Word: yuma
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...North of Yuma, east of the Colorado River and smack in the middle of nowhere, Quartzsite is not an official town. Never incorporated, possessing no mayor, no schools, no stoplight, no town water or sewer system, no zoning rules or local police, the "gem of the desert" is home year round to maybe a thousand people...
...model-airplane building and flying a hobby or a sport? That is a chicken- and-egg question endlessly debated by zealous practitioners and uncomprehending outsiders. There is little question in the mind of Chip Hyde, 16, of Yuma, Ariz. Three times he has been champion of the open class of radio-controlled aerobatic flying. That means he has beaten all comers with his skill and his pink-and-blue Conquest, driven by an alcohol-fueled engine the size of a human fist. He must practice continuously to keep up his skill, sometimes four days a week for an hour...
...hobbyists, danger is part of the scenario. "You step back into Jack London's time," says Hopkins, who first hopped a freight during his student acting days to attend his grandfather's 90th birthday. "Each trip has edginess, adventure and beauty." Hopkins and his companions are headed for Yuma, Ariz., a wintertime hobo haven along the Colorado River. Since the bull had promised 30 days in jail and a $2,000 fine if further annoyed, everyone hid, returning well after midnight to catch the train. They succeeded, but with difficulty. Comfortable boxcars are giving way to sealed containerized loads...
Approaching Yuma at midmorning, the freight slows to a crawl to accommodate track workers laying ties. Fearful the workers will throw rocks, a constant terror, the riders hide and jump off in a remote rail yard. Campground "jungles" located in trackside patches of scrub and a riverside park for relaxing and washing clothes are nearby. A notable addition to the hobo community this weekend is Tudor Williams, 44, former chef to Movie Director Steven Spielberg. A tramp's poem recommends making mulligan stew by putting "Whatever you've got/ In the pot/ Heat...
After a restless night in a patch of salt cedar scrub near the westbound line, home and family beckon. The three grimy hobo-hobbyists trek to the old Yuma prison for some middle-class sightseeing. Well-groomed tourists stare uncomfortably. Afterward, westbound freights are said to brake for a curve and easy boarding just past the Colorado River. Eight hours later, when the tourists are having dinner, the hobo-hobbyists are still waiting for a slow freight...