Over the past few years on this we’ve seen a few trucks pulled from the former collection of Bill Craib. I never shared much of what was on the property out of respect for Bill’s family and their desire to protect what was left from scraper and vandals. I never knew Bill or saw these trucks in their prime but there more than a few lookers. I don’t think there was a single vehicle on the property that I wouldn’t have bought three times over if I had the money. After Bill’s passing his daughter attempted to sell as much as she could to good homes while providing a living for his wife. More than a few trucks and other pieces of heavy equipment were saved. Eventually the time came to clear the property entirely and the remaining trucks were junked. I know some will watch these videos and wonder why these fine machines were left to rot. Why were they not saved? Personally I think they were saved in one form or another. I don’t know the condition of the trucks when Bill bought them but I’m willing to bet they were not museum quality pieces. Most were well worked when he got them and continued to work for Bill for many years. They fact that most were not junked over 30 years ago is a amazing. Plenty of people including myself were able to visit and take pictures and videos over the years. Even more people were able to save trucks, dozers, and cranes either entirely or through hard to find parts. Nothing lasts forever especially heavy metal in the northeast.

Here is the train of thoughts that lead to this Google Maps Discovery.

• Read news story about oil leak that has contaminated drinking water near Pearl Harbor.
• Go to Google Maps to see what Pear Harbor actually looks like.
• Browse Google Maps in street view to see what an an average street on a Haitian Island looks like.
• Aimlessly float over the islands until I reach Midway Islands.
• On a whim decide to drop street view pin on former military base and am shocked to see there actually is a street view!

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!