These just in from Switzerland

Two expedition vehicles cleared customs and left the confines of the Fairview Cove terminal today, and were soon on the road. 

 The smaller of the two was a very rare brand for North America. I venture to say it may be the only one on these shores at the moment. Bucher-Guyer AC of Switzerland developed the DURO (DUrable RObust) in both 4x4 and 6x6 versions for military use. Starting in 1994 General Dynamics European Land Based Systems / MOWAG began full production, initially for the Swiss Army. Since then they have sold to other countries. A civilian version was also developed for vocational use, municipal services and fire fighting. Only a very small number have been built for expedition conversion.

Today's 4x4 unit carries the Bucher badge, but I could not see a label for the van body. It certainly appears to live up to the Duro name however. I wonder what the suspension is like.

The larger unit is a better known marque - Scania. This is a model 114C, tilt crew cab (a rare configuration, see a previous post), with an expedition style cabin.

The "Bodyduck" name is a reference to Team Bodyduck, the expedition operators, who have their own website describing their trip so far. The English version can be found here: https://www-bodyduck-ch.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de

Their Tranamerica trip was cancelled in 2020 but resumed this year with the truck shipped via Hamburg on the Atlantic Sail . Grimaldi Lines, the owners of Atlantic Container Line, are currently not allowing travellers to accompany their vehicles as they used to do (pre-pandemic), so they now have to fly in to Halifax to pick up the vehicles.

In addition to the Swiss flag on the front of the cab, the rig has an array of horns on the roof that should be totally useless to scare moose and bears. I would have invested the money in a "bullbar".

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Petes

 There was a time when a Peterbilt was a rare sight in Canada, but fortunately that has changed, and they are everywhere these days. That is not to say that they are any less pleasing to the eye. Peterbilt has managed to keep the classic look - thanks to popular demand particularly with owner/operators.

If you have wondered why it is hard to find a used car, here is part of the answer. Scores of used cars are exported through Halifax every week - headed in all directions overseas. Some arrive on their own wheels from local auctions, but others are trucked in from points west.

A pair of Petes - one white, one black, parked in perfect alignment at the Fairview Cove terminal, wait to unload. Trans Welvis of Rivière-du-Loup, QC is one of the larger car transporters. They use the popular straight truck/stinger trailer arrangement to maximize capacity. The ladder on the side reminds me of a ship's gangway.

A frequent sight in downtown Halifax is David Brown's long wheelbase, day cab Pete. It delivers to grocery stores, and seems to manage wheeling around the tight streets and parking lots.

There is space for a sleeeper, but that is not needed as the truck runs from its base in Cambridge, in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. (David Brown is part of Eassons, which also owns Choice Refrigerated Sytems, C.R.S.)

Can you guess the date that this photo was taken?

The picture was taken in 1987, but the truck was "Class of '82". It appears to have been painted for service with Maritime-Ontario, but at the time of the photo its owner was Roy Forest (I think) and it was running for Canadian National.

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Euro imports

I regret I was unable to post for some time, but now with the pandemic (I hope) easing, combined with better weather and Daylight Saving Time I hope to resume posting on a more regular basis. And a reminder, this is a blog not a forum, and while I am pleased to receive corrections, I am not able to respond to all comments, particularly anonymous ones.

 Euro RV

There was certainly a lengthy interruption in European tourist vehicles during the height of the pandemic. Now with restrictions lifting in many jurisdictions, we may expect to see more European trucks on the roads. One of the first this year is this expedition class MAN model TGM 18.340 , with crew tilt cab. (When have you seen a tilting crew cab before? It may be a first for me.)

 Converted and fitted out by the German company Unicat Expedition Vehicles, it looks capable of handling some rough terrain. I am not too impressed with the access stairs however - you would think they could do better for the price.

Euro ATV

An ATV on steroids might look like one of these Prinoth Panthers. (Panther T7R on the left and Panther T14 on the right.)

Tracked dump trucks with rotating dump body available in several models, they are truly all terrain. The multi-national owners HTI (High Technology Industries) have Italian, German and Canadian roots. They acquired the Bombardier snow groomer company Camoplast in 2005 and their tracked vehicles in 2009. In 2011 they acquired the German company AHWI and its forestry equipment. Prinoth is orginally an Italian maker of snow grooming equipment which has diversified and expanded word wide under HTI ownership.

Prinoth's Canadian headquarters is on Boulevard J.A.Bombardier in Granby, QC. I have seen videos of these rigs working in mucky conditions and they handle like skid steers but are much bigger.

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Scania population doubles - updated

With the latest arrival from the Netherlands the population of Scania trucks in eastern Canada has probably doubled.  Milltown Trucking's impressive bright green Scania has now been joined by a more sedate looking unit from the Netherlands.

