Check out this awesome photo of Freightliner Cascadia Mid-Roof hauling a brand new Oshkosh Snow Blower. No need to have a long winded post about this one. It speaks for itself! Major thanks to Ryan for sharing this photo.
Freightliner Cascadia Mid-Roof – Click to Enlarge
I was digging through my photos the other day to see if there were any worthy trucks I had passed over during the flurry of activity from the past few months. Turns out there were more than a few.
The two International WorkStars seen below were waiting on the dealer lot back in April for a chance to hit the city streets of Auburn, NY.
City of Auburn International WorkStars – Click to Enlarge
Fast forward a few weeks to arrive at a different dealer across town to find this nicely appointed Western Star for the Town Of Manlius. The T of M has a substantial plow fleet consisting mostly of International Trucks. Could this Western Star be a sign of things to come? I would hate to see the PayStars become a thing of the past! Three years ago (or more) the town had an open house and I was able to grab shots of nearly everything they had. You can view them by clicking here. I have never seen a Manlius truck that was not in perfect condition from top to bottom. They do a nice job with chrome accents too.
Town of Manlius Western Star – Click To Enlarge
Here is hold over from the ATCA truck show that I new I just had to save for Autocar Mondays. I passed this ’49 Autocar on the way to the show and later I saw it arrive. I hoped that I would be able to see this rig unload but was unsure if that was going to happen. Sometimes a truck that arrives to a show on a trailer stays on a trailer. Thankfully this was not the case with the fine piece of machinery.
Click to Enlarge
Here is a great video of the truck being unloaded, at idle and moving around the show grounds.
*UPDATE*
Rick happened to come across more videos of this great truck on Youtube. At some point the famous Longroadpro group featured this fine truck and its owner in one of their video productions. So check them out to see this fine machine in action from behind the wheel.
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x__hGsz4HG4
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnn2Kc0Rfcw
Would you like to help keep Autocar Mondays alive? Send in your photos to eric@dailydieseldose.com
Yesterday there was a massive fire at the Metalico Metal Recycling facility in East Syracuse, NY. This particular location happens to be ooohhh about 1/2 a mile from my home! Think black smoke poured from the scrap yard for nearly two hours and could be seen for miles around. Thankfully the winds were in my favor and blew the noxious fumes to the north and away from my house. A reverse 911 call was made to the majority of residents in the area warning people to stay inside, turn of air conditioners and keep windows closed. I missed this call as I was busy doing everything it warned residents not to do! Oh well, the pictures and videos turned out great.
This fire occurred on a particularly bad day for the volunteers of the East Syracuse Fire Department as they were set to lead a parade to their own Firemans Field Day event. The fire started shortly after 12PM and needless to say they did not make the 6PM deadline. A true example of what happens when duty calls. Other fire departments were on hand to pick up the slack in both the parade and the fielding of emergency calls. If my memory is correct this is the third fire in past two years at the Metalico site. This fire however, burned the longest and drew much attention from local residents and the media. I had plenty of company while watching the battle take place. Many rumors circulated among the crowd. One man said foam trucks had been called from the nearby airport and National Guard base. Still others feared explosions. One person openly worried about fumes. No one left. By the way, no foam trucks arrived. Too bad really, that would have been a sight to see!
I would like to stress again, the crews on hand are 100% volunteer! Average folk like you and mean who were sent to battle a large industrial fire. I tip my hat at their bravery. After two hours the fire was nearly under control. At this point a heavy equipment operator from the scrap yard moved in with the grapple loader to shift the mountains of scrap so crews could to the hot spots. There was no way for this person running the loader to avoid being enveloped in smoke and heat. As you can see from the photos the grapple looms from the clouds surrounded by fire. I wonder if this guy was paid OT for his trouble?
As of writing this story the cause of the fire remains undetermined.
As protocol dictates, I end this post with a link to a video of the action.
