37. Box Car Racing

There is a hill on the west side of the schoolyard on Van Buren Street between Madison and Henry streets. I remember spending many Saturday mornings racing anything that had wheels down that hill. I don’t remember how it started. It just seemed like it happened every summer. The longer it went on the more sophisticated the racers became. My first was a wagon. Not the fastest thing to race! Later, my Dad fastened some old wheel chair wheels to the back of a board and put some old wagon wheels on the front. I steered with my feet and a rope attached to the front axel.

For a while I was the downhill champion. That didn’t last long because someone’s Dad was always helping him or her build a better, faster one. Tommy Guinn’s Dad was a welder and built him a realistic looking car. He attached sheet metal to the frame and then painted it up like a real racecar. It even had a real steering wheel. It looked just like a miniature version of the racecars we saw on TV. We all were very jealous until we saw how slow it was.

This was such a well-known event that kids from all parts of town starting showing up with their cars. We had so many that we had to have heats. The city police department came and blocked off the street for us. That ended when the Ready Mix plant was built on West Henry Street and the Saturday morning traffic made it too dangerous for us to be racing on that hill. The city officially moved us to the south hill in Saunders Park. It was a longer hill that turned gently to the right and end up near the playground at the bottom of the hill. (I have a much longer story about the Fire Bug Five and racing at Saunders Park.)

The Van Buren hill was great for me because it was just a half a block from my house. I didn’t have to drag or push my car for several blocks like some of the kids. I could go home and get Dad’s oilcan if I thought my wheels needed some lubrication. Sometimes I would have to run home and get a pliers and another cotter pin to replace a broken one.

When I think of the hours we spent in preparation for the Saturday morning races and then the time we spent there I’m amazed. Building, creating our own cars and our own entertainment occupied our time in those glorious days.