From Stone Age to Space Age: Barstow’s Main Street Murals Adventure by Vintage Motorized Stagecoach

Howard Fox [00:00:06 - 00:00:19]

All right, folks, we are about ready to embark on a mural tour with Main Street Murals here in Barstow, California. And I'm here with the lovely Jane. Jane, welcome. What are we gonna do today?

Jane Lehrman Brockhurst [00:00:20 - 00:00:48]

Thank you. Hey, so this morning we're gonna go on a mural tour. of the Barstow Historic Murals that are between 1st and 7th Street. And we're boarding this wonderful stagecoach, which takes us back to the 1800s, but brings us into 2026. And we're going on a tour.

Howard Fox [00:00:48 - 00:00:49]

Yeah.

Jane Lehrman Brockhurst [00:00:49 - 00:01:20]

We're going to talk about the murals that are from Stone Age to Space Age. And I hope that we have a fun, educational, historic tour. And along the way, we'll learn about some of the history and funny stories. And hopefully, if we have any artists on board, we'll get some people to join the Main Street Murals program that is sponsored by the city of Barstow.

Howard Fox [00:01:20 - 00:01:33]

Excellent. Well, we are going to embark With this, this is our chariot. In the past, maybe it had 6, 8 horsepower, 12 horsepower. Now we probably have 450. But Jane, looking forward to the tour. Thank you.

Jane Lehrman Brockhurst [00:01:33 - 00:01:37]

Super. Thank you. Let's get on board.

Howard Fox [00:01:43 - 00:02:27]

Hey everybody, this is Howard Fox and I am still in Barstow, California. I'm here at the Crave Coffee Shop. This is my new Favorite coffee shop here in Barstow. And we have just been on this wonderful Barstow Main Street Murals tour, and by— it was facilitated by the wonderful Jane Lehrman Brockhurst. And what was really cool about this tour is that we were being toured around on a vintage 1850 stagecoach. And I have the pleasure right now of chatting with the individual who has been the facilitator of movement of the stagecoach. I've been on a stagecoach before that were— had 2 horses. So I think I would be called a 2-horsepower.

Howard Fox [00:02:27 - 00:02:42]

I think we were on a big Ford engine. But in any case, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Rodney Rucker. He is with El Dorado Stage Lines, and he was facilitating us around in this motorized stagecoach. Rodney, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast. Welcome.

Rodney Rucker [00:02:42 - 00:02:43]

Well, thank you. Thank you.

Howard Fox [00:02:44 - 00:02:50]

So Rodney, how long have you been involved in the stagecoach Motorized stagecoach business?

Rodney Rucker [00:02:51 - 00:03:32]

At least 25 years. We built the first one in '97 and we used to do the Mormon Trail and the back road to Calico. And I had a friend, friend, Greg Parker, and I, he built a covered wagon and then I built a stagecoach. We all started out in the Barstow Mardi Gras parade, and then we started taking them out after that. Doing campfires and taking people out, seeing the desert. It just kind of caught on and everybody loved the stage, but we had no idea it would go this far. But the best seats in the house are up top on the roof. That's where everybody seems to want to ride.

Rodney Rucker [00:03:32 - 00:03:44]

They can get up there. But, but it's just kind of fun to live, relive the Old West, except for we don't have the horses or the harness. We just got horses. Or horsepower, I should say.

Howard Fox [00:03:44 - 00:03:47]

And 450 of them or something like that.

Rodney Rucker [00:03:47 - 00:03:48]

She goes.

Howard Fox [00:03:49 - 00:03:58]

Yes, she does. Now, how long have you been involved in tours like we were just on today, visiting all of the murals here in Barstow?

Rodney Rucker [00:03:59 - 00:04:27]

So I've done the mural tour for about 4 or 5 years with Odds and Ends. And then, but we've done the Barstow Florade since the '80s. Greg Parker that I talk of used to have a brother named Eddie, and we were sitting down one time and we thought, well, we need to bring something a little more creative to the, to the parade. And so that's how we all got started building these crazy things like a shopping cart. And he used to build dinosaurs that ran.

Howard Fox [00:04:27 - 00:04:28]

Mm-hmm.

Rodney Rucker [00:04:28 - 00:04:56]

And, uh, we built a shopping cart, all kinds of crazy things that we've— and then we got Well, I think people will really enjoy a stagecoach. And then my buddy said, well, I'll build a covered wagon. So he did that. And once a year we attend what's called the Daggett Days, which they have the US Borax wagons, the original ones. But, but we're always trying to create something new and something different. So something exciting.

Howard Fox [00:04:57 - 00:05:14]

When you're running the stagecoach, Jane is there doing what Jane does best. What kind of feedback are you getting? Are you getting from the, the tourists who are enjoying the stagecoach? What are some of the things that you're hearing from them?

Rodney Rucker [00:05:14 - 00:05:25]

Well, we usually get a thumbs up or a very cool, very neat. And the people that are on the roof love the view because you can see the whole town real good.

Howard Fox [00:05:25 - 00:05:26]

Yeah.

Rodney Rucker [00:05:26 - 00:05:52]

See all the murals. And we're building a new stagecoach that's got the sides open. So you got a better view, but, but it's very positive. Everybody wants to ride on it, see it. And we've been in weddings and proms with them and a lot of car shows. And, but the town did a nice job with all the murals and they're very excited to drive around and look at them all and see them. But it's just kind of a fun tour.

Howard Fox [00:05:53 - 00:06:22]

Sure. I love the fact when we were on the tour, as we were making our stops, there were folks who were on the street, just, hey, how you doing? And I think we had one set of folks today stop the truck along their car along the way. Jane was doing her thing and they wanted to take a picture. So, I mean, that's just a part of the ambiance of doing this kind of tour here in Barstow. And it sounds like, again, you're having a lot of fun. The tourists are having a lot of fun.

Rodney Rucker [00:06:22 - 00:06:22]

Jane.

Howard Fox [00:06:23 - 00:06:38]

is doing a bang-up job. And I think the city, whether it's the chamber, the mayor's office, I mean, they're all— I think they realize the importance of activities and experiences like this. And you're a part of that. You're making this happen here in Barstow.

Rodney Rucker [00:06:38 - 00:07:04]

It is very exciting to finally see the town come out a little bit and come back to life. And it's great because Old Town, a lot of people forget about it. They stay out at the Linwood Mall area, but, but it's neat to see all the old stores and how it used to be. And, and a lot of questions come up about all the, what store used to be here and what store used to be there and reliving it all.

Howard Fox [00:07:04 - 00:07:30]

Excellent. Well, Rodney, I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us today. And again, thank you for touring us around. It's my first experience in this kind of a tour and I enjoyed it. And It was, let me just say it was hot out there, but I think we're here in the, in this beautiful coffee shop, Crave Coffee, and we just get to take a breather and again, really appreciate the effort you put in. And thank you again for spending time with us.

Rodney Rucker [00:07:30 - 00:07:41]

One of the neat things about that stagecoach is the back opens up and it's got a drawer that pulls out and it's got a barbecue. So you cook hamburgers and everything. We try to think of everything.

Howard Fox [00:07:41 - 00:07:47]

Why? Why didn't we do that today? I mean, you could have had some adult beverages of sorts there as well. Oh my God.

Rodney Rucker [00:07:47 - 00:07:54]

Yeah, you can just cook hamburgers and have a, just a tailgate party, if you will. But we'll have to do it next time, Howard.

Howard Fox [00:07:54 - 00:07:59]

I thank you. I want to know when you're going to do that next time. Okay. Okay. All right. You take care. Thank you.