River Folk -- some of the harem slaves would be sent off to their home towns (if the towns still exist) by the River Folk. Another feast and celebration -- the biggest one yet -- was held that evening, in honor of R54; the team members were formally "read into" the River Runners clan.

     One news item:  a People's Army trading ship was expected to arrive at Bonneville Falls in two or three days. The team decided to send Doc onwards to Oregon City with the wagons, and the rest of the team would wait to see the Commies...

 

8 June 2139

 

weather report:  wind moderate from NW; nightly low temperature 22 C, daily high temperatures 30 C. No precipitation.  

 

     At dawn, Doc set off for Oregon City; he had half a dozen River Folk traders, and the "workshop slave" Enos, to drive the wagons and help with guard and camp duties.

     The harem slaves had been responding fairly well to good treatment by the California Liberation Army Militia; with proper hammocks, clean clothing, and lots of food at Bonneville, they seemed human again. Clan-captain Parker agreed to either send them to their homes, or find them husbands among the River Folk. Some of the harem slaves had already received offers of marriage from River Folk, who approached Sergeant Crockett as their obvious guardian. Will he accept bride-price? I presume he'll want the brides to agree to any change in status.

     The members of R54 in Bonneville Falls got a lot of sleep on that day; laundry, cleaning out the armored car, and other chores took up a bit of time.

 

9 June 2139

 

weather report:  wind light from NW; nightly low temperature 24 C, daily high temperatures 31 C. No precipitation.  

 

     Doc and his wagon troupe woke up somewhere along the Columbia River, partway to Oregon City; they pushed on past the marshy ruins of Portland.

     The rest of the team "took the tour" of the River Folk community at Bonneville Falls.

 

10 June 2139

 

weather report:  high overcast 10%; wind moderate from NW; nightly low temperature 22 C, daily high temperatures 28 C. No precipitation.  

 

     By late afternoon, Doc and the wagons arrived at Oregon City. It was a Thursday; a few people (like the Regulator) had heard of the team's victory at Biggs, but the Spectator hadn't published a weekly issue with the news yet.

     An old quonset hut at 221 High Street was leased to store the team's salvage and loot; Doc hired Enos to be watchman and storekeeper.

     Back in Bonneville, the team was relaxing and making deals (or babies) with River Folk.

 

11 June 2139

 

weather report:  wind moderate from NW; nightly low temperature 21 C, daily high temperatures 30 C. No precipitation.  

 

     In Oregon City, Doc was busy hiring laborers to unload wagons into the building on High Street; he sold the draft horses and two of the wagons, and began trading and selling some of the loot. He was approached by an editor from the Spectator about the team's activities ... Hugh, any idea what he'd say?

     Meanwhile, at Bonneville Falls, the Nikolay Vilkov arrived. It was a Soviet landing ship, much patched and mended; it flew this flag:

 

 

      The River Folk were clearly glad to see the ship; they wore holiday attire, blew steam whistles, and bands played music on the pier. The ship tied up and lowered a gangway; the captain, several of his crew, and some "trade delegates" came down to exchange bear hugs with Clan-Captain Parker and other notables. The crane immediately began lowering pallets of cargo onto the pier; the first pallet was entirely gifts for the River Folk.

 

Nikolay Vilkov

     A Soviet naval vessel, part of group 4 of the Project 1171-class landing ships (NATO class name:  Alligator); it was built at the Yantar Baltic shipyard, and commissioned in 1974. It is 4650 tons displacement, 113 meters long, beam 15.6 meters, draft fully loaded 6.15 meters. The hull number, painted on the bow, is 070.

     The engines are two 4500 HP diesels driving two shafts, plus a 300 kilowatt diesel generator. The original speed was 16 to 18 knots; currently, the ship can't manage more than about 14 knots. Originally, at 15 knots the ship had a range of 8000 miles; at 16.5 knots, only 3500 miles. The fuel tanks have a capacity of 250,000 liters.

