A Fast UPS Truck

I went to the Syracuse Nationals the other weekend, it’s one of the largest car shows on the east coast with over 8,000 registered vehicles. This is the only picture I took. Don’t cry for me, I was there to work the CNY Living History/Brockway Trucks Museum table. Eight hours of talking with the general public about big trucks was fun but boy or boy there are some crazy misconceptions out there. And we’re not talking about the whole “Brockway used Mack cabs” debate. But anyway, that’s a post for another day.

To the best of my knowledge the flames and aluminum rims are the only special feature of this truck. Still pretty cool though. Maybe UPS should think about making this a standard feature on their trucks.

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1976 International Loadstar

Ah, it’s time to say goodbye to this old rig. We first took a look at this old rig back in 2011 when Davis Wallbridge was still using it on the job. And even then, the picture was from 2007! The paint certainly had more luster to it back in those days. Sometime around the early fall this truck was pushed out to the front yard of their shop and put up for sale. And there it sat. And sat. And sat some more. Other trucks and heavy equipment were also offered up for sale but the poor old little Loadstar just waited for a buyer that would never come. Eventually it ended up for sale at the annual Alex Lyon summer sale in Canastota, NY. 

The truck was rusty and crusty in the spots you would expect. Under the hood the IHC 446 gas was surrounded by tanks and tubes for the juice break system. All in all you could do far worse for a cheap little dump truck. I don’t know what it sold for but I’m going to guess 500.00 was the ceiling.

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2019 ATCA Macungie – Part III

This will be the last video in the series. I have a few more clips from the loading zone that I’ll work into a future video but until that time……enjoy.

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Autocar Mondays – Macungie 2019

Wow, check out this beauty. It’s a 1980 A64-BT powered by a Caterpillar diesel. It’s just one of the many great Autocar trucks that made the trip to the ATCA National Meet in Macungie PA. 

Believe me when I tell you that there were many more than six Autocars in attendance but these few just happen to be the ones I caught on film. They sounded and looked even better in person so make sure to check out the Macungie videos posted a few days ago.

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2019 ATCA Macungie – Part II

Geez, I sure do hope these two Oshkosh wreckers are actually in this video or else this title card is an awful tease.

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The Last RTS

Seven years ago I went to Walt Disney World for a vacation but in reality I went to film the legendary mass transit bus, the RTS. Back in 2012 the bus was already long in the tooth by modern standards and seemed even older when compared to the Giligs and Nova buses slowly taking over the Disney Transport fleet. I felt like I was in a race against time to capture these old machines that were still using Series 92 Detroit Diesels. Of course they were highly mufflered but that unmistakable tone was still there. Imagine my surprise when I learned that the MTA was still running these buses until May of 2019! According to the MTA nearly 4,900 buses were ordered by the authority between 1982 and 1999.

RTS Bus Retirement

The age of the diesel powered transit vehicle in NYC is quickly coming to a close. Most likely the RTS will be the last fossil fueled bus of significant quantities ever purchased by the MTA.

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Looking at Trucks – Reno 2019

It really is impossible to capture all the great trucks that attend an ATHS national show. Oh, you can try but chances are you won’t have any fun while mad dashing through the rows squeezing off photos left and right. I’ve found that an early morning stroll through the show field is as peaceful a start to the day as one can get. As an added bonus there are no golf carts! 

I promise that my breathing is not that heavy in real life. The microphone on the camera happens to be right at the top and it makes me sound constantly winded. I’m getting old but I’m not that old…

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ATCA Macungie National Meet – Video Part One

Do you doubt the greatness that is Macungie? Join the ranks of the believers.

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ATCA Macungie 2019 – Part 1

Between the ATHS national show in Reno and the ATCA national meet in Macungie we’re are going to spend the rest of the summer looking at antique trucks. This year I tried the strategy of arriving late, leaving just enough time to browse the field for awhile and then enjoy the mass exodus that usually takes place around 4ish. Usually the sun is shinning bright at this time making for fantastic photos but it decided to take a break until the very end. So much for the golden hour!

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Classic Logging Trucks

One of the appeals of the ATHS National Show moving west to east across the country over three years is the wide variety of trucks and regional influences captured. An east coast show is always heavy with overbuilt trucks wearing huge rubber and decorated with pin stripping that would make Michelangelo smile. A show in the center of the country is bound to have plenty of farm style trucks from the makes of International, White and GMC. Bouncing out to the west coast you find that chrome adorned Peterbilts and Kenworths will get you home.

As you can tell I definitely had my preconceived notions of what kind of trucks I would see in Reno. I will admit that I didn’t expect to see too many Autocars if any at all. That was a pretty foolish thought on my part as Autocars were always popular in logging and mining across the country. In fact I would be willing to bet that I saw more Autocars out west than I did at any single show back east last year. Heck, combine all the all shows and they still couldn’t beat Reno. Crazy!

Anyway, you’ll see a few of the beauties mentioned in the video above. By now we all know that I love the scream of a Detroit but a few of those old rigs had that sweet sounding old style Cummins with that low growl that just seems so right for the time period.

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