2016 ATCA National Meet Part II

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Eric

GM Heavy trucks are alive and well! Can you believe this shot? A Chevy Titan and Bison in the same frame. From the same company! Wow. The 80’s are back. In fact, if my heat soaked brain from the day remembers clearly, there were no less three Bisons at the show with each one just as nice as the previous truck. One even had a transplanted Detroit Series 60 for more efficient cruising. Now I wish I had taken more photos.

GMC Heavy Trucks

Mack trucks and and Macungie go hand in hand. There were so many Superliners on the show grounds either as display trucks or transport rigs. Some were doing double duty.

Mack Superliner

I love the odd ball vehicles that have to be one of the last of their kind. I can safely say I have never seen a White Horse delivery van before…unless it was at last years show and I simply forgot. Where do find parts for this!?

White Horse Truck

Speaking of Whites, the 3000 line of trucks has always been one of my personal favorites. Check out this rat rod inspired setup. Complete with custom frame from front to back. I wanted to get a better shot of this truck but it attracted people like flames attract moths.

White 3000 rat rod

And so much more!

The past couple of years of this show I’ve felt like I’ve been chasing the sun with trying arrive early enough to see a decent number of trucks arrive. Ultimately I’ve failed more often than succeed but this year I had a diesel revelation. Arrive later and wait until the show ends and watch as the trucks leave. It’s the same thing but only in reverse! Plus the sun is in better spot for videos and photos. Tomorrow well start to see the future face of coverage of this event.

Before we go, a massive Detroit powered Kenworth W900.

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Mack Truck Factory

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Eric

For all of the years that I have attended the ATCA truck show in Macungie I’ve never taken advantage of the tours of the Mack Customer Center or the factory tour that happens to be just down the street from the show grounds. I always thought about going but it’s hard to draw me away from hundreds of classics trucks assembled in one place. Shortly after arriving to the show this year I decided to finally take the ATCA up on their offer and check out the factory during the one day of the year the plant is open to the public.

Mack Truck Factory

During the bus ride over a few facts and figures were tossed out by the volunteer Mack Ambasador.

  • One of the largest truck factories in the world with over 1 million square feet of space
  • The only Mack factory in the United States
  • All Mack models are produced in the factory
  • Over 1,400 UAW employees
  • Daily truck production of 74 units per day
  • Not a single robot is used to build the trucks. Complete hand assembly.

I can confirm the validity of the last statement. When the machines rise up the Macungie plant will be one of the places on earth in which humanity can take shelter and build the weapons that will save us! The next summer blockbuster maybe?

Mack Truck Factory

The self guided walking tour provided access to just a small portion of the assembly area. The cab assembly line, paint section, and power train installation subsections were all open to inspection. A thin yellow rope separated me from the nuts, bolts, and other various pieces used to make Mack trucks of all types.

Mack Truck Parts

I was very impressed with the feel of the plant. It was bright and well kept. There were no obnoxious odors or sounds that you would typically associate with the production of heavy duty vehicles. It was difficult to capture the scale of the operation but if you stare down this row of open doors you’ll get a feel of how it is.

Mack Truck Factory

All in all it was a very cool experience to step foot in one of the world’s premiere truck factories and see how a pile of parts become a function machine. A large thank you to the ATCA and Mack employees who volunteered their time on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Below, one of the finished products on display.

Mack Granite

And more.

The video experience.

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2016 ATCA Macungie National Meet

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Eric

Isn’t that a nice looking lineup? Such diversity in years and models. These are the kind of trucks you get at the ATCA National Meet in Macungie, PA. Below, Part 1 gallery of just a tiny cross section of the many, many, trucks that were on hand.

ATCA Macungie Truck Show

Part 2 will drop in a few days but first we’ll make a detour to the Mack plant just a short ride down the road from the show.

If you couldn’t make the show consider this video a little bit of redemption. I filmed just a few of the many rows as I walked. Enjoy the sites and sounds!