     The tank deck runs the length of the ship, with doors and ramps at the bow and stern. The ship has a KE29 7.5-ton crane on the forward deck; originally there was also a 5-ton crane aft. It could carry about 440 troops, and some combination of about 20 tanks, 50 trucks or armored cars, up to 85 GAZ-66 light trucks (including some in the open on the upper deck), or anywhere from 600 tons of cargo (as part of an amphibious operation) to 1750 tons of cargo (when used as a regular freighter). The accommodations for troops were very cramped, below the tank deck.

     As built, armament was a 57mm gun, a couple of 23mm anti-aircraft guns, and a UMS-73 multi-barrel rocket launcher (40 tubes, 140mm), for dealing with beach defenses. In the 22nd Century, it has a simple 75mm gun mounted ahead of the superstructure, and some 12.7mm DshK machineguns. The various radars are long gone, but it still has some radio equipment fitted.

    The original crew was 55 men, of which 5 were officers (captain, executive officer, second officer, the chief engineer, and a political officer). The current commander is Captain 3rd Rank Vasily Trenton; Captain-Lieutenant Sergei Venkov is the political officer. The 22nd century crew is 60 total:  a 10-man main gun crew, four 3-man machine gun crews, 4 riflemen; 8 engine department hands, 6 steward department hands (includes cooks and laundrymen, etc.), 11 deck department hands (including the bosun, carpenter, and other maritime specialists), 2 radio operators (including Simon Johnson), a clerk, a supercargo, and 5 officers.

    Interesting note:  the Nikolay Vilkov runs on biodiesel from hemp seeds -- the People's Army can get about 300 liters per year per hectare, on marginal cropland. At full power, each engine uses 600 liters of fuel per hour; thus each hour at full power uses 1200 liters = 4 hectares of hemp. It's about 200 kilometers from Astoria to Bonneville Falls, thus the ship takes 16 hours to reach Bonneville, at full power = 64 hectares. The ship has other functions during the year, but doesn't actually make a lot of voyages, so there are at least a thousand hectares in hemp production for biodiesel fuel.

 

     The Soviets and the River Folk began an afternoon of trading; sort of a combination of a mercantile exchange and an auction. Stuff would be brought forward on the pier, or swung out over the side from the ship, and a complicated process of phrases, hand signals, passing of chits, etc. would take place. Clearly most of the trade was being conducted as barter. Clan-Captain Parker and Captain Trenton were present, but not taking part in trading; the two of them were mostly drinking and swapping gossip. Things being traded:

 

some items being traded at Bonneville Falls

from the Soviets

from the River Folk

small motor parts - fuel pumps, carbureteurs, alternators; repaired 20th Century items

charcoal, many tons

biodiesel, in 200 liter drums

lubricating oil, in 200 liter drums

seafish and oysters

tires (jeep, pickup truck and light commercial truck),

all patched 20th Century items

cheese (goat or sheep)

pistol and rifle primers for loading cartridge ammunition, 5000 (less than $500)

outboard motor (1 only),

repaired and patched 20th Century item

12 volt car batteries;

all are repaired 20th Century items

textiles (especially hemp)

spark plugs

rope

lumber, many tons

booze

copper scrap

plywood

a fair amount of stuff from the Willamette Valley (mostly paper, foodstuffs, fabric)

small motor tools:  chainsaws, cement mixer, air compressor; mostly patched 20th Century items

hardware:  hinges, chain, pipe, hoses, window frames, pipe valves, etc.; mostly patched 20th Century items

CB radios -- patched 20th Century items

  • Realistic/Radio Shack TRC-100B (CB walkie-talkie, only six channels (4, 7, 11, 15, 17, 19; needs crystals if other channels desired, with vinyl cover, wrist strap, runs on AC or 12V adapter or 10 AA batteries, $200)

  • Realistic/Radio Shack TRC-458 Navaho (base station, $250)

  • Realistic Mini-40 (small mobile, $150)

  • Sears Roadtalker (base station, $200)

  • Uniden/President Jackson (mobile, has many more channels, 25 to 50 watts output, $400),

  • Yaesu FT-757GX (base station CB transceiver and general AM/FM receiver, $500, 5.2 kg).

