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1970’s Allentown

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Eric

Truck capital of the world. That was once the slogan proudly worn by the citizens of Allentown, PA when Mack Trucks headquarters and manufacturing facilities could be found within the city limits. Over the decades the world changed and factories closed or headed down south. Things were slightly different when David paid a visit to attend Mack School at some point in the 70’s.

Look at all those R-Models. Just as today the chain link fence conspired to spoil photographs. Looking at the photos below you’ll find some shots of steel nose DM’s and an a few ValueLiners. There also appears to be a few cabovers that resemble the MH series but that would’t jive with the time these photos were taken so I must be wrong. Can anyone identify them? They almost appear to be wearing UPS brown.

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Cool shots and I’m glad David had the presence of mind to take photos of what were common trucks back in the day. I’m not sure I would do the same if passing a parking lot full of all white, steel wheeled aerodynamic trucks of today. May God have mercy on us if we ever look back at the rigs of today with fondness regarding their cookie cutter styling! C:\endrant.exe

Posted in Vintage | Tagged allentown pa, mack dm, mack r-model, mack trucks factory | 5 Comments

25th Anniversary of the Cat 994 Wheel Loader

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Eric

Can you believe the Cat 994 wheel loader is 25 years old? Where has the time gone! Nah, I’m just kidding. I never really thought too much about the age of the 994. I suppose I thought it always existed since the dawn of man. Cat helps to set the record straight and educate fools such as myself with a retrospective of the 994 that highlights some of the more impressive features of this mighty machine.

So why the look back? Well, sometimes you have to look back to see how far you’ve come and where you’re going. In this case, the road is leading to the 994K. The latest and greatest incarnation of the world renowned mega loader that will be available in 2016.

Considering that year 2015 just kicked off I’m sure more than a few of you are squirming in your seats waiting to see the 994K in action. Maybe you were one of the lucky few who were invented to attend the unveiling of the new generation but if you weren’t don’t worry as the entire event was video taped. The revolution will be televised. All 17 minutes of it.

Posted in Heavy Equipment | Leave a comment

Sacramento Kings Arena – It Begins

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Eric

Sacramento, what a large empty lot you have. This past summer we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the demolition that took place that resulted in this blank urban canvas that will soon give rise to the new arena for the Sacramento Kings. Ryan was able to grab a few more shots of the action for us of the foundation work equipment that recently arrived on scene.

If your curious about what this new arena will look like SBNation.com has some of the details and for those requiring the hard hitting facts that only traditional print media can uncover the Sacramento Bee has you covered. By all accounts steel is set to be rising from this site right around…now. Hopefully we will have future updates!

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Past Downtown Plaza Demolition Coverage

Downtown Plaza Demolition

Ferma Demolition

Demolition California Style

Posted in Heavy Equipment | Tagged downtown plaza demolition, new sacarmento kings arena | Leave a comment

White 9000 Hess Truck

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Eric

Here is a cool White 9000 spotted by Jason this past August. He tells us the truck was located at a vehicle auction in Fort Wayne and was gone the day after this picture was snapped. As the door shows this truck was at one point based in Groton, CT which makes sense considering that was the location of a large Hess terminal for many years. The setup on the back of the truck suggests it was used to move tanks around, possibly propane. Or maybe it was a yard tow truck. I think it’s safe to assume it started life as a tractor pulling a tanker.

Now if this truck seems familiar don’t be surprised. The 1972-43 Hess toy truck tanker was clearly inspired by the White 9000. If you’re interested in this particular truck you can still but it for the reasonable sum of $679.95 from Jackie’s Toy Store.

We don’t know what became of the White after the auction concluded but I’m going to hope it went to a good owner who will preserve and safe keep this truck for future generations. I believe it will be at truck shows for years to come. The power of positive thinking! Thanks to Jason for sharing.

Posted in Lost and Found | Tagged hess truck, white 9000 | Leave a comment

Canadian National 5703 Derailment

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Eric

Yesterday as I was coming home from work I was wondering what material I had laying around that could be turned into a post for today. As I crossed the bridge into town I looked to my right and saw a locomotive that had derailed and instantly knew that an answer had been provided.

In the world of derailments this one car slip up doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal. Canadian National train 5703 was just ever so slightly misaligned but when dealing with tons upon tons of cold steel details count. It’s possible before I arrived there was at least one other locomotive involved and maybe a few rail cars. Sadly I only had a few moments to spend on the scene and that is a crying shame as visual access to the site was superb.

Two massive side lift bulldozers where on hand to help right the train. As you see can one was already attached to the rear of the train while another (not shown) idled near by. Toward the front, a 110 ton capacity Pettibone crane was setting up to to lift 5703 back onto the track. There was no mistaking the power plant of this crane. Detroit Diesel all the way. Even the simple act of setting the outriggers caused a full power scream that carried through the cold air and could be heard all over town.

There was an veritable army of CSX trucks and workers on scene plus two large flatbeds used to carry the dozers and other equipment of the Fisher Companies. If you take a a moment to check out their website you’ll see a shot of the Pettibone doing a lift identical to the one that took place last night.

Five hours later I was able to stop by the accident scene once again and found all the heavy equipment long gone while the CSX crews were still hard at work repairing the damage that probably caused the derailment in the first place.

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Oh, and thanks to rrpicturearchives.net we now know that CN5703 is a 1996 EMD SD751.

