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Load Shift

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Eric

It’s very possible the unlucky driver of the J.B. Hunt Intermodal truck made the left turn on to Kirkville Road hundreds of times if not more over the years. Sticking to the rightmost lane its only one wide sweeping turn to the straight lines of the truck friendly Interstate. Almost home free but then something went wrong. I’ll take an educated guess and say something shifted in the trailer at the worst time. My dad was passing through not long after the accident happened and took some photos and videos of the recovery.

LTS Enterprises and TRS worked together to flip this truck over and made it look easy. The trailer was placed up right with razor sharp precision.

The entire process took less than five minutes once hooked up. Below is a video with some commentary from my dad and a fellow bystander.

Thankfully the cable didn’t snap! I came through the area well after this video was shot as crews were just starting to transfer the load to a new trailer. From what I could tell it looked like pallets of roofing shingles.

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Posted in On the Job | Tagged j.b. hunt, lts enterprises, rts, truck crash | Leave a comment

Conventional Convention

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Eric

Classics. They evoke feelings of nostalgia and happiness. How does this truck make you feel? There was no shortage of beauties like this Kenworth on the York Expo center fairgrounds two weeks ago. The fact that I’m still sharing photos and videos should be proof enough of the show size.

Next year the ATHS national convention heads to the west coast. Salem, Oregon to be exact. I suspect there will be plenty of trucks similar in setup to this perfectly restored Mack logging truck.

But the east coast will also be home to mass quantities of R-Models like this RS700L.

The sun sets on Marmom on the day before the show.

Hope no one is bored yet. Even if you are, I really don’t much else to talk about so I guess were struck with more classics!

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Posted in Truck Show | Tagged 2015 aths york, classic truck show | Leave a comment

Endless Cabovers Part Three

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Eric

I took many more cabover photos than I realized! Coverage has now been extended to day three. We’ll start with this sharp looking Marmon.

And how about this nice looking Kenworth? Perfect for the city deliveries.

A few immaculate Macks were also in attendance like this FS700L.

I believe we saw this Diamond-T cabover earlier in the York coverage but here it is again.

And look at all the ones in the gallery below! More of these will return in video forms as the days (maybe weeks?) continue.

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Posted in Truck Show | Tagged 2015 aths york, american truck historical society | Leave a comment

Endless Cabovers Part Two

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Eric

To quote myself from my first day at the show “Soooo many trucks!” I took north of 500 photos during my three days in York. During the same time period over 1100 trucks passed through the gates. Basic math tells us that I almost took a picture of half the vehicles on the grounds. Looking back at certain photos I see trucks lurking in the background that I never got a chance to check out and probably never will. I guess I need to hire an assistant? Thankfully this Chevy Titan 90 was not a background blur.

I’m a sucker for anything wearing its original coat of paint. This 1962 International VCO-205 in old Coca-Cola colors was just too interesting to ignore.

Speaking of Internationals, plenty of Transtars were on hand.

And what about this combo? Oooohhh yeeeah. The Deere is Detroit Powered and believe the Pete was too.

The video of the day revolves around two White Freightliners seen near the truck wash and photography area of the show. One is customized hauler while the other appears to mostly original. Enjoy!

And more!

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Posted in Truck Show | Tagged 2015 aths york, american truck historical society, ATHS | Leave a comment

Endless Cabovers

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Eric

Red Lobster may have endless shrimp but only Daily Diesel Dose has endless cabovers! To quickly erase the taste of that horrible opening line take a look at this White Freightliner Powerliner.

Ah, that’s better. I don’t believe this is one of the Powerliners powered by Big Al, the purple painted Allis-Chalmers 450 HP monster engine that never really made it into the big time but we can dare to dream.

There were plenty of vintage cabover trucks at York. Here we have a Chevy Titan hauling a Ford WT9000. What a combo! Unless I overheard a different truck in the crowded unload area the Ford has one mean sounding air starter.

It doesn’t get anymore Freightliner than this. Most of you probably know that Freightliner nameplate originated with Consolidated Freightways producing their own truck in house to meet the needs of west coast and over the Rockies travel. Starting in 1951 C-F partnered with White Motor Company to produce White-Freightliner branded trucks. I’m amusing this truck falls right around that time frame.

If you’re a fan of Dodge Cabover trucks you really should have been at York. At least half a dozen of these rigs were running around the shown ground at any particular moment. Outside of the 70’s when is the last time you could say that?

Video evidence of the cabover supremacy.

While putting this story together I realized I have way to may cabover photos to jam into one post so come back tomorrow for even more! You won’t be disappointed…unless you don’t like COE trucks.

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Posted in Truck Show | Tagged 2015 aths york, ATHS, cabover truck, coe truck, truck show | Leave a comment

Autocar Mondays – Colonial Sand & Stone

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Eric

Today we take a break from ATHS York coverage for some truly unique pieces of trucking history. Behold, Autocars from one of the greatest construction and material firms in the history of the United States if not the world, Colonial Sand & Stone.

Colonial played a vital role in the construction of some of the most iconic pieces of the NYC skyline (Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Empire State Building, the Yankee Stadium, George Washington Bridge) yet surprisingly little remains of this industry titan. There appears to be no books by past employees, no photo journals, no biographies, simply nothing. I guess when you think about it the Empire State Building isn’t a bad legacy but who really knows that off the top of their head? But I digress.

Colonial Sand and Stone

Receiving a tip that a downstate business had a collection of former Colonial rigs Ryan began to narrow down the possible locations one by one. Using Google Maps and a bit of luck he found his potential address and a phone number. Calling the number an elderly gentleman answered the phone and confirmed the detective work. When Ryan asked if he could stop by to photograph some of the trucks the answer was clear. “Where have you been?? I’ve been waiting for someone to do this for a long time!!”