None have scanners (I think), but being able to turn a dial smoothly would make Jesse's fingers happy. All include a microphone if appropriate. Expect them all to have funky, quirky features and unrepaired problems (frequency drift, burned-out lamps, etc.) after 150+ years. A lot of them are cobbled together from more than one "source" item.

broken CB and ham radios (brands include Courier, Craig, GE, Midland, JC Penney, Motorola, Pace, Radio Shack/Realistic, Sears, Sharp, Tram, Uniden/President, Montgomery Ward) and salvaged radio components

crystal radios (receive only, of course, mostly on CB channel 19, $2 each)

glass; all salvaged 20th Century stuff

...

hay, many tons

...

potatoes, many tons

items highlighted in goldenrod came through the Montanan Empire

while almost all of this stuff was bartered, prices are given to provide some idea of value

 

     I expect Jesse to be all over the radio gear, by the way. Keep in mind the referee isn't a CB/ham expert in any way.

     Tours were offered, and Scotty, JJ and Jesse went aboard. Jesse had a long chat with Simon, the radio operator on duty; Scotty spoke with Captain-Lieutenant Venkov about history 'n stuff; JJ went on the tour of the lower decks, and drooled over the armory.

 

  • radio room notes:  a couple of old Soviet radios, and a lot more American ham and CB radios.

  • armory notes:  about 50 AK-74 rifles, four RPK squad auto weapons, two PK light/medium machineguns, two NSV heavy machineguns, no pistols in sight. The vessel has deck mounts for 4 NSV machineguns; two of them were up in the mounts; and a few of the AK-74 rifles were being carried by security staff. The tank deck had a few off-road tactical vehicles, which may have once been GAZ-66 light trucks.

  • political notes:  a squadron of more than twenty vessels under Admiral Gennady Aleksandrovich Khvatov were at sea in mid-November 1989, playing the role of American invaders headed for Vladivostok. For a couple of years after the nuclear strikes, various techno-military-thriller actions took place:  ships were seized, small ports on the Canadian and American coast were raided, etc. Several of the Soviet vessels were sunk by American aircraft and submarines; others were lost to storms and gradual deterioration. Ordered to scout, destroy strategic targets and if possible occupy a useful port on the west coast of the United States, Admiral Khvatov found the area to be a combination of radioactive contamination and military remnants. By 1991, he and his fleet were desperately short of food, fuel, ammunition and other supplies; they chose Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River, for a semi-permanent base. Clatsop county was under Soviet control within a year; by 2000 most of the Oregon coast was under control. The reactors aboard the Ural provided electrical power until 2013. The last military or para-military attacks on the Democratic Republic of America occurred before 2030.

 

     The auctions and trades went on till sunset, when a big party in a tent/shed alongside the pier took place.

 

12 June 2139

 

weather report:  wind moderate from NW; nightly low temperature 22 C, daily high temperatures 32 C. No precipitation.  

 

     After a hearty breakfast, the team got a late start on the 80 kilometer trip to Oregon City -- it took them about 4 hours (they'd gotten somewhat used to the route). Arriving in the afternoon, they met up with Doc and conducted a lot of booty evaluation and trade good bartering.

 

13 June 2139

 

weather report:  wind light from NW; nightly low temperature 22 C, daily high temperatures 32 C. No precipitation.  

 

     Getting an early start, the team (with Doc back in the driving position) headed back to the Columbia River. They ate lunch at Bonneville, and Doc admired the Nikolay Vilkov (still tied up to the pier there). They then drove east to the Sam Hill bridge, and swam their V150 across the river (with some River Folk acting as lifeguards). The team stopped at the Stonehenge replica overlooking the gorge, puzzled by the sacrificial altar. The headed north for a bit along US 97, and camped alongside the road for the night.

 

14 June 2139

 

weather report:  10% overcast; wind moderate from NW; nightly low temperature 20 C, daily high temperatures 30 C. No precipitation.  

 

     The team continued north, entering the Yakima Valley. The remnants of 20th Century farms and orchards spread wide on either side of the river (the valley is typically 5 or 10 kilometers wide); a few homesteads and villages could be seen off near the river itself. After passing through Union Gap into the upper Yakima Valley, the team saw signs of River Folk activity (including a watchtower above Union Gap). About 10 kilometers north of Union Gap was the town of Yakima itself, with a population of about 500 persons. The town was surrounded by the usual broad area of ruins; a log palisade enclosed the actual current settlement, hard against the river bank.

