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Autocar Mondays – M.A. Bongiovanni Inc.

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Eric

Last week a large fire gutted a recycling plant in East Syracuse, NY. You can read all about it by clicking here. That very same day Jim sent me a photo of the Autocar ACL tractor you see below. It belongs to a local company by the name M.A. Bongiovanni, Inc. I was totally unaware of this company until Jim shared this photo. A few hours after I received Jim’s photo I stopped by the destroyed recycling facility on my way home from work and found a familar face in the crowd. The Bongiovanni Autocar! What were the chances? Either way it still makes a good addition to Autocar Mondays.

Click to Enlarge

Would you like to help keep Autocar Mondays alive? Send in your photos to eric@dailydieseldose.com

Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged autocar trucks, INC, M. A. BONGIOVANNI | Leave a comment

Removing a Bolier

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Eric

Have you ever replaced a hot water heater and struggled to get the old unit out of the basement? No matter the size you probably didn’t need two cranes, a flatbed and a crew of riggers to remove it from your home.

This boiler was being removed from a county steam plant last week through an access panel located on the second floor. I wasn’t around to see the crew lower it the ground but I was able to catch them load it up.

Clark Rigging was doing the lifting while Moulton’s Towing was doing the pulling. I’ve been hoping to catch this International 8100(?) truck from the Moulton fleet for awhile. It sounds great.

[Show as slideshow]

Here is a video of the lift and the loaded truck hitting the road.

Posted in Free and Easy | Tagged clark rigging, industrial boiler, moultons towing | Leave a comment

Cranes

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Eric

Craaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnneeeessss. If you read that as a zombie pronouncing the word brains you might be laughing right about about now. Today it is all about cranes both old and new. I’m going to start out with the vintage iron.

This crane is probably older than it looks and comes from a great locomotive lineage. As you can see the counterweight bears the name BLH Lima. BLH stands for Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton. For the railroad buffs out there you know this company as Lima Locomotive Works. The Baldwin name comes from Baldwin Locomotive Works which was another famous builder of steam powered locomotives. In the mid to late 50’s the two companies (plus Hamilton) merged together to form BLH. While these respective companies were know for high quality steam engines they found it difficult to manufacturer a diesel locomotive that was competitive. Shortly after merging together production ceased of train engines. The surviving company manufactured cranes like the one you see below at the same factory in Ohio that once made world class trains.

Plenty of nobs, dials, and levers in this cab.

Jumping forward to more modern times is this crane of unknown variety removing overhead signs from I-81 South as it cuts through downtown Syracuse. Recently there has been much discussion locally about what to do with this stretch of Interstate when it reaches the end of its useful life span. Should it be torn down and replaced with a boulevard? Should it be rebuilt as is? Maybe a tunnel? It has everyone worked up except me as no matter what the choice it will provide some great material for this site. 😉

Posted in Heavy Equipment | Tagged bhl lima crane | Leave a comment

Syracuse Recycling Destroyed By Fire

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Eric

Another day, another industrial fire in East Syracuse. Like many other village residents I was unaware of the massive conflagration that was taking place just blocks from my home early Tuesday morning. It wasn’t until I attempted to take a shower and found little water pressure that I realized something was wrong. For reasons yet unknown a large building belonging to Syracuse Recycling caught fire and burned uncontrollably for hours. I pass by this building nearly every day on the way home from work and never thought much about it. Last week I noticed for the first time how much plastic and cardboard was jammed into the building. Massive piles of material were spilling out of the doors. At the time I had an overwhelming feeling that a fire was just around the corner. I guess I should start telling fortunes at the NYS State Fair this summer!

I always enjoyed looking at the Syracuse Recycling building and dreaming about using it to store an ever growing classic semi truck collection. The high ceilings with massive sliding doors at the front of rear of the building. Turn of the century mason work located in an industrial part of town so no one cares how many rigs you have piling up in the yard. Direct rail access for shipment of those really big trucks. Oh well! Time to find another location.

Looking at the steel beams that were part of the roof system give you an idea how hot this fire burned. They have twisted and bent like a wet noodle. I found large pieces (about 4 inches in size) of burnt plastic or cardboard in my backyard and the surrounding streets. All told I am 1/2 a mile from the location of the fire.

At one point in time this building was used by various railroads to service trains and railcars. I believe the last train based company to utilize the building was the rail maintenance company Pandrol Jackson. Above you can you can see the remains of a burned front loader. Looks like a Cat to me?

Posted in Free and Easy | Tagged pandrol jackson east syracuse, syracuse recycling fire | Leave a comment

The Ghosts of Trucks Shows Past

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Eric

I’ve started backing up my photos to “the cloud” as it is all the rage. I backup most of my material on a regular basis but it’s good idea to have at least one location that doesn’t reside under my own roof. Going through some of my older stuff I’ve come across more than a few cool photos from truck shows past. As I go through the material I’ll share what I find.