Apparently the current owner understands the value of these trucks and is not perplexed that others would like to take some photos. How refreshing! Much better than the usual response of “you want to take a photo of that?!”

As Ryan tells us.

I knew at that point the Powerball isn’t something I’d ever win, but I just won something special. So I drove down, met the gentleman and found 4 Colonial Autocars. Some ready to be fired up, some ready to be doctored back to life. As I opened the door of these triple frame, double nut spoke beasts, I could see the original paint from Colonial on the inside. I just touched history.

A truly unique find and well worth the effort. Once again Ryan has outdone himself! If anyone out there has any information to add about these trucks or Colonial please leave a comment below or send me an email.

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Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged autocar trucks, colonial sand and stone | 48 Comments

Tow Trucks of the Ages

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Eric

Here is a rare beast. It’s a Ward LaFrance M1A1 military (duh) tow truck. I’m unsure of the age but it appears nearly identical to one recently covered in the May/June 2015 of Double Clutch which features a 1945 model. Production numbers indicate 4000 of these of the trucks rolled out of the W-L factory in Elmira, NY destined for action in World War II theaters across the globe. Primarily these trucks were sent in greater numbers to the European front with many left behind after the war to serve with NATO members for decades to come.

The Double Clutch article (read it, very well done) tells us that Continental gas engines were the power plants of choice for the M1A1. I’m unsure of what model but this truck still has one. I was struck by how easily it turned over and how quiet it ran. I suppose calling attention to yourself in a war zone is an unwise thing to do. A GarWood winch system run completely on gearing and not hydraulics provides this truck with the muscle to recover everything from Jeeps to Sherman tanks. Notable features on this wrecker include a red light and siren on the front left fender. Little bits that over the years would go missing and are difficult to find. I have a feeling this truck is a real as the M1A1 comes and something any serious military collector would love to add to their collection. Below is a short video of the truck unloading.

Equally brawny in a much more obvious way is this 1971 Oshkosh C2044 tow monster. Talk about a set back axle! The best I can tell the booms don’t move on this truck. Massive winches and pulleys seem to be the method of recovery for this truck.

The video below shows me spinning around the vehicle once and includes footage of it heading to the show field. Caterpillar power anyone was wondering.

If you watched the video of me walking the registration line you probably saw this 1972 Ford with a straight pipe Detroit. The more I listen to it the more it sounds like a 318? Let me know what you think. Holmes 750 wrecker body on this one.

And below there is a gallery with even more tow trucks featuring a few different angles of the ones above plus a few new ones.

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Posted in Truck Show | 2 Comments

Diamond Reo and Diamond-T Trucks

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Eric

At one point in trucking history The White Motor Company cast a very long shadow producing not only their own brand of trucks but also trucks by Diamond-T and later Diamond Reo. Here are two prime examples of both.

This 1964 P-4300 made the journey to York all the way from Rosemere, Quebec and I’m sure glad it did. What a fantastic restored gem.

The video doesn’t capture how great the Cummins sounded coming through duel straight pipes but I can tell you it was loud but not to the point of being obnoxious.

Moving to the other end of the spectrum we have this customized Diamond Reo.

This one was a real attention grabber for obvious reasons. It sounded as good as it looked.

Posted in Truck Show | Tagged 2015 aths york, diamond reo truck, diamond t truck | Leave a comment

Mack Chain Drive Trucks

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Eric

Just seconds after arriving to the show on Wednesday afternoon I heard the roar of this 1943 Mack FCSW mining dump truck. I left my dad in the dust and sprinted to get a better shot of this behemoth as it lumbered across the show grounds. Catching rigs likes this Mack is the exact reason why I like to show up early to truck shows.

According to the info plaque this truck was one of 38 purchased by the Oliver Iron Mining Company of Duluth Minnesota. Between 1937 and 1945 Mack produced 251 FCSW models for custom heavy duty applications such as open pit iron ore hauling. This fine example, and there can’t be many more left, is owned by Greg Nuss of Nuss Truck & Equipment.

Just imagine if those rocks were real! That old engine would really be screaming away. You’ll notice that chain drive is the method of power distribution here, the gold standard of any heavy haul truck prior the development of planetary axles.

It’s not everyday that you see a steel nose, set back axle DM overshadowed by a larger truck but that is exactly what happens when you park next to a 1943 FCSW with 300 H.P. six cylinder Cummins.

This 100,000 GVW bulldog was originally owned by International Nickel Company of Ontario, Canada. Rediscovered in 1991 this truck now survives to thrill visitors at any truck show that is lucky enough to have it attend. Powered by a NHRS Cummins that spins two chain driven axles I can only imagine what this truck sounds like when moving a full tank of water. Below is a walk around video highlighting the components of this truck. You’ll notice that everything is big, heavy, and meant to last.

Here is that poor little (by comparision) 1971 DM600

Now that we are week removed from the show I’m sure many of you have seen trucks that I haven’t covered yet. Any request? It’s possible I have what you are looking for in both video and photo form. Leave a comment below or shot me an email. The phones lines are open.

Posted in Truck Show | Tagged 2015 aths york, chain drive trucks, mack dm600, mack fcsw | 3 Comments

Stop for Photos

Posted on June 3, 2015 by Eric

At the opposite end of the York Fair Grounds from the registration line a truck wash and official picture spot could be found. Over the course of the show this proved to be one of the more popular spots for amateur photographers and gawkers such as myself. I spent some time there on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning but once the crowds set in I moved on to find a different angle on events. Here we have a White Freightliner, Kenworth K-100, Diamond-T, and International Emeryville all in one shot. We’ll ignore the poor little Chevy.

The thunderstorm that rolled through late Wednesday helped place a dramatic tone in the sky and and on the ground with wet pavement. It works for the movies so why not for me?