Much of the late David Kane’s valuable collection of Packard vehicles at Afton Station Route 66 Museum in Afton, Oklahoma, recently was sold and hauled away, adding uncertainty about the future of the station.
Reports filtered in on social media that passers-by had seen the Packards being loaded up onto transport vehicles.
Marlin Carpenter, who became general manager of the station after co-owner Laurel Kane’s death, and Sarah Kane, the Kanes’ daughter, confirmed Tuesday the vehicles were sold.
“Sad as it is, you heard right,” Carpenter said in an email. “Spent all day yesterday loading on transport trucks. Doing it again today. Makes for a rough day for sure. Afton Station is for sure closed …”
Kane said “a majority” of the vehicles in the collection were sold to an interested party.
Afton Station closed for the winter, as usual, a few weeks ago. Sarah Kane, who lives in the Chicago area, said Wednesday she wasn’t sure whether the station will reopen in the spring or whether it would be put up for sale. She said it was too soon after her father’s death to know.
David Kane, 74, died in August during an accident at his home in Grove, Oklahoma, when a piece of farm equipment fell on him as he was working on it.
David Kane’s previous wife, Laurel Kane, 69, died in 2016 from a short illness as the result of a fall at her home in Tulsa. She had greeted Route 66 travelers there several times a week for about 15 years. She posthumously was inducted into the Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame.
Upon their retirement in 1998, the Kanes purchased a dilapidated D-X gas station built in the 1930s along Route 66 in Afton, renovated it, and converted the building into a Route 66 welcome center and a museum for his collection of classic Packards and her memorabilia, including thousands of postcards and items from the nearby but long-defunct Buffalo Ranch complex in Afton.
(Image of one of the Packards on display at Afton Station in Afton, Oklahoma, in 2012 by JymPioranges via Flickr)
Sad to watch things slowly fade away there. Laurel and David had a neat operation, which sadly I never had the chance to see in person. I miss Laurel’s daily blog posts too. But, change is inevitable. Let’s hope that the wonderful facility attracts another owner with a passion for Route 66 and the old station.
I was lucky to meet Laurel in 2006 and 2012. The Packard collection was magnificent. Laurel and I had exchanged messages from way back in 2000, before she moved to Tulsa. She made her home available for Ron and I to stay with her for 3 nights during our 2nd Route 66 trip in my Fiat Panda. R.I.P. Laurel and David. Peter Woodman.
I was by there 3 or 4 mths ago. It was closed…maybe
I was just too early. The ‘town’ is pretty much gone. I try to imagine it during it’s hay day. It’s near the 9′ wide strip of Rt. 66. Buffalo near by.