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Autocar Mondays – Smorgasbord

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Eric

Record breaking attendance. That sentence accurately describes the ATCA national meet from this past weekend. With over 700 trucks jamming into Macungie Memorial Park on Friday and Saturday there certainly was much to see and take in. I wandered through row after row of trucks in a daze. Stopping here and there to take a photos when something really caught my attention. It was easy to pass by a truck two or three times before it stood out from the crowd. Other trucks didn’t need a second shot, trucks like this 1986 Autocar just grabbed your eyes and wouldn’t let go.

Autocar Truck

All ages, makes, and models of Autocar were to be found on the show grounds but I only managed to capture a few them in photograph form. This pair demonstrates the progression in style and technology over a 35 year span of time. On the left, a 1965 C65T, on the right a 1927 CHS(?).

Classic Autocar Trucks

So many Autocars, so little time. Below, video of few more trucks arriving and departing. Make sure you take the time to watch, there are some real works of art contained within.

As always, we’ll spend the rest of the week go over the show including a journey to the Mack Truck factory!

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Northwest Engineering Knowledge

Posted on June 18, 2016 by Eric

Does this picture make you happy or sad? Angry or peaceful? Your answer will probably depend on how you see a glass of water. Are they half full or half empty? Personally, I’m glad these machines are lined up here. They still exist and maybe their parts will allow other shovels to be reborn or continue to operate. In this lineup I believe the shovels toward the right that are displaying the Northwest nameplate are Model 80-D’s. Arguably the most iconic and long last design to ever roll from the shops at Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Northwest Model 80-D

The model 80 proved to be a great triumph for Northwest with 2,600 being shipped to locations worldwide since 1933. Fourteen years later the Model 80-D with the instantly recognizable “bread box” housing would enter the market and remain a constant for decades to come. Fun fact, no one at Northwest remembers why the D was added to the name. Diesel maybe? Dracula? Probably not. But I can tell you I learned all this key information from Northwest Engineering Company, a Photographic Collection Volume II by M.E. Follsom and M. Torres.

 

Northwest Model 80D

And here we see what I believe to be another Model 80-D being ran by the preeminent Northwest operator of all times, Everette DeBerry. At 81 years young Everette puts all other operators to shame with unmatched skill and knowledge of these machines. Some have said watching him behind the controls of shovel is like watching a world class surgeon at work. The man and machine become one.

Below, a whole mix of stuff with more Northwest Machines and probably a few other makes and models. Thank you to Dave for sharing. And thank you to Folsom and Torres for putting together a truly wonderful history of Northwest machines. I highly encourage any heavy equipment fans to check out their work. Volume II contains over 200 pages of photos of machines in action, factory mock ups, vintage advertising, one off models and more. I’ve spent hours flipping through the book and always find something new just when I thought I’ve seen it all. Truly outstanding work.

For Volume I click here.

A tip of the hat to the person that can tell me what that poor old crane carcass once was!

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Update Not Found

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Eric

While posting the airport plow photos from the other day it occurred to me that it has been a long time since the last plow update. While these are not action photos by any stretch I know that some of you out there enjoy looking at these trucks. Maybe you moved out of the area and like to reminisce about winters gone by. There are even a few out there who are already counting the days down until the first snow flakes return (not me) and the plowing begins. After all, the first day of summer is technically the longest day of the year before the slow march back to short days begins. With that depressing thought, the plows.

This WS 4900 from the Town of Clay stood out with its solitary rear axle. Where is the rest of the truck? It’s like someone ate the top of the muffin and put the rest back in the bag.

Western Star Snow Plow

Here is a Oshkosh from the James A. Fitzpatrick nuclear plant near Oswego, NY. Current owner Entergy announced last year that the plant would not be refueled in 2016 effectively hanging the out of business sign on the front door. Auction hunters keep an eye out for this one soon.

Oshkosh Snow Plow

Everyone’s favorite sidewalk machine, the TerraStar.