Posted in Heavy Equipment | Tagged canadian national, cn rail, fisher companies, pettibone crane, train derailment | 4 Comments

National Grid Truck Bingo – Freightliner M2 Extend Cab

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Eric

Here is a bingo piece I forgot to put on the board this past August. Good thing this is a never ending game.

To the untrained eye this may seem like just another National Grid Freightliner bucket truck but there are actually a few differences from the traditional setup. The most obvious options are the extended cab and front bumper winch. Could this truck represent the new standard for all trucks ordered by the utility? Only time will tell.

If you’re interested in past bingo entries simply type National Grid Truck Bingo in the search bar at the top right of this page. No need to capitalize.

Posted in At the Dealer | Tagged freightliner m2 bucket truck, national grid truck, national grid truck bingo | Leave a comment

Autocar Mondays – Return Visit

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Eric

We last saw this truck a little over two months ago for Autocar Mondays so I believe more than enough time has passed to share more photos of this fine machine from 1961. As mentioned before this rig is setup with a 250 Cummins and 4 + 3 trans. Only 67,000 miles show on the odometer along with 1250 hours. Accurate? Who can say for sure but the truck reportedly starts without a problem in cold weather and runs tight down the road. Most everything on this truck is aluminium including the frame, fenders and cab which help to explain the generally rust free condition of this truck. If your lucky you might spot this Autocar rolling through the countryside of Chesaw, Washington where its current owner tries to keep it running at least once a month.

Thanks again to Katie for sharing!

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Posted in Autocar Trucks | Leave a comment

A New International PayStar?

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Eric

Last week I heard whisperings of an all new International PayStar design being shown to International dealers. This rumor came from the BigMackTrucks.com forum of all places but I see no reason why it shouldn’t be true. International has placed the production and marketing of the PayStar on the back burner during their partnership with Caterpillar regarding the launching of their line of new on highway trucks the CT660 and CT681. Stopping by the International website the PayStar doesn’t even show on the main page but is relegated to the category of “other” models. Clicking on this link brings you to a page with images that don’t accurately reflect the variety of wheel bases and hood styles available for purchase. I suppose if this rumor is true that is all about to change. The new style is supposed to emulate the look of the Caterpillar trucks while most likely borrowing some of the interior styling and mechanical underpinnings that differentiate the two lines of trucks.

Obviously I don’t have any photos of this new model so we’ll have to make due with this place holder in the form of a 6×6 bucket truck of Northline Utilities. This truck is a partner of that Western Star lowboy we saw a few weeks ago.

I can tell you one thing. The new model won’t look like the PayStar5000 of years past and that is a bad thing. This truck just screams heavy duty business. A classic design.

Posted in Industry News, International | Tagged international paystar, navistar | 2 Comments

Great American Truck Racing

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Eric

Great American Truck Racing, the sport of kings. I joined a facebook group some time ago devoted to the history of the GATR series and while it started off slow the page is really starting to come to life with videos, photos, and first hand accounts from the drivers who raced in this awesome affair. Check out some of these photos below to see what I mean.

Bob Featherly has shared these fantastic shots with us of GATR action that took place on the dirt track at the NYS Fair Grounds in Syracuse, NY. The dates of the photos fall in the mid 80’s range and span a few different races. What a spectacle this must have been to see in person. In the past we learned that the trucks were very hard on both the tracks they raced and the tires they used. Here we see the proof.

Browsing through these photos I can only hope the Champ Truck World Series continues making progress with bringing semi truck racing back to the United States. Checking out their website shows some progress with driver bios taking shape and more importantly ten events listed at tracks from across the county. I know screaming old iron like the White Road Boss, GMC General and GMC 6500 won’t be racing the road courses at CTWS events any time soon but I’ll take what I can get.

Hopefully these photos have convinced you that you need to take a moment and visit the GATR facebook group to learn more about this memorable part of motor sports history. Click here to view/join.

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A huge thanks goes out to Bob for sharing these photos.

Posted in Famous Trucks | Tagged big rig racing, gatr, great american truck racing, semi truck racing | 1 Comment

At the Dealer – Armored Cars and More

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Eric

Believe it or not I haven’t made my normal pass through the local heavy truck dealers in weeks now. What with the holidays and bad weather and general laziness I just haven’t had the time. I finally decided to hit the streets last weekend but found slim pickins at the normal locations except for this attractive Brinks armored truck couple. I’m not expert but I guess they could be Griifin Armored bodies. Information on such vehicles is relatively slim online but there appear to be only a handful of manufacturers that make such vehicles so I think my guess is solid. If you know better speak up.

Across town from a few month earlier I stopped to photograph this nice looking Freightliner Columbia of the Hanson Heidelberg Cement Group. I believe the trailer to be brand new.

In the gallery below you will find a few other shots from Stadium International including a WorkStar vac truck of EPS of Vermont, a line up of random trucks and finally a NES Rentals Kenworth T880. While not at a dealer this is a new model for Kenworth and one of the first I have seen outside the web so I figured this would be a good time to share.

Posted in At the Dealer | Leave a comment

1970’s Allentown

25th Anniversary of the Cat 994 Wheel Loader

Sacramento Kings Arena – It Begins

White 9000 Hess Truck

Canadian National 5703 Derailment

National Grid Truck Bingo – Freightliner M2 Extend Cab

Autocar Mondays – Return Visit

A New International PayStar?

Great American Truck Racing

At the Dealer – Armored Cars and More

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