On the road south from Taos (Highway 68 in Embudo, to be exact) we had several times driven by an old tractor in front of a dilapidated building sporting the hand-painted words “Gas Station Museum”. As we sped by, I saw the yard filled with all sorts of…well, junk.

But what fascinating junk it is: old cars, wagons, gas pumps, oil company signs and such, rusting away at the roadside. Passing again while heading south to Bandelier, we decided to stop on the way home.

The owner is Johnny Myer (sp?), a retiree from the Los Alamos National Labs who introduces the museum, his labor of love, on video here :

The place looked deserted when we pulled in after 5PM, but he came right out and invited us to “see all the rusty stuff out back and all the shiny stuff inside”.

Here are some pix.

Old Studebaker pickup.

One of these.

A vintage Packard. (Is there any other kind now?)

Unrestored.

Semi-restored.

Shiny stuff inside the building.

Restored. Note that none of his pumps can go higher than 99.9 cents per gallon.

More treasures.

Etc.

Etc. some more.

Outside the shop.

The yard goes back about 300 feet. All like this. All this cool.

Awaiting restoration, I guess.

The hood logo says this is a Hudson. A Hudson pickup must be worth something, right?

Vanished technology. There was no dial tone.

I don’t think that anyone would be surprised to learn that Johnny is single. But whatever you want to say about that, he’s certainly living his dream.

We spoke to Johnny for about 20 minutes and he is just happy to share his collection with whomever drove by. A really nice guy.

There is no charge to visit, but if you stop by, please leave a few bucks in the jar on the counter. Johnny saves up the donations all year and presents it to the local animal shelter.