June 17th and 18th 2022 is just around the corner. Get pumped.
You’ll either love this idea….or hate it. Either way, pretty fun to watch.
Warning. If you watch this video you will yearn for the warmer days of summer.
Now is the time to make decisions for the trucks shows of 2022. This year the ATHS National show and the ATCA National Show are back to back. That doesn’t leave much breathing room. Which one will you attend? Both? None? I’m not sure I’ll be making it to the land of Lincoln but Macungie is just down the road…..
Here is a great mystery truck for all you rail fans and truck fans alike. Hugh shot this photo back in 1978 at the D&H railyard in Whitehall, NY. What make a truck do you figure this to be? Clearly is Caterpillar powered but the badge on the hood is a mystery. I was quite surprised to find very few shots of the truck online as foamers are usually great at documenting every aspect of railroading. What do you think it is?
Here is a little tire kicking I did back in November. Of course I gravitated to a super clean International 4900. Only I could geek out over factory fresh floormats and pristine late 90’s door panels. Don’t worry. I found some other trucks too. 😉
One is good. Two is great. Three is better. Four is amazing. Five is other worldly. For the first post of the new year I bring you a video made of clips from the year past.
Here is the train of thoughts that lead to this Google Maps Discovery.
That’s right, you too can now visit the famous Midway Islands. I was very surprised to see a very extensive trail of street view photos on this island covering nearly every major section of the former Navy base. While much of the larger infrastructure is various states of decay there is still an active US Fish and Wildlife presence on the island. There appears to be an active runway with two crash trucks, a power plant, maintenance shops, and millions of birds. You can even see the Officer-In-Charge house that President Nixon used to secretly meet South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu in 1969.
But I digress. If you visit the islands browse just east of the sea plane hanger near the large man made harbor. From above it will look like nothing but broken concrete but dropping to street view you can view the island boneyard collection.
Look at this neat old R-Series International fire truck. And what about this Mack mixer truck. Looking closely in the background there appears to be a Peterbilt with hood removed. Possible narrow nose?
Plenty of heavy equipment and square bodies too!
Neat!
When a new truck like the Western Star 49X hits the market I typically don’t expect to see a cash strapped municipality like the City of Syracuse with one let alone three but that’s exactly what they have.
Here is the brand new 285 of the SDPW fleet. Previously 285 was worn by an AWD International Paystar 5000 single axle as seen below.
And here is the new 283. And just like 285 it replaced another International Paystar.
It didn’t occur to me until after that 283 is a SBA configuration. Below, the old 283 pushing snow for the Vohl blower to attack.
Well, I think you know my thoughts on the matter when it comes to what trucks I wish were still part of the fleet. 😉
Old 283 in action. Sold for 4,550 at auction in July of 2021.
Have you ever heard of Superior Truck and Tractor Manufacturing Company? I certainly never had and apparently neither has Google. My buddy Dave shot this photo at a Ritchie Brothers auction in Maryland last month as proof that the company did indeed exist at one point.
At first glance I thought I was looking at a Hendrickson from the final years the company made trucks but then you notice the badging on the side and the front.
Clearly the truck cab is based on the venerable International S-Series. As with previous International cabs like the Comfo-Vision, the S Series cab provided a starting pointing for many niche truck companies including Hendrickson and the last incarnations of Diamond-T.
Very unique find! If you know anything about this company please leave a comment below!