International Terrastar

The gallery below, International 4900 from an unknown location, probably a trade in. Mack Granite from Town of Trenton with some meaty look tires. Town of Eaton WS 4900. New Mack Granite for parts unknown. Freightliner FLD from the Town of Van Buren. International 7400 from the Westhill School District.

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Cat 769B

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Eric

If you’re ever traveling west on NYS Route 318 keep an eye out for this Cat 769B off-road dump truck. Trust me, it won’t be hard to miss. This old hauler is starting to look a little worse for wear as sits by the side of the road waiting for the next job. Rated to carry 30 cubic yards of material the 769B has a 415 HP Caterpillar diesel engine. Gearing comes from three forward speeds and one reverse connected to an automatic torque divider the math ends up totaling nine gears for travelling forward and three for reverse.

Cat 769B

Just about the same time I snapped this photo Dave was looking over a fleet of 769’s at the Gerhart property. I can’t seem to make out what the name on the door reads. Anyone have a clue? Eitherway, they certainly put the truck I saw in perspective!

Cat 769B

As always, many thanks to Dave for sharing.

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Ground Show

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Eric

This past weekend I attended the 2016 Syracuse Air Show and the first photograph of the day ended up being a snow plow! No one should really be surprised. I would say that about 1/4 of the reason I attended was in hope that at least a portion of the snow fighting arsenal would be on display. My snow plow faith was rewarded with a lineup right by the front gate.

Oshkosh Snow Plow

The Syracuse Hancock International airport is no stranger to snow, receiving on average 124 inches per season. Despite the high total Hancock has a closure rate of less than 24 hours annually thanks to the skilled ground crews and the machines shown here.

Syracuse International Airport Snow Plow

The vehicles on display this past weekend are just a small portion of the fleet. Behind the maintenance building and out of range of my tired legs, an army of loaders with massive blades were parked in organized rows. A few other big trucks were mixed into this fleet that are responsible for plowing that many roads serving the airport. Also seen but not photographed were massive cabover snow blowers similar in style to this one.

While I enjoyed seeing all the aircraft on display I couldn’t help but think that it would be cool to see a formation of these truck motoring down a runway. Maybe they could have been led off by this crash truck as it sprayed water and made high speed maneuvers.

Oshkosh Crash Truck

Below, a few more angles plus a shot of some militarized Freightliner Columbia trucks of the United States Navy.

 

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Autocar Mondays – Out in the Rain

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Eric

This weekend the 37th annual ATCA National Meeting takes place on the beautiful grounds of Memorial Park in Macungie, PA. This truck show is no stranger to the pages of Daily Diesel Dose with plenty of photos and videos originating from this great event.

The weather usually cooperates for this two day show but there have been some weekends in recent memory where the rain fell often and heavy. Those are the years in which the famous Macungie Mud traps man and machine alike.

This particular photo comes from the 2009 show, perhaps one of the most famous mud years ever to have taken place. I made the trek out to the show with my father. We came prepared with ponchos but ultimately they proved to be futile act of resistance. After toughing it out for a few hours we head back to the car. Removing our soaked shoes and socks we looked at each and agreed that we would never again attend in the show in the pouring rain again.

Even with the torrential rains plenty of trucks were on hand like this 1950 C90D that was worth a moment of reflection. Complete with sand traction tanks in front of the drives and what appears to be a tag axle of sorts behind the fifth wheel it is a classic piece of Autocar history. This truck is wearing the Frame’s livery, a historic fallen flag trucking company well know throughout Pennsylvania.

Autocar C90D

So far the weather forecast for this weekend is calling for mid 80’s with a partly cloudy sky. Keep you fingers crossed!

Have you seen an Autocar that you would like to share with the world? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com

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Still Working – Old Peterbilt

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Eric

I was heading into work the other morning when I saw this classic looking Peterbilt at the jail loading docks. Like always, I have trouble telling if these petercars are original or newer models made to look older. A Peterbilt is just about the only vehicle around that allows for that kind of stunt.

Peterbilt Big Rig

Nice looking machine no matter what the true story turns out to be.

Peterbilt Truck

 

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