     A sawmill and shipyard were located just outside the palisade; within the shipyard was a nearly-complete warboat, the John McNulty. It looks somewhat like this. The warboat was build by Aaron Snart, a very ambitious genius machinist; it was a paddle-wheel steam vessel, armed (so far) with a 3" Ordnance rifle in the bow (but mounts for two more cannons were in place). The warboat was about 75 meters long; the sloped armor is 75mm thick on the bow (overlapping railway rail), 19mm (plain steel) on the sides. The top speed is only expected to be 5.5 knots -- hardly enough to return up the Columbia River, let alone the Yakima.

     The River Folk at Yakima had already heard of the team's capture of the Sam Hill Bridge (but not of the destruction of Fort Bend). The town's defenses had been "beefed up" quite a lot in the last year or so, due to the threat of attacks from the Purity Corp or the Hand of Jehovah. Neither group had actually attacked, but some non-River Folk traders had been harassed or even vanished along the highways.   

 

15 June 2139

 

weather report:  wind light from W; nightly low temperature 23 C, daily high temperatures 36 C. No precipitation.  

 

     Heading further along US 97, the team crossed a low range of treeless hills, into the wide Kittitas Valley. The valley seemed to be a bit more engaged in agriculture than the Yakima Valley; wide hay fields and orchards could be seen. The former city of Ellensburg -- now known as Cayuse -- was observed from a distance; it was surrounded by fences and a moat. There are probably several thousand inhabitants in the town, plus several thousand in the valley surrounding it; the symbols of the Purity Corp were seen on all the communities. The team decided to give the town a wide berth, and headed east along the remains of Interstate 90. The roadbed itself was mostly broken up into gravel and sand, but the right-of-way was still broad and flat, heading east through rolling scrubland towards the Columbia River.

     The Vantage Bridge was long gone; much of the long causeway approaches had been swept away. There was a River Folk ferry here -- not at all up to carrying the V150. The river, about a kilometer wide, was flowing past at about 3 kilometers per hour; with a bit of trepidation and preparation, the team swam the river in their amphibious vehicle.

     Climbing up along the remains of the Interstate, the team reached the high desert plateau.

 

Interstate 90, about 15 kilometers west of Moses Lake

 

     The irrigation systems established in the mid-20th Century were long-dry; only areas near natural water sources had much vegetation. At Moses Lake and Ritzville, the Interstate passed settlements controlled by the Hand of Jehovah; the large airport north of Moses Lake appeared to have received a nuclear attack.

     The interstate highway led the team towards Spokane; the pavement was cracked and unmaintained, but (in the dry weather) hadn't been eroded much. Sand dunes encroached on the roadbed for several kilometers east of Moses Lake, and the rusted hulks of cars and trucks were common obstacles. The sky was free of clouds, and the mid-day heat on the scablands reached about 97 degrees fahrenheit. More burned-out and abandoned cars were seen as the team approached Spokane -- the freeway must have been jammed with people fleeing the Atomic War. Two great salt pans shimmered to the north of the interstate, where Fairchild Air Force Base and the municipal airport had been.

     At the crest of the long ridge overlooking Spokane itself, the team could see the Spokane River winding through the ruins; dust and dried mud covered much of the city, with sagebrush and scrub growing over the debris. Bone City seems to be a fortified island in the Spokane River, surrounded by waterfalls; there are probably about 2000 people living there.

