new blog time. I’ve got a self imposed deadline of July 4 to turn this derelict trailer into a working black and white (and hopefully alt process) darkroom.
Here’s a couple of shots of the trailer in question. Since I’m composing this on WordPress for the iPhone, I’ll be interested to see how much fixing from the pc is necessary.
note from later: iPhone WordPress is good for putting in the bare bones of a post and lumping in images, but I really needed to be on a PC to add text next to each image.
Here’s the starboard side of the trailer. We used to have a big canopy that would stretch out from it, but I “retired” it.

And here’s the port side. All the connections are here — shore power for 110vac, waste water tank disposal, access to the water heater, fresh water fillup. Getting everything in shape and learning about it will certainly be an educational experience.

It’s a Fleetwood Prowler 19E.
Not sure what year for sure, but the tail lights have “SAE. – AILRST – 73 D.O.T. REFLECT-O-LITE NO. 910-950″ on them, so I don’t know if that means it’s a 1973 trailer or not. There’s a metal plate to the left of the door that has a Recreational Vehicle Industry Association # 4913503.
Here’s a shot of the interior. I had a guy replace the roof (soso job, but probably couldn’t have gotten much better for the price, and it is waterproof as opposed to the sieve of a roof it had before), I’ve stripped most of the paneling and insulation in preparation for putting in new lights, electrical fixtures and general post-seventies (or whatever) refresh.
The area to the left used to contain an enclosed bathroom with commode, sink and shower (tub for really short people.) I’ve pulled down the wall, sink, shower enclosure and capped the sewage hole to the black water tank. This will eventually be the enlarger cubicle for an Omega (? don’t have it near me right now) 4×5 enlarger with a moveable baseboard and a bench.
To the right is an example of the rotting, waterlogged wood situation I have in various places throughout the trailer. Once I get it all stripped down, I’ll need to replace a fair amount of the framing.
This area used to hold the gas oven, kitchen sink and counter. We pitched the counter, sold the oven/stove and sink, and I’ve got a prefab darkroom sink that will fit in here and encroach into the center passageway about 2-3 inches, and hang out about a foot or so above one end of the fold-out sofa bed in the front (upper right.)
Well, enough of blogging right now and back to working on the trailer. I’ll probably have one or two more entries today. I have already pulled the sofa bed so I can strip the walls to the side and behind it. I did want to dig in on this blog, though. Before this, I just had a bunch of photos in a flickr set — not very informative or well-organized at all.
Please feel free to comment, suggest and ask questions. Just be prepared for lengthy answers, if you catch me when I’ve got time to do so.
cheers, all!