Official news from Mack today (and for that matter Volvo) that starting in 2015 the production of dimethyl ether (DME) powered Pinnacle Axle Back models will begin. If you’ve never heard of DME don’t worry, you’re in good company. According to the news release dimethyl ether is a fuel that can be produced from a variety of natural food stocks including animal waste, food waste, grass clippings and even natural gas which happens to be a very plentiful resource in North America. But wait, there’s more! DME burns so clean there is no soot which means there is no need for any filters or fluids to meet emission standards. This sounds like quite the technological breakthrough! In my eyes the most interesting part of the news release revolved around the ability to produce DME in small regional batches. From what I understand a DME producing facility can exist in the back lot of your local trucking company. In theory this would eliminate the need for the extensive and expensive fuel distribution system of modern times that is so often affected by external events that in turn increase price.
Will DME work as promised? Only time will tell but one thing is for sure. The reduction of America’s dependence on foreign oil is worth the work.
You can read the full press release by clicking here.
Ahh, Downtown Syracuse. Where would this site be without you?
Yesterday I had the chance to view the replacement of the Interstate 690 West bridge decks as they cross over North Salina Street. Last week the old decking was removed in preparation for the placement of the new precast pieces. Moulton’s Towing was responsible for trucking the pieces to the site while a crane from Clark Rigging did the heavy lifting. The entire process from lifting to setting went fairly quickly with about 35 minutes between each one.
Take a look at the gallery below and you might just notice the Autocar AT64 at work. Great to see a classic machine on the job.
Here is a video of the lift with a few seconds of trucks coming and going including the AT64.
;
For the past three or four weeks I have been following an ongoing sewer repair project occurring on the fringes of Armory Square. I’m not exactly sure what is going on but based on the piping and concrete forms being lowered into the earth I think sewer installation is a good guess. Based on my visits the crew from Barrett Paving looks to be threading their way around existing utilities. Complicated and time consuming work for sure. Over the weeks I’ve observed a steady stream of independent dump truck drivers working the site. They haul away the broken street only to return with crushed stone or other fill for the rapidly growing excavation. The trucks on site seem to change week by week. At the start of the project there was an Autocar ACL that you may remember from years ago! I last spotted it at a construction site in 2011. This truck has been M.I.A. recently but a Superliner has stepped into to fill the void.
Peterbilt Dump Truck – Click to Enalrge
Do not worry heavy equipment fans, I have not abandoned you. Below is nearly five minutes of the Volvo ECR350 excavator digging, smashing and tearing the road apart. Not to mention loading trucks, moving trench boxes and dropping steel decking like it was so much paper. Also staring in the video is a Cat loader moving concrete forms and a few of the trucks dumping stone.
You probably wont find a nice looker septic truck this side of the Mississippi if you try. Belonging to Jack’s Septic Service this International 9900i is a common site around town.
Click to Enlarge
On the municipal side of things similar trucks are necessary to keep the pipes flowing.
You saw the pictures the other day of the ATCA National Meet in Macungie, PA and now it’s time for the video. After all, it’s one thing to look at these fine classic trucks but it’s another thing to see them shake, rattle and roll.
First up is a Mack RS700L Mack that arrived at the show on the back of an equally impressive Superliner.
Next, a long wheelbase ’65 Peterbilt 351 with that distinctive Detroit scream. This truck was sporting a nifty old California Contractors License sticker for Northern California. I really enjoyed this truck and the west coat flavor it brought to the show.
Returning to the land of Mack Trucks we have a Detroit powered single axle Superliner. As far as I know a Detroit in a Superliner is something of a rare setup.
And here is a great selection of random trucks coming, going, and cruising.
As always, there is more to come! By the way, if you were a subscriber to me on Youtube you would have been able to see the above videos at the bright and earlier time of 7AM EST! Please subscribe!
Time for a quick detour from the ATCA Macungie coverage to bring you this Autocar Construcktor of Cherry House Moving. Considering the line of work indicated by the company name I can only assume this truck has some heavy specs. This photo comes to us courtesy of Bill who is trying to find our more about this rig. Stay tuned!
Click to Enlarge
Would you like to help keep Autocar Mondays alive? Send in your photos to eric@dailydieseldose.com