    

Notes

 

Booty from Bend

 

Including hunters and the squad at the lookout, there were 38 Pale Riders stationed at the fort. The team counted 22 bodies for certain -- keep in mind that the explosion at the mortar position didn't leave a lot of identifiable remains. Still, it seems likely that about 30 Pale Riders were killed. An early start on the items found (there's lots more, I am sure - Such as? We only need to go into as much detail about tools as you want to keep track of. ):

 

  • Stuff I presume you will sell off (so I'm not gonna get too detailed about them):

    • 12 rifle-muskets, .58 caliber - take & sell ... $13 each from Stan, subtotal $156

    • 7 double-barrel 12 gauge shotguns, black powder cartridges only - take & sell ... $18 each from Stan, subtotal $126

    • 3 single-barrel 12 gauge shotguns, black powder cartridges only - take & sell ... $17 each from Stan, subtotal $51

    • 6 zip pistols, .45 ACP - take and try to sell ... $1 each from Stan, subtotal $6

    • 5 muzzle-loading rifled pistols, .58 caliber - take & sell ... $18 each from Stan, subtotal $90

    • 8 zip flare guns (pretty much a hand-held Roman candle) - not in my bus! ... used in the arson at Fort Bend, I presume

    • 3" rifled cannon barrel, mass 377 kg - sell to the first reasonable offer ... the River Folk at the Sam Hill Bridge would give you $250 for it, since it uses the same ammunition as the cannon they "inherited" on the center span of the bridge; BUT they don't have that much cash. Do you want credit? Sure, we can take credit, and all the loose coinage they might have.

    • 2000 paper cartridges for rifle-muskets - take & sell about 1000rds.  Donate the rest to the River Folk as pay for their assistance with transport of slaves to their homes and the booty to Oregon City ... Stan will give you $100 for the cartridges. The River Folk (at The Dalles?) will give you their hearty thanks!

    • bows, "swords", molotov cocktails, fighting knives - dispose of the Molotov cocktails in the wooden structures. Take the best of the other weapons to sell. Depending on the condition of the swords, bows and available arrows, keep up to 4 of the swords and bows (and all the decent arrows) ... Stan will give you $30 for the rest.

    • old GI steel helmets, bits of leather and steel "mad max" armor - take and sell ... Stan will give you $40 for the lot

    • shop buildings full of saddles needing repair, broken baby strollers, dented garbage cans, and in general a combination garbage dump/flea market of stuff - Not sure we have time to do much sorting through here. I'll leave it to the others to decide.

    • 3 horse-drawn wagons - take; keep one wagon in storage in Oregon City and sell/donate the rest after disposing of the rest of the booty ... the two wagons sold in Oregon City will bring $35 each, subtotal $70

    • 12 draft horses - see below 

    • 14 saddle horses, with saddles and tack - take all the saddles & tack - Take as many as of the horses as we feel can easily be tied in a string and led to The Dalles. These will be compared to the horses captured at the bridge. We will keep a total of 8 riding mounts. The rest will be sold off in The Dalles or Oregon City as we cannot afford to feed them.

      • only three can be easily led behind each wagon; what did you do with the other five? And does anyone on the team know the quality of a horse?

      • So we will take 2 draft horses and 2 riding horses to lead each wagon. Not ideal, and it will slow us some, but that still leaves the team with a full set of draft horses and plenty of  riding horses. Honestly, even though the River Folk are kindly offering to board (and exercise) any horses we want, I think we will only hold onto 4 draft horses and 7 riding horses, so we have 2 draft horses and 5 riding horses to sell with the 2 spare wagons.   ... you can sell those four horses for $48 each, subtotal $192 5 riding horses so $240?  The 2 draft horses will have to be boarded in Oregon City, where the wagon is being stored.

      • I do not think any of the team are particularly good at judging horseflesh. Scotty has an actual Riding roll and a basic skill in shoeing horses.

 

    • Stuff you might keep?

    • 5 Legion rifles, 7.62mm NATO caliber (bolt-action rifles with a 20-rd box magazine) - take and keep in storage at Oregon City

      • they're the standard rifle used by the Legions of the Foundation. Here's a picture:

 

 

Legion Rifle

 

    • 2 bolt-action hunting rifles, 7.62mm NATO caliber - take and keep in storage at Oregon City

      •  they're actually in better condition than the Legion rifles

    • 600 rounds 7.62mm NATO ball, all smokeless reloads - take and keep in storage at Oregon City

    • 120 rounds 12 gauge buckshot, all black powder reloads on plastic hulls - take and sell to Stan ... he will give you $0.50 each, subtotal $60

    • 50 rounds .45 ACP ball, all smokeless reloads - Scotty adds to his .45 ammo, effectively doubling his available rounds.

