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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.

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

Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged frame's motor freight | Leave a comment

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.

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

Posted in Still Working | Tagged peterbilt truck | 2 Comments

Macks from Gerharts

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Eric

Today we are travelling back to the wonderland the Gerhart Equipment Company. Thanks to Dave we’ve seen some great Autocars and Internationals but now it’s time to gaze upon the Macks. The Mahan Collection isn’t the only one to have an Mack M Series dump truck.

As mentioned before, Gerhart’s plays host to an “all” Mack truck show. While the most recent open house was focused on vintage equipment, previews of what you can see in October were to be found in nearly every direction. This Mack MH is setup with a heavy dump trailer. The round headlights point to the early years of this model.

And who can resist a seemingly original R-Model tractor?

As promised before, much more to come from this event thanks to Dave.

Posted in Truck Show | Tagged gerhart machinery, mack mh, mack off road truck, r-model mack | Leave a comment

Oshkosh W614 Snow Plow

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Eric

Most of us have a finite amount of money at our disposal at any given time. If you’re not one of these people let me know, I want to become you friend. When heading to an auction with a limited budget sometimes you’re presented with difficult choices. For instance, you could bid on this on 1960 Oshkosh W614 formerly of the Town of Bristol.

To make the most of your cash and get a good deal you would have to take a close look at all the major components like frame, plow gear, running gear and cab. Looking at this old Oshkosh I wasn’t sure what way to go regarding condition. Sure, there is plenty of rust but it seems to be contained mostly to the surface. Inside, the cab was clean and original.

Looks great if your ignore all that daylight coming through the floor. The frame seemed straight enough, even came with a birds nest.

The 6 cylinder gas was marked as not running. But back to the topic of decisions. This truck ended up selling for a mere 650 dollars. There certainly seems to be more than enough machine left here for that price. For perspective I present to you lot 301. It’s portajohn on a trailer that sold for, you guessed it, 650 bucks.

I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure which one I would have bought. 🙂

Other views.

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Posted in Snow Plows | Tagged oshkosh snow plow | 2 Comments

Ford Traveling Show

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Eric

I can’t help to think that back in the day this traveling Ford road show would have utilized a Ford heavy truck like the LTL 9000 or maybe the now famous WT9000. Don’t get me wrong, this Peterbilt 389 is a fine looking machine in every way but you just can’t go wrong with the classics.

Along with the Pete, a Kenworth W900 was hauling a similar van trailer.

And then we have this Freightliner that when compared to the other two trucks particularly disappears due to its plain exterior. I guess this must be the new guy to the fleet?

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Posted in On the Job | Tagged freightliner cascadia, kenworth w900, peterbilt 389, stage call specialized transport | Leave a comment

Autocar Mondays – CT Edition

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Eric

Wandering through a car show is one of those perfect activities for a warm summer evening. It’s even better when a few big trucks show up to the car show and when those trucks happen to be Autocars you just can’t ask for anything more.

Today Zack shares with a few shots from the Cromwell Memorial Day Car show. This 1962 Cummins powered Autocar DC75 single axle truck is real beauty. I’ve always liked the rounded style hood and grill of the 50’s to early 60’s A-Cars. Just check out that pinstriping work, a New England truck tradition if there ever was one.

Next the DC75 sat this square nose brute. In case you could not tell from the paint and the attention to detail both trucks hail from the same collection. Previously owned by the South Windsor Connecticut Highway Department this Autocar now enjoys a life on the show circuit.

Below, a few more excellent angles of the trucks including a third Autocar of which I know nothing about other than it’s a real attention grabber. As always, thanks to Zack for sharing. Looks like next year this car show might become a truck show! Make sure you stop by Zack’s website for tons of great fire truck photos.

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Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged autocar truck, cromwell memorial day car show | Leave a comment

Terex 82-50 Dozer

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Eric

You never know when you might need a bulldozer powered by a V-12 Detroit. That’s the very reason why Clarence recently picked this Terex 82-50 up for his collection. Considered by many to be the flagbearer of track dozer design for decades to come the 82-50 was powered by a rear mounted Detroit 12V-71T. The power generated by the massive GM diesel found expression through the aid of an Allison 3 speed powershift transmission and the Terex planetary final drive system. Standard blades for the 82-50 were a 13’3″ semi-u and a 16′ full-u. In case you’re wondering I’m no Terex expert. I leave that field of study to the good people at Contractor Magazine. Check out their well researched and authored article on the 82-50 by clicking here.

I hope Clarence has the U blade somewhere. I can’t imagine too many of those are laying around still!

Posted in Heavy Equipment | Tagged terex 82-50 bulldozer | 3 Comments

Long Time Coming

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Eric

Here is a shot I’ve been chasing for a number of years, a New York Susquehanna and Western train as it winds through downtown Syracuse, NY.

Not being a regular train spotter I relied on dumb luck to grab this photo. No scanners or other networks for me. Past experience had taught me that NYSW trains seemed to make regular appearances on this set of track near the 12:30 mark three or four times a week. Some days I would see nothing. Other days I would be too early or too late. With trains running on an elevated set of tracks there are only a few angles from the streets worth trying for which greatly reduced my changes. Sorry, I’m not bushwhacking through the weeds and homeless encampments for the money shot. Too make a long story short I was lured to this spot by the sound of an idling diesel and the hiss of air brakes. The crew of this train was waiting for a single to clear which provided ample opportunity for a photo. The shot that I had lazily pursued for a number of years had finally presented itself on a golden set of tracks.

Seen here, 3802, 3800, 2806, EMD SD60 models.

Posted in Heavy Equipment | Tagged armory square, New York Susquahanna & Western, nysw railroad | Leave a comment

Jersey Spreader

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Eric

Here is a piece of equipment that I thought has been relegated to the pages of a HCEA publication, it’s a Caterpillar D7 with a jersey spreader. It’s not too hard to figure out how this setup works but the exact name was unknown to me until I ran a Google search. Surprisingly enough not a single dirty image popped up in the results.

Anway, this particular setup came from the Town of Canandaigua straight from the 1950’s. I’m not sure when they last used this machine but everything was in working order and decent shape. Speaking to the age of this dozer the diesel engine was started by a pony motor. The pony motor fired right up but despite the valiant efforts of a gentleman who I only assume knew what he was doing the diesel refused to full turn over.

The jersey spreader is still around in some form today thanks to the people at DoMor Equipment. Below, a few more shot along with some of the other dozers up for sale at the auction.

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In living color.

Posted in Heavy Equipment | Tagged bulldozer, cat dozer, caterpillar d7, jersey spreader | Leave a comment

Last Call

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Eric

There was a bar here once. It went by the name of Shenanigans. At some point in the past five years or so it closed. Sitting a busy part of the city more than a few more entrepreneurs tried to make a go of it. Some failed on their own merits while others closed after their patrons began shootings each other in the street. Eventually interest in the building ceased and it sat empty.

In the background of this photo and toward the right you’ll see the empty NYNEX building. Last year a pipe burst in the the two story underground parking garage creating a flood that went unnoticed until it breached the street. Much of this water migrated across the way to the Shenanigans basement and there it sat, soaking and rotting.

Right around the same time of the flooding basement work on the Connective Corridor was taking place. Months of heavy equipment digging and pounding on the streets and sidewalks took their toll on an already compromised foundation. At some point a portion of the footing collapsed and the fat lady started singing.

I was surprised to see this building go. It was there one Friday afternoon and by the following Monday it was gone. Normally I would have been upset to miss some demo action but I was out of town at the Mahan Collection that weekend. A decent trade off.

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