NOMADICISTA

My husband John, a cabinetmaker, has been building our 5th wheel trailer for what will be five years in December, which is also when we hope to have it finished. We've been modeling it after turn-of-the-century train carriages - in a similar style to "The Old Chowder Line" of Iain and Carol Forp. We had lost contact with Iain and Carol when we both moved. Them to the South Island for a time, and us to Washington. My husband is a New Zealander, and we fell in love with both the housetrucks and the lifestyle while living over there in '94 & '95.

Our housetruck has "mollycroft" windows running along the top, but our (semi-completed)upstairs center section (the girls room) raises up on 4 hydraulic rams. We also have 2 large slide-outs in the main living area (opposite each other) that will help make it bearable with our large family. We have a crib slide-out in the master bedroom, and our sons room (at the very back) slides back to give them extra floor space, and eventually a fold-down N-scale trainset. We'd like to get it painted this summer while the weather is good, So John is trying to finish up the fiberglass and fairing compound of seams and screwholes (the bondo ones popped), and putting on trim.

The construction is welded-steel chassis, and the walls are marine-plywood with styrofoam sandwiched between. John made up a vacuum-press to bond the walls and roof panels. We brought back alot of native New Zealand timbers which make up the interior wainscoting and cabinetry. We plan to have lead-light and stained-glass windows made up, all as we can afford it. John will make the doors. He also needs to build and install the kitchen cabinets, as well as benchseats around the long antique drafting table which we bought at a garage sale.

Now the trailer starts to get some walls. This did not go as fast as conventional walls, as John had to make up a vacuum press to form the walls. They are each made out of two 3/16th inch 3-ply marine grade plywood (from Fiji, purchased in N.Z.) with polystyrene sandwiched between. We should have taken stock in Elmers glue as we have used more than you would ever believe. In this photograph you can see to the right one of the center slide-outs which really make for alot of room. The other center slide-out is opposite this one.