Bessie is for sale and many people wish to know what's left in her restoration and if there are any recent photos. All the photos in this blog post were taken August 6th, 2013 and I will do my best to use these photos to highlight the areas where she could still use some improvement. For the record, asking a trailer owner what is left to complete will always result in a wry smile. The improvements are only limited by your imagination, but I'll do my best...
Bessie in Oregon's August sun. Note the screened door within a door design that allows light and air flow. It should be apparent that her skin is in great shape (a little cloudy from oxidation maybe), and is completely waterproof down to each riveted seam. Only minor and superficial dents, dings, or scratches.
She's 54 years old and sometimes original parts wear down. Not all of her windows stay open without help, but all windows do lock shut. I'm sure this could be fixed if there was inclination.
Oops, just kidding, the photo below still has one window curtain pulled closed...
Not all the windows have curtains on them, so I've hung a few privacy drapes. Adding curtains will be a fun thing the next owner gets to customize on four windows, or they could take the fabric we already purchased and use that. All window curtain "brackets" are intact and in place, just waiting for fabric.
These photos are from the rear bathroom facing the front of the trailer.
These photos are from the front of the trailer, sitting down in the dinette looking towards the rear bathroom. Bessie has no fridge. We never made our minds up which type of fridge to get - strictly an AC powered fridge for when we're hooked up (about $100 from Home Depot), strictly a DC powered fridge for when we use Bessie as base camp in the wilderness (a power hog), a two-way powered DC/propane fridge, or a three way powered AC/DC/propane fridge. All variations come in different sizes and options and we realized that we've camped our entire lives just using coolers or less and we don't live in Bessie permanently so why the need to power an additional fridge? It seemed like a costly decision that would just add weight and not much advantage anywhere, so we left the space open and figured we'd see how we used it. Usually, a suitcase and a cooler went here, along with some folding chairs. And not surprisingly my beer stays cold and my food stays fresh in the iced coolers. This is an area that could use an upgrade. Or an ice box.
The catalytic heater is great, easy to use, and very efficient (uses little propane). On a forty degree night it takes about ten minutes to warm the trailer up to 50F. It would probably get warmer but we usually were too tired to wait and just cozied into bed, turning the catalytic heater off. I left space to add an additional one in case I decided to move somewhere like Alaska, Switzerland, or spent significant time snow-camping near the slopes. I'm pretty sure an additional heater will never be necessary, but there is room for improvement here as there is open space. I like how it lets in more light, so I left it open.
The lights above the dinette are on two different power systems, one is DC, one is AC, so you will always have light at the table no matter how you are powered. LED camp lights work just fine too.
The finished front dinette...
Also folds into additional sleeping quarters. The black box under the shelf is a junction switch for the DC power and was once covered by some terrible contraption a previous owner created. There is no high voltage - only 12volts if even powered - but it's not kid-friendly. This is definitely something that needs to be finished.
Wide screen shot of the same...
This is a standard sized pillow for reference. That switch on the wall powers the 12VDC water pump if you are not using hookups and instead using the fresh water tank.
The white PVC underneath the mahogany board is the fresh water tank. It has holes drilled for vents but I never decided where to vent it since it required I drill a hole through the trailer skin. My plan was to vent into the old battery box located on the exterior under the front window (see second photo in this post) but I never got the courage to drill through Bessie and always used fresh water hookups. Water pump is plumbed, wired, and ready to go but the water tank just needs a vent. This is an area for improvement.
View of the bathroom from the dinette. The bathroom sink works but leaks at the base so I shut the water supply valve off to this sink. I purchased the sink from Habitat for Humanity and I think all that's needed to stop the drip is a new gasket but I'm not 100% sure. I simply use the kitchen sink when needed. The bathroom sink still drains perfectly.
Same view with bathroom cabinet closed... This is still just ambient light.
Ok this area definitely could use work. We intended to put a foldaway work desk here to cover up the plumbing and wires but actually liked the open space so decided to wait on the upgrade here. What you are looking at is a white water drainage (grey water) pipe flowing from kitchen to the rear. It will meet up with the bathroom sink and drain out the bottom of Bessie. Black water is self-contained and has it's own separate drain. This is also where the AC electricity enters Bessie through the white wire twisted around the white pipe. The silver box on the white pipe has a big fat 15 amp cable that runs to an AC power plug (about 15-20 feet long). It pulls in through that hatch and rolls up when in transit.
Also in this photo is the white PEX freshwater intake that splits off towards the bathroom and kitchen. It's insulated towards the kitchen. The exterior hose connection is an exterior wall mount inlet that I never installed. I simply have it connected to the hose outside in a very lazy way. Again, I just wasn't ready to cut holes into the trailer skin since I wasn't sure where the best placement would be. The photos after this one will help explain...
The photo below shows the potable water hose from the bottom of the picture feeding into the wall-mount pressure-control (that isn't mounted to a wall) and feeding into Bessie through the hatch. Ideally this wall-mount pressure control would be mounted on the actual hatch door. Or maybe next to it?
This is the end of the 15-amp umbilical power cord that powers Bessie's AC system, that is fully operational.
This is Bessie's junction box. The smaller white box at the bottom is an older junction box that is no longer in use. The frayed wires attach to that box and probably should just be removed. Bessie was wired for a land line when I received her so this might be a part of that rig? She still has her mysteries.
One of them being the phantom short-circuit in the AC system. As I mentioned before, the AC system is fully functional meaning all lights work, all outlets are new and have been upgraded and replaced by me but sometimes it seems the trailer shell has a slight bit of current running through it - like an old electrical wire has frayed and is rubbing on the steel skeleton or something. I've measured this "leak" to be about 12.7 VAC with a Fluke voltmeter about half the time. The other half of the time there is no "leak", so it's perhaps not dangerous but definitely a concern. I had plans to simply rewire a few key electrical sockets externally with protected aluminum coil but never got around to it since the DC system works fine and so does the AC. This is an area that needs improvement. I simply shortcut the issue by running an extension cord to a power strip from my house for when guests stay over. It's lazy but I ran out of funds and again the electrical system works.
This is the original base of the second bunk. It would still fit in the trailer and is included in the purchase if desired. I also have the original 20-gallon stainless steel fresh water cylinder from 1959. It's interior is rusted beyond use for potable water but the options for what to do with it are pretty interesting. I always liked the idea of cutting it in half and turning it into a grill.
This is Bessie's hot water heater (6 gallons). It operates on AC power only so I removed it thinking I would buy one that operates on 12 V but wasn't able to get around to this replacement. This water heater works to my knowledge.
Bessie's rear window needs the tinting to be replaced. They don't stock the mirrored tint in my town locally and I never got around to looking online.
This is how you operate the draw-bed. Step 1, slide the bottom out...
Step 2, slide the bottom pillow out...
Step 3, slide the back pillow down...
Step 4, remove couch pillows and make the bed...
Step 5, nap time.
I spent a lot of time pointing out the things that need improvement on Bessie in this post. Remember the upgrades can be endless. It's all about what you need, what you want, and how you plan to use Bessie - permanent home, temporary home, off grid trailer camping, full hook-up trailer camping, or something else entirely. I did my best to improve her to the point where she was versatile enough for all of these options but fell a little short on funding. I would like to use this last photo as a reminder of the craftsmanship I put into Bessie. You will rarely see this portion of her since it's behind a dinette cushion, but I still treated that area as if it would be a centerpiece of attention, and that's how the rest of Bessie's restoration can be defined - attention to detail.
Thanks for your interest. Ping me if you have further questions or want additional photos.
