Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services, full scale response

 A spill at Oland's brewery in Halifax January 8 lead to a full scale response from the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services. Don't worry the spill was not beer. In fact it was not a caustic chemical as initially thought, but was steam and hot water. Nevertheless HRM F+ES took no chances and came to the site prepared for the worst.

There was a report that one person apparently sheltered on site and was extracted, but there were no reports of injuries. 

The tally of apparatus was impressive with seven units, not including at least three officers' cars.

 

Spartan  / Carl Thibault 18-588E, Engine 12

 

Pierce 07-417Q (spare)

Pierce Arrow XT 6700, 21-634P, Aerial 12

 

 

Spartan Metro Star / Carl Thibault 11-531E, Engine 8
 

Some rarely seen equipment also made the scene ready for a full scale HazMat operation.

Sterling 04-347S with 05-366TR Command Centre

GMC 5500, 07-419U / Dynamic Truck Bodies, Decon 5

Freightliner FL80 / Metalfab, 97-257R Tactical Support

With temperatures hovering around 0ºC the streets were wet with road salt, so the equipment that came from any distance took on a hazy look.

.

If there's someting strange in your neighborhood...

 The first line of the thme song from the Ghostbusters movie goes:

 "If there's something strange in your neighborhood

Who ya gonna call?

Ghostbusters."

There is a big sewer replacement project goin' on in my neighborhood and there are a lot of expensive and very fine Komatsu diggers and loaders, lots of pickups and some very nice support vehicles such Western Stars and Peterbilts, all owned by the Prime Contractor. 

 

When it comes to dump trucks however he has hired independants, and they are bringin' in some very strange equipment - not exactly fresh from the showroom. I'm not gonna a call ghostbusters - not yet anyway.

I believe this twin steer Navistar International is a Paystar model. I like that when the grill was removed, it revealed the original factory paint colour. I preferred the pre-fibreglass Paystars with steel hood and fenders, but this one will do for toughness - aside ftom the weirdly long wheelbase.

This beaut has a fleet number "97-04" on the hood, and it could well be from 1997. Mack introduced the R model cab, and the U and DM model offset cab trucks in the mid 1960s and they ran to about 2004. The DM was a heavier duty model of the U. This guy also has a newer BeauRoc dump body.

This Sterling carries a fleet number 07-038, which seems about right.

For a 2007 truck, it is in remarkable condition however.

Not in my neighbourhood, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it here, is this classic I discovered the other day:

Although it carries a Ford badge, I believe it is in fact a Sterling. The fleet number 09-051, if I am correct, would date it from the last year of production of the Sterling A series. Ford sold the Louisville plants to Freightliner in 1996 and the last Fords were produced in 1998. Sterling produced Louisville and Aeromax style trucks until 2009. They used second generation L cabs and aside from some labels were identical to the last model Fords. I believe it would be easy to swap out the name plate and remove Sterling lettering from the grille.

How about a house for sale with matching dump truck. Or vice versa?

.

Small stuff and Big stuff

 There seemed to be quite a combination of smaller sized trucks and bigger sized trucks on the road today.

Among the small stuff was this wonky Freightliner with a very light weight trailer and three cars strapped on board. The road runner on the cab door hints at a more southern sort of origin, which was reinforced by the giant cactus on the sleeper. It looks like it was spec'd to tow a fifth wheel RV instead of towing old used cars for export.

There are still Sterling trucks on the road, although most are showing signs of wear. Production was discontinued in St.Thomas, ON in 2009 and in the US in 2010. There was a stock of new trucks available for some time after those dates, but even so the newest Sterling would still be at least ten years old. 

Therefore this Halifax Water tanker is looking pretty good. (The operator is the utility responsible for maintaining the drinking water and sewer systems in Halifax.)

Peterbilts are favoured by many owner operators, and by wrecker operators as they are made to order with very strong frames for long wheelbases. However to see a large day cab Pete with a wrecker body is a bit unusual. 

A-1 Towing + Recovery operates this Pete with a NRC 35 ton slider. It had been dispatched to tow a twin steer dump truck, one of many bringing fill to a pier expansion area at the Fairview Cove container terminal.

This Mack is typical of the twin steer dump trucks operating in the area. It has just dumped a load of fill and is NOT carrying the container terminal sign.

Although it looks like a major car wreck, the equipment behind this Kenworth is a mobile screening plant, used to grade gravel. It is quite an impressive bit of machinery: Terex Finlay 833

Operators of the Kenworth chose not to show their name on the truck, but it looked like it had New Brunswick plates. 

As usual there were lots of containers going out by truck instead of the cheaper (but slower) train. This Freightliner is running for CANAM Flat Decks out of Winnipeg, MB.

As the driver straps down his load, the sun was just right to see the strong undercarriage which allows the trailer to carry a loaded container.

It is paving season, so there are trucks on the road carrying asphalt. One of the clues that it might be carrying that cargo is the heating line "taps" on the side of the trailer that allow for the cargo to be heated up to make it pumpable.

This big Kenworth has a trailer that appears to be fitted to carry asphalt. Note the "taps" near the front. However, since it was near an asphalt plant, but had no hazard symbol displayed, it might also have delivered some form of oil to the asphalt storage facility, which uses "food grade non-toxic oil" to heat the asphalt.

.

Road Report - Big Truck Version - Finale

Kenworth has always been a big favourite in Quebec, and they are probably one of the most common trucks on the road. Getting a photo of one sitting still is always the challenge.

 Bertrand's Unit 12-05 with an RV for a long haul tow, takes a quick truck stop break.