    • $307.50 in coinage (roughly 3000 coins, about equally quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies -- the sorting won't be done till Oregon City, I suspect). Heh, the $7.50 is the pennies ...  - Definitely take!

    • Kitchen implements (pots, pans, rolling pins, knives and cleavers, muffin pans, etc.) - Give them a quick sort and take the best looking cooking gear. Knives and cleavers get low priority here.

    • 8 sound-powered telephones; three of them are military TA-1/PT, the others are kinda cobbled together and mismatched -  take and keep in storage at Oregon City

    • About 2000 meters of 2-conductor phone wire ... the longest unspliced piece is about 300 meters - Take & store, if conveniently pre-coiled.

      • not coiled, it was laid out between the various sound-powered telephones - Then we did not get all of it.... too much time pulling and coiling.

    • Various small light bulbs (25 watts or less) - A few grabbed at random as wire was being coiled.

    • Two dozen strings of LED Christmas tree lights (the tunnel lighting) -- white, red, yellow and green; some blink - Taken, per Doc's request.

    • Workshop stuff:

      • A few electrically-powered items, such as a drill press, a big hand drill, box of drill bits, electric engraver, bench grinder, a couple vacuum cleaners (they don't have bags, but those could be made for you) - Take the hand drill and drill bits, grinder, and engraver. Leave the vacuum cleaners. Take the drill press and other electric tools if there is room.

        • the wagons have enough room, sure. Where will these end up? - For now, they are all going to be stored in Oregon City.

      • 10 ton floor jack:  172 kg, 1.5 m long - Take if there is capacity

        • yes there is, on a wagon. Where will it end up? - The warehouse Doc leased in Oregon City

      • two rolling tool chests with a couple hundred kilograms of small tools, nuts, bolts, bits of wire, socket sets, torque wrench, hack saws  - Definitely take!

        • Where will they end up? - Oregon City

      • Plus bench vises, hammers, clamps, levels, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, hand drills, combination squares, buckets of drab paint, paint brushes, steel shelving, and generally the contents of several dozen suburban garages - take the hand tools first, the shelving & vises if there is room. Leave the paint and brushes.

        • Where will all this end up?  - Oregon City

      • a blacksmith shop:  forge, anvil, hammers, tongs, bellows, and minor tools - Take the tools and the anvil, but not the forge.

        • Where will all this end up? - Oregon City

  • What to do with ...

    • 13" mortar (tube and baseplate only) - Find a way to blast/crack the tube.

      • Your demolitions manual says you'll need to use about a kilogram of C4 (= two M112 blocks) in the "chamber", preferably stood nose-down in the dirt for tamping. Or you could just throw it in the river ... or place a thermite grenade in the chamber (but I don't think the team has any thermite) - Okay, we drag it into the river behind the vehicle. ... check

    • Dam, Pelton wheel turbine and generator (they look about like this). - Leave them alone - As per (for now) "standard procedure" for surviving infrastructure we come across.

      • The 1910 generator is good for about 240 kilowatts, and the main power usage was the electric water pump; once a day in the evening, the pump would be run for a half-an-hour or so to fill the water tank on a wooden tower. The generator was only operating from sunset to midnight, roughly, in any case -- the lighting, toaster, drill press, or what-have-you hardware probably pull less than 3 kilowatts if they're all turned on. 

 

     Funds received in Oregon City, by selling stuff, totals $921. The cannon barrel might bring another $250, depending on what you decide to do with it. A couple of questions for the team:

 

  • Where do you, in general, keep "alla da money"? Quarters, nickels, dimes, pennies, a few solid dollars ... well over 3000 coins by now. Try to exchange as much small coinage as possible for larger coins in Oregon City. The rest will have to go in a couple of ammo boxes in the vehicle.

  • Which team members have been using "protection" when cavorting with the local ladies? More specifically, who has cavorted without protection? I think we have covered this issue exhaustively elsewhere.

 

On to the next episode!

Comments (1)

Kirk said

at 11:04 pm on May 24, 2013

a good anvil is worth a lot. We should take it to Oregon City ...

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