With a beer in one hand and Ozzy Osbourne doing Crazy Train on the radio in the background, Todd Fuchs stood poised with a one-blade saw in his other hand. If he went ahead and made the cut he was contemplating, he could easily turn a $20,000 2001 Ford truck into a useless heap of scrap iron.
If that one swift stroke hit its mark, Fuchs would be launched into an odyssey of incredible proportions that would result in a one-of-a-kind, homemade recreational vehicle (RV) measuring 31 feet long and 8 feet and 10 ½ inches high. If the cut missed, he would have a $20,000 mistake to deal with.
“I will never forget that moment,” Fuchs says now with a customary grin on his face. “I had that beer in one hand – Ozzy Osbourne was singing Crazy Train and I was standing there with that metal blade saw in my other hand. One blade and one song on the radio and one cut – that’s all I had. If it went right, I was on the way. If it went wrong, all I had was junk – expensive junk.”
Darcy Fuchs, Todd’s long-suffering wife, affectionately referred to as ‘the finance director’, was close-by that day when her husband was ready to make the cut.
“He asked if I wanted to stay there and watch. I couldn’t. I knew what it meant if it went wrong,” Darcy says recalling that day in the garage.
Not to worry. That’s just not the way Todd Fuchs does things. Well, not usually at least. But this was different. There literally was a lot riding on a simple movement of his hand.
Locked in moments of time, the cut went right. Exactly right. It was August 2008. Todd Fuchs had just made the first of many cuts that began his adventure. The refrain from, Crazy Train seems oddly appropriate to describe what many might have thought of Fuchs and his project. ‘I’m goin’ off the rails on a crazy train….’ With a sense of humor that fuels the enthusiasm behind many of his words and attitudes, Fuchs comments, “Yes, I think a lot of people thought I was crazy to attempt this, but I had been planning it for a long time. I couldn’t wait to get started.” Darcy chimes in, “I always think he’s crazy.”
But, by the time the blade had exited through the bottom of the truck, it was much too late to turn back. “You know you are committed when you cut a truck in half.”
Committed, indeed. Maybe a good idea for someone who plans to build his own RV. Laughing again, Fuchs kiddingly blames their two-year-old granddaughter, Ellie, for the necessity of the project. He says he never would have had to build a bigger camper to replace a smaller one they had bought and been using. That one was perfect for Darcy and Todd and their daughter, Rani and her husband, Kyle. “That one worked great and we took it camping a lot – it was just the right size for the four of us.”
Then Ellie was born. That changed everything. “We needed a larger camper, so that’s why I decided to build one. I blame it all on Ellie, that way I don’t get in trouble.” He and Darcy laugh together – -something they do often. “We have to laugh or we would probably really go crazy,” Darcy grins.
Although, she does admit she is getting a little worried. Rani and Kyle are expecting a son this spring. “I just hope this camper will be big enough for all of us,” Darcy grimaces. Fuchs, a mechanical engineer who certainly knows his way around calculations and renderings, says he already is working on plans for Rum Runner III. The camper that he is now completing is Rum Runner I – he’s skipping II and going right for III. “It all depends on the finance director,” Fuchs smiles nodding in Darcy’s direction.
Todd and Darcy truly are a couple the lives and works together daily. They own and operate a very successful business, Payroll Express, celebrating its 16thanniversary. When the business needed to expand, they bought a former West Fargo landmark, The Burger Doodle, which had morphed into a Domino’s Pizza in more recent years.
The building, of course, did not suit the needs of the growing business or the dreams Todd Fuchs was harboring. “We got the building and gutted it completely right back to the concrete block walls. “Our friends came in and we all went to work and we got the project done. We do have a lot of fun together,” Darcy readily acknowledges.
One part of the building houses the Payroll Express offices, but the larger part of the structure is the ‘garage’ that provided the work space Fuchs needs for his camper. The construction of the building offers another reason – maybe excuse – for Fuchs to go ahead and build his own camper. He had been shopping around for a larger motor home for the growing family. They were all more than nine feet high. That was important because the large garage doors were only nine feet high. “I never thought we would need anything bigger than that,” Fuchs says. He just didn’t realize how big his dream would eventually need to be. The camper has exactly a half-inch of clearance getting in and out of the garage. “See, that’s another reason I had to do this – I couldn’t find a camper that would fit in here.”
Would it have been less expensive to just go out and buy one? Todd and Darcy could not have bought one with all the amenities that they built into their camper. Darcy tries to tell people she was only involved with the project as the finance director. No so. Upon closer examination, it’s discovered that she spent many hours working on the camper’s interior staining, varnishing, and taking care of finishing touches. She laughs, saying, “All I really said is I wanted a decent bathroom.” She got her wish. And much more.
Standing in the 30×50-foot garage area that is warm and extremely clean and orderly, it is difficult to imagine the parts and pieces of a truck laying around waiting to be transformed into a camper. Transformed into Todd Fuchs’ latest dream.
From the time he actually started working on Rum Runner in November 2008, it took Fuchs only about five months until it was road ready, but not completely finished. Most of the major work took place during those pre-flood winter months. “I guess I was just looking for something to do on those 40 degree below days,” he chuckles.
The 2009 flood and the spring weather crises did slow down work on the camper. There are still some things that need to be done before they strike out of major camping trips. However, the 19,210 pound Rum Runner has had one maiden trip. Unlike other campers this size – notorious for low gas mileage – the Rum Runner outpaced his contemporaries on the road. “We got 11.5 miles a gallon, but I wanted to get 12 miles – I’m still working on that,” Fuchs says.
From the onset of project, Fuchs maintained an Internet journal documenting his progress with commentary and photos. Emails and reactions to the Rum Runner project drew comments and input from people throughout the world. Writing under the name blizzardnd, his Internet RV buddies dubbed him ‘Blizz’. “People have really been interested in this and it is fun hearing from them – they have also provided me information that has helped.”
Even though they live, work and travel together, there is still a pretty clear definition of roles. “When I look back at some of the things we’ve done and places we’ve been, I never would have dreamt we would have done some of the things we’ve done,” Darcy says. She hastens to add, “There is one thing for sure, I take care of the money. I am not a dreamer – that’s Todd’s department.”
Darcy will join Todd with a beer in her hand and probably listen to Osbourne’s Crazy Train with him. Just don’t ask her to pick up a saw with her other hand.