Garage Bertrand in Lévis operates a fleet of big wreckers and works all over Quebec and beyond into the US. They also have an interesting web site with an album section showing their older trucks back to the 1980s. http://www.remorquagebertrand.com/ENG/index.html


Another Mack popped into view, and a classic offset cab R model. Used as a water truck by a road construction company it probably has very low mileage.

These rugged units are still in daily use as transit mixers, dump trucks and other uses.


Many of the smaller brand names don't attract much attention, even though there are many units on the roads. The late lamented Sterling brand can still be seen, usually in vocational vehicles, but the odd time it pops up in other places. Daimler shut down its Canadian plan in St.Thomas, ON in 2009, but there are still Sterlings to be see:

This Acterra chassis serves as a village fire tanker in Les Eboulements, QC.

Built by Camions Helie Inc of Joliette, QC - see their excellent website: http://www.camionhelie.com/


I didn't see too many Peterbilts on the road trip - or at least ones that stood out from the crowd. Petes were once very rare sights in Canada but are now right up there with the other big brands for over the road. They have also made their mark in the vocational field too.

This short hood Pete may be a model 348 which is engineered for a variety of applications.It will distribute its load via a set back front axle and a second steering axle from Simard Suspensions.

Western Star makes its own twin steers and this one is waiting at the Halifax dealer.

Freightliners are everywhere these days, and a few samples jumped in front of my camera

This handsome unit, seen at the New Brunswick/Quebec border appeared to be waiting for some assistance due to a sagging load. The truck runs for TCF Express of Pierreville, QC.

I saw several Freightliner COEs - but only a few were stopped.

Fueling at Woodstock, NB, this drom unit is a very rare sight, although Packers Logistics of Stoney Creek, ON likes them for their LTL work.

A classic FL COE - with straight stacks was taking a break in Amherst, NS, some distance from its home base in Sussex, NB.

There was something for everyone in this trio of chip haulers. Low rise, mid rise and high rise sleepers, and a mix of traditional and more modern styling - two Petes and a Binder. The two red trucks are 2018 models, with license plates only ten digits apart. The blue Pete is a 2012.

That's the end of this road trip report.

.

Summer

It is summer and thus hard to find time to post regularly. I will be off on my usual road trip in August, so posts may be rare until September.

Some recent spottings:

Parts for Trucks in Burnside had this spotless Sterling outside their repair bay. Painted in traditional Day + Ross "big orange" colours, I hope to see it on parade duty somewhere this summer.

Edit

Mercedes Unimog fitted with van body, in military colours but Netherland  German plate (HH XL 1300),

Out to pasture, this "Never Back Down" version Western Star, appears to be the same one I saw at  the Atlantic Truck Show in Moncton in June, but is now at the Western Star dealer in Dartmouth.

.

Road Trip Report 4 - no fire here

There was a public event underway in the Pictou fire hall on June 20 so the apparatus had been wheeled out onto to the apron. Despite long shadows from the late evening sun, the unique "biscuit" over over red colour scheme was still vidible.

Unit No.1 is this good looking Ford F-350 light rescue.

 Big Sterling Acterra from Metalfab is Truck 7....

Its ULC plate indicates an October 12, 2007 certification at 1050 igpm.

Classy American LaFrance Eagle is called "Number 6"....

Its plate is dated June 8, 2000 and it also rates at 1050 igpm.


I have featured some of the previous apparatus from the Pictou VFD here before:

http://truckfax.blogspot.ca/2011/10/dodges-and-fargos-long-gone-from-big.html
http://truckfax.blogspot.ca/2014/03/american-lafrance-down-for-third-time.html

Big Lift

When a "three-pack" double stack container car derailed last evening in the north end of Halifax, CN brought in some heavy equipment (and a lot of smaller gear) to set things right:

First order of business was to move another half dozen cars that had not derailed. To do this, since the track was blocked for locomotives, they called in this monster Cat 980M from Dexter/Municipal Contracting. It was last seen doing snow clearing in Halifax this winter, but it is not normally allowed on the streets due to its size.

The Cat was brought in by this Western Star from Dexter's large fleet.

This locally based Freightliner hi-railer (CN 176403) was on the scene early on.

Overnight this CN hi-rail crane truck arrived from Moncton. Its truly impressive crane boom was not enough to lift the loaded cars.[see post script]

Early this morning, before the fog lifted, this Faun Tadano 200 tonner arrived. It is seen here detaching its dolly, which it is required to tow on public roads, to distribute its weight.

Once it had been moved closer to the derailment, it loaded its two ballast units from the accompanying vehicle, a veteran Sterling (that has been on these pages before, when it belonged to Partners Crane rentals, a company taken over by A.W.Leil.)

Once in position, the two cranes made short work of lifting the cars and getting them on the track

The cars were then towed clear by the Cat, so the track could be repaired. 

A number of miscellaneous CN vehicles were also on scene, several of then hi-railers:

GMC Yukon hi-railer. 

Several Fords,

and some more Fords.

For those who need to know, the string of cars was being hauled out of the HIT Terminal by yard engines 9410 and 9486, both GMD GP40s.

Post Script

If the mighty Peterbilt crane looks vaguely familiar, it has been shown here before, but in its previous "life".

Originally built as a Brute 150, it was recently rebuilt in the US and given a Peterbilt cab, but underneath all that it is still a Brute 150.

http://truckfax.blogspot.ca/2010/06/is-it-truck-is-it-train.html

Since it was rebuilt it has been given a new number: CN074778.

.