What is a boneyard?

Boneyards are storage areas for equipment that has been retired from service but still maintains a prospective value for replacement parts, repurposed parts, or for recycling.  More colloquially, as the name implies, boneyards are simply cemeteries for old machinery.  But the analogy is inapt in many ways.  To the casual observer, boneyards are simply collections of junk turning into rust; but in most cases, boneyards are constantly being picked-over for spare parts or material.  Some boneyards are highly specialized and play a crucial role, such as aircraft boneyards that house hundreds of retired military aircraft.

Confectionary pictures on the website

The banner photo was taken in Janesville, CA on an old ranch nestled up against the Diamond Mountains.  The drive sprocket you see is about 2 feet in diameter and probably came from an old mining or grading machine.  I estimate its weight at 250 pounds.  I pondered using it to build a chandelier but that would require re-engineering a ceiling to withstand a 500 pound light fixture, which seems a little extreme.  Unfortunately, not every bone in the boneyard is a suitable candidate for artistic purposes.

The small picture in the lower left was taken in Susanville, CA on an old farm.  The farmer had the most well organized boneyard I’ve ever encounted, although this shot doesn't capture that quality. He called his boneyard his “Parts Department."  The old Dodge dump truck pictured in the center is right-hand drive, which according to the farmer, was designed to accommodate highway grading operations in Nevada.  When the project was completed the truck was abandoned and he was allowed to drive it home.  I guess things were a little different back in the 1940’s.