Yesterday I started with the 2007 ATHS Twin Tiers chapter truck. At the time this event was held in Cortland, NY (or maybe Homer, NY) and coincided with the National Brockway Truck Show. As you might have figured the Brockway turn out at this event was always large. Browsing through the photos from the show one truck caught my eye. This 1960 260L.

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The 260 is one my favorite Brockway models and this truck has all the right bells and whistles with dual spotlights, orange beacon, and air horns. I don’t believe I have seen this truck at any shows in the past two or three years so it’s practically brand new!

Posted in Truck Show | Tagged aths twin tiers 2007, brockway 260 truck | Leave a comment

Autocar Mondays – Autocar Trucking

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Eric

Now this…is an Autocar! Around town there is a local dump truck company that runs nothing but Autocar trucks. The name? Autocar Trucking. Simple enough. Back when I took this photo in 2009 Autocar Trucking ran around 3 or 4 of these rigs on a regular basis. It has been awhile since I have seen any on the road. They seem to have been replaced with an Autocar (naturally) ACL and a AT64.

Of course just because I haven’t seen them on the road doesn’t mean they are not out there.

Would you like to help keep Autocar Mondays alive? Send in your photos to eric@dailydieseldose.com

Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged autocar acl, autocar at64, Autocar Dump Truck | Leave a comment

CNY ATHS 2013 – The Videos

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Eric

Well it took a week but I finally found some time to upload the videos from the CNY ATHS chapter show. There are some familiar faces with a few new ones mixed in. Over five minutes of non-stop pulse pounding footage! Enjoy!

Posted in Truck Show | Tagged classic truck show, cny aths | Leave a comment

Heavy Hauling Peterbilt Style

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Eric

Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you an amazing collection of photos from long time Daily Diesel Dose supporter Dan. Perhaps his best work to date? You be the judge.

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Working his contacts in the industry Dan was able to gain the inside information on this massive rig and its load as it traveled RT 219 to Buffalo. The truck is 2013 Peterbilt 388. Power is supplied by a 600HP Cummins ISX that is matted to an 18 speed Road Ranger with two speed auxiliary transmission. You can catch the full details of the truck, trailer and the trip from Baltimore to New York by visiting this thread over at the DHS Diecast website. The load out back is a Drake steel shredder weighing in at 150,000 lbs.

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I give these photos the headbanging smiley of approval.

Posted in On the Job | Tagged drake steel shredder, peterbilt 388 | Leave a comment

National Grid Truck Bingo – Chevy C7500

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Eric

Who gets excited when they see a Chevy C7500? This guy. When you’re playing National Grid Truck Bingo that is the sort of thing that happens. At one time the National Grid fleet in Upstate, NY (following their purchase of Niagara Mohawk) was comprised mostly of this model of truck. As the years rolled on the Chevys disappeared and the Freightliners moved in. Some things will never be the same. This particular truck seems to be involved with the natural gas side of the business. The back end was loaded with various types of heavy looking valves and pipes.

National Grid Chevy C7500 – Click to Enlarge

Speaking of Freightliners here is CNG powered M2 112 with a new style service body.

CNG Powered Freigthliner – Click to Enlarge

Posted in On the Job | Tagged chevy c7500, freightliner m2 112 cng, national grid trucks | 2 Comments

Cat 245 Excavator – It’s Really Over Now

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Eric

Do you remember my obsessive coverage of the Bristol Myers-Squibb factory demolition in East Syracuse? I hope you do as I trudged through snow and ice for the better part of two months to grab exclusive video and photos of the event. The biggest challenge of this site was actually trying to see the equipment. Trees and office trailers blocked most of the good sight lines while a large dip in the ground usually hid all but the largest of machines. At the time I wished I was able to get closer to the excavators in use but there just way to do it. The zoom on my camera became my best friend. Once the job was finished the largest two machines (click here and here to see them) were trucked away to the next demolition job. At the time I assumed this was the fate of the other machines as well. About a month ago I noticed a large blue and yellow excavator sitting in the yard of JPW Riggers right down the street from the former Bristol site. I cruised by once or twice to check it out figuring it would eventually move on to another job. It never did.

This past weekend the excavator and two others crossed the auction block at the Alex Lyon yard in Canastota, NY. During the demolition I didn’t pay much attention to what turned out to be a Cat 245. Not a single picture was snapped of the Cat as it looked small and puny compared to everything else on the job. Seeing the 245 in person greatly changed my mind. This thing was huge and the bucket was absolutely massive. It really illustrates how large the other excavators were as they dwarfed this machine.

Cat 245 – Click to Enlarge

I was able to climb all over the Cat 245 and believe me when I tell you this machine is beat. Grease and filth cover every inch. Every piece of glass is busted. The controls and nobs are worn smooth from years of use. I made a walk around video of the old Cat which includes some seat time in the cab. I didn’t try to move the stick around mostly because I have no idea what I’m doing but I did rev up the throttle.

Below is a gallery which includes two of the other machines that worked with the Cat at Bristol. On the DDD facebook page there was some debate over which brand of excavator they might be. I can tell you beyond a doubt they are Link Belt/Case machines. The larger machines were probably the same make