Photos

The Rabid Transit mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — This scary/wonderful creature called Rabid Transit is another creation from the fertile imagination of Duane Flatmo, the same person that brought El Pulpo Mechanico to Burning Man. In fact, Rabid Transit is built on the same Ford chassis that El Pulpo was built on.

Duane Flatmo lives in Eureka California, a short 3 plus hours away from where I live and a million miles away in imagination. Wanting to create a new creature, he struggled with a concept that would live up to his fantastic El Pulpo Mechanico.

Rabid Transit was his answer. Like El Pulpo, Rabid Transit was created from items gathered at a local junk yard in Eureka. Note El Pulpo’s legs made out of abandoned barrels.

Rabid Transit mutant vehicle at Burning Man — A full view of Rabid Transit. Various animals are situated around the vehicle. Note the sharp toothed fishy hood-head.

A side view of the Rabid Transit mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — A side view of Rabid Transit.

Rabid Transit shoots out fire. — Rabid Transit in full fire! As you might imagine, you can feel the heat and hear the roar.

Never Was Haul comes as a Victorian home on wheels with a cow catcher on the front. (Cow catchers are what trains use to put on the front of their engines to remove cattle, moose and buffalo from the tracks.) Born in Berkeley as part of the steam punk art movement, Never Was Haul has been to Burning Man many times.

Never Was Haul mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — A photo taken of Never Was Haul by Tom Lovering. When Tom first saw the mutant vehicle, it was love at first sight.

Photo of Never Was Haul at Burning Man by Tome Lovering. — Another photo by Tom.

Never Was Haul mutant vehicle at Burning Man closeup. — A close up side view.

Front view of Never Was Haul at Burning Man. — And a front view.

For sheer fun, I’d have to list the large vase mutant vehicle shown below as a top candidate. I was even more entertained when I discovered it changed colors at night.

Mutant vehicle vase at Burning Man. — Settled into camp, this is what the vase looks like during the day time.

Vase mutant vehicle at Burning Man at night. — And here it is at night.

Mutant vehicle vase at Burning Man during twilight. — In twilight’s glow.

Nighttime view of mutant vehicle vase at Burning Man. — And a final night time view.

Several trains have appeared at Burning Man. There has even been a caboose, the Dust Bus, which proudly claims it is part of the Nor Cal Black Rock Railroad..

Train mutant vehicle at Burning Man. — One of the trains, complete with cow catcher.

Side view of mutant vehicle train at Burning Man. — A side view…

Mutant vehicle train at Black Rock City. — Another train.

Burning Man mutant vehicle train at night. — Here it is at night with its cow catcher lit up.

Before trains, people got across the US in Conestoga wagons. The Oregon Trail passes through the Black Rock Desert not too far from Burning Man and would have seen many of these wagons carrying pioneers west, among them, my Great, Great Grandmother.