The green unit has been in Canada for some time, working out of St.Stephen, NB, but the blue one has just cleared customs at Fairview Cove and will be on its way to its new home today. It has a slightly lower roof line and different fairing on the back edge of the cab, and thinner visor, but is very similar in appearance.

Reported to be 23 years old, but with "some work" done on it, the rig would qualify for duty-free due to its age. It has the usual European air lift rear axle. The two men were reinstalling streamline panels on the fuel tanks, which were likely removed for the boat trip, and re-torquing the wheels.

The green rig has had "some work" done on  it too, including the rally lights on the roof. If the "new" one gets the same treatment it will be an equally impressive sight bombing down the roads of New Brunswick at night - deer and moose beware.

I saw the green truck in July and posted a photo of it here: Scania 2

Aside from the conventional cab water truck - which may or may not still be around - the two COEs pictured may represent the entire total number of Scanias in this region of Canada.

Update:

I should have noted that the green unit is a 2004 R580V Topline (6x2) that came originally from Norway. [Thanks to a reader's coomment on a previous post.]

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More Heavies

 I have seen a few more oversize loads waiting for permits:

XLR Transport from Montreal had a Junttan PM16 pile driving rig. Built in Finland the unit has a working weight of 37,000 kg. The all white KW looks good too, hauling a four axle MANAC trailer with two axle dolly.

 

Parked next for a while was another truck from Quebec:

TMF Heavy Haul from Mascouche had this German made Bauer BG36H / BS95 mobile rotary drilling rig on a big three axle Aspen trailer with a two axle extension and two axle dolly. In contrast to the previous rig the three axle Kenworth W990 with mid-rise sleeper was in basic black.

Seeing the two together points out the contrast between the traditional long hood design and the W990, introduced in 2018.

 The local company TDR (part of the Dexter / Municipal Group) had this Metso Lokotrak LT 106 rock crusher from Finland - probably for one of their own quarries:

Their Western Star only needed a single axle dolly to spread out the load from the three axle trailer.

J.D.Irving Ltd's large fleet of trucks includes this daycab Freightliner with a third axle.It is used to haul components for JDI's crane business, particularly the large ballast weights needed to keep the cranes on the ground.

The set-back front axle unit is equipped with a big "headache rack"and a pair of stacks that are set well in behind the cab.

J.D.Irving Ltd is the parent company for Irving Shipbuilding Inc, operators of the Halifax Shipyard. The yard recently launched a new ship, and used a fleet of Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMTs) to move the ship onto the launch barge. JDI appears to own some SPMTs, but brings in more when needed. Some come by ships from Fagioli in Europe. The SPMTs are built by Scheuerle.

Others apparently come from other parts of the world. I noted this one labelled "Berard", which is a company based in New Iberia, LA. I believe they also manage the moves. The interesting thing about the photo is the truck hauling the unit is a Day and Ross Volvo. Day and Ross is also a New Brunswick based company and are competitors with Irving in the trucking business, and it is indeed rare to see any Irving related business going to Day and Ross.

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Grove GMK5150L-1

 Just in from the factory in Europe and now on a rail car and ready to head out, this Grove GMK5150L-1 All Terrain crane is an impressive sight.

The riggers are readying the unit to board the flatcar.

The GMK5050L-1 is a 150 tonne (175 US ton) capacity rig and with a 6 section main boom, swing away and various boom and jib extensions may have a maximum tip height of 88m (288 ft.).

Grove is one of the Manitowoc brands, along with Potain, National Crane and Shuttle-Lift.

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More HRFE+S

 Halifax Region Fire and Emergency Service serves a population of 430,000+. Spread out over an area of 5577 square kilometers, which includes some very sparsely populated rural areas and a fairly densely populated urban centre, the HRFE+S has 51 fire stations with about 1,000 personnel, of which 489 are career firefighters and more than 600 are volunteers.

There are nineteen stations in the urban core and three on the old Halifax peninsula (where I live). Station 2, University Ave, Station 3, West Street and Station 4 Duffus Street. [There is no longer a  Station 1]

The rigs seen exercising yesterday are based on the peninsula, and Platform 3, the 2020 Pierce Arrow, 20-618P is brand new to the West Street station. [The "20" on the apparatus number represents the year the unit was ordered]. The previous Aerial 3 was active earlier in September, but has since been removed from service and is currently unassigned:

A 2009 E-One Cyclone II it had 1750 gpm pump, 250 gallon tank and 114 ft Bronto aerial platform. It carried the number 09-498P.

On September 7, when it was exercising, it had a companion pumper, Engine 3 (which is still in service):

A 2017 Spartan ERV with 1250 GPM pump and 625 gallon tank, it is number 17-585E. It looks very much like most of the current engines in Halifax which have Spartan cab/chassis but came from Carl Thibault in various years including 2011, 2012 and 2020. 

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