Texaco on Route 66 in Galena, Kansas
As we continued finding interesting sights along Route 66 in Galena, Kansas, we came across an old Texaco gas station. It had some interesting character, and some interesting characters, too.
As was the story of our stop in Galena, the Texaco station was closed. I bet it looked even better with all the neon lighting turned on. But even without it on, the whole place still looked interesting. I liked how the canopy over the gas pumps was made of two old car hoods. Pretty clever! And who is that off in the distance?
It’s Doc Hudson, also known as the Hudson Hornet, from the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. He was yet another of the Cars characters found around town, and he was the best-looking one of the bunch, in my opinion. And he fit in perfectly with the old service station. I liked how the chain supports around Doc were pistons. How clever! Plus, the vintage gas pump behind him was pretty cool, too.
Here is another look at the Texaco service station building as seen from standing near Doc Hudson. And if you look closely, you can see another interesting character at the other end of the building.
It’s Big Boy! He brought back lots of memories of eating at Shoney’s restaurants back in the old days. Yes, in other places there are Big Boy restaurants. But in Tennessee when I was growing up, Shoney’s was a Big Boy franchise. I even used to have a Big Boy bank, but I believe it has gone the way of all good things. It was not until years later, probably in my early adult life, that I realized there were Big Boy restaurants and Big Boy did not belong exclusively to Shoney’s.
Anyway, here at this gas station, Big Boy is holding a stack of tires instead of a Big Boy burger on a plate. It is always fun to see an old friend.
Here is a look at the globe on top of one of the gas pumps. I liked the Sky Chief logo. And I liked the way the globe reflected the lights and the Texaco sign in the distance.
And here is one more look at the Texaco building before we go. With our modern-day car reflected in the windows. As with our other stops in Galena, we did not linger here long. It was starting to get dark, and we had one more place we wanted to see before we left. But we were happy to have stopped here.
Unplanned Fun
This Texaco station was a bit of unplanned fun. Before we got to Galena, I had told Laura that I did not know what we might find besides Cars on the Route. But we actually passed this place first, and Laura immediately saw Doc Hudson, so we knew we would have to come back by it.
Sometimes the things that you have not planned on turn out to be just as fun as what you have planned. Our whole brief visit to Galena was mostly unplanned. And finding what we found there made it all the more fun. Of course, it helps that we are entertained by small things, too. That just makes life even more fun.
There are many plans in a person’s mind, but it is the counsel of the Lord that will stand. - Proverbs 19:21
About the Photos
Would you look at that? Black and white photos! That is something you don’t see here at Burnsland all the time.
So here is the story behind these black and white photos. As I mentioned, it was starting to get dark, and it was overcast and sprinkling rain, too. Because of that, the light was a bit weird. When I was trying to process the photos, I could not get them to look right to me. I tried several things, but I was not happy with the results. The colors were just all wrong. So then I decided to convert them to black and white. But to do that, I started with what I had already processed, and that still did not look right. So I eventually went back to the original Raw files and converted those to black and white, and I was finally more or less happy with the results.
Also, I gave the photos a slight sepia tint. I had been looking at some old photos from the 1950s recently, and they had a tint similar to this. So I made mine match those.
I thought that this look was fitting for this old location, although I might not use it all the time. But it worked well here.
Photo: Each photo is a single Raw exposure, processed in GIMP and Raw Therapee. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Rokinon 35mm f/1.8
Date: October 10, 2022
Location: Galena, Kansas
