Mack Finale

It's the end of Mack Month, so here's a round up of some of my faves. (You will note some missing models like the Cherry Picker-that's only because I have never taken a picture of one. As for the various Renaults-well wait for Renault month-but don't hold your breath.)

1. This identical pair of B-train CL, E-7 460s waiting for the ferry at St-Siméon, QC, August 28, 1999 pretty much epitomize Mack for me. Maxed out to load wood chips within the 75 feet length limit, "Christian" was running for Champ-Carr.

2. My ALL TIME favourite Mack, the B-73. "Old Timer" showed up at Owl's Head, Maine, ATHS meet, July 26, 1987. I have no record of the owner, but this one is a dandy.

3. The yellow colour can only mean Sunbury Transport. This brand new 2000 Mack Vision appeared at the Moncton, NB truck show June 11, 1999. I'm not sure what the gent on the left finds so interesting , but he is giving it a solid look!

4. Burgess Transfer of Dartmouth, NS #48 was fitted to carry United Van Lines containers as droms and on a drop deck trailer. February 16, 1997.

5. Transport Dionne of Montreal, ran CL700#147. It had an E7-427 and set back axle. Loading machinery on the Halifax waterfront May 20, 1995.

6. New hood, but R model cab, this was brand new at the dealer in Dartmouth, NS, November 8, 1991.

7. Oh Boy - an R-Model with big sleeper, running for the late lamented Jumbo Motor Express. "Newfie Expresss" is reposing between runs, in Dartmouth, NS, March 26, 1988. He's got plates for Ontario and east, and fuel tanks to make a round trip!

And that's it for Mack month.

Are You Lost?

Old Quebec Tours has this trim looking Prevost H3-45 in Halifax today on a charter, so it is probably not lost.

The company has an equally tidy looking web site: www.toursvieuxquebec.com/en/page/home

Mac tilt cabs - finally

Mack produced its fair share of COEs over the years. Never big sellers, they did appeal to the moving companies however.



1. Hoyt's Moving & Storage, United Van Lines agent of Dartmouth, NS ran this long chassis Superliner with drom box, seen at Truro, NS July 28, 1993. The illuminated X behind the grille made it a stand out at night.

2. Burgess Transfer, United Van Lines, also of Dartmouth, ran this similar Superliner with shorter drom and drop floor trailer. April 17, 1987.

3. Highland Transport (a division of Canadian Pacific Express & Transport Ltd) operated this much travelled unit. His collection of license plates includes Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Vermont. Note the chrome deflectors with Mack bulldogs, same as the mirrors. July 10, 1990. [Highland is now part of the TransForce trucking giant]

4. This westcoast type was not for hire. It was used by Matt Minglewood's band, and was spotted on Spring Garden Road in Halifax, March 24, 1981. It was a light weight version of the COE and had a single drive axle. www.mattminglewood.com/

5. Another single axle westcoaster, operated by Rawlinson's Moving & Storage, an Allied Van Lines affiliate, was based in Ontario, but is seen here in Dartmouth, NS July 21, 1990.
www.rawlinsonmoving.com/

6. Mack was one of the bigger aerial ladder makers for many years. Dartmouth FD kept a nice shine on this one at their King Street fire hall. November 28, 1976. It used components of the F model COE.

7. Here it is again, outdoors and in colour, January 27, 1979. It ran as Tower 2 and also carried a Thibault badge.

8. My collection is woefully short of images of the famous F Model COE- a long running and popular model, used both by Mack and its Brockway and Hayes subsidiaries. McAuley's Transfer of Centreville, NB was running potatoes with this one in January 1979.
Sadly McAuley's is no more. Read about its demise at: www.todaystrucking.com/blog/blogpost.cfm?threadid=119&catid=29 be sure to click the "read more" button.

Random Shots#26 Dangerous Packer

This White/GMC low entry, superwide cab, refuse packer has been prowling the streets of Halifax for a year or so, picking up restaurant waste for Gerald's Trucking. It's often found downtown early in the morning. I finally got a clear shot today.

As a White/GMC it is certainly a transition model between White and Volvo - it already has the prehensile Volvo bar, but appears to be all White otherwise. The driver's side exhaust pipe is a little unusual, and the packer body itself is relatively small. The engine is almost completely behind the cab, allowing for extra seating to carry a one, two or even three man crew.

More Macks for Mack Month

When bigger engines came along the conventional R model cabs were used with a new wide hood, to carry the bigger radiator, and renamed the Superliner. Usually the hood was wide enough to accommodate the air cleaners inside. An elliptically shaped device with "Super" in it, was attached on the sides of the hood near the radiator. They also got dual headlights.
1. Seen near Rivière-du-Loup, QC May 22, 1989, this Superliner had a sludge tanker on the hook.

2. Canadian Liquid Air's Superliner taking a break at Glenholme, NS August 29, 1989, Exhaust stacks are ahead of the sleeper, requiring cutouts to clear the cab doors. It carries a Ryder sticker on the hood near the windshield and number 361445.

3. Sunbury's number 1144, just in off the highway with a coating of road salt spray March 10 , 1990 in Halifax, NS.

4. Maritime-Ontario's sharp "Family Tradition" with extra height sleeper, in Burnside Industrial Park, Dartmouth, NS, August 9, 1988.

5. Brand new Superliner with dual outside air cleaners. Burnside Park, Dartmouth, NS, March 3, 1990. This one also has the cutaway corners on the sleeper to accommodate the exhaust stacks and allow the cab doors to open.

6. Heavy haul specialists Transport Dionne from Montreal, QC sent day cab unit#124 to Halifax May 20, 1995.

More Mack models to come as Mack month comes to a close.

Mack?

Mack may not want to take credit for this bus, but that is where the Mack Bros. started in the early 1900s. Regrettably I can give no firm information on this product.

It has Mack emblems , but the Kenworth grille (with a Mack sticker on it) is really a spare tire bracket. The engine is aft of amidships, if those side grilles are any indication. The sheet metal "caboose" on the rear hints at some prior use, but I can't begin to imagine what that was.

Picture taken at my favourite intersection, Queen and Morris, in Halifax, NS, early June 2001.

Mack Transit Mixer Specials

Mack month continues......

As if Mack didn't make enough mixer bodies, they stepped up to the plate with these reverse style transit mix types. Able to carry a bigger drum than most mixers, they were also used for more accurate, and mobile spotting. The driver could drive and pump at the same time.
Although these two are superficially similar, there are several distinctions, including bumper placement, cab roof and mixers.

1. This unit was hauling in Woodstock NB June 30, 1994. Note the wide spread on the rear axles.

2. This brand new rig was ready for work September 21, 1995 at Joliette, QC. There's no bulldog on the hood - too bad. You can also see the hydraulic line that controls the chute position.

The engine was set well back in the frame, and the driver had to be a contortionist to get in the cab. Altough it doesn't show in this photo, the driver's door must have been on the curb side of the cab.

Mack R Models

May is fast expiring, and there are more Macks to go!

Introduced in 1964 the R Model Mack was one of the longest running truck productions on record. Featuring a unitized fibreglass cab and tilt hood, it was a ground breaking vehicle in its time. Finding use as highway tractors, transit mixers, wreckers and just about any other work a truck could do, they seemed to last forever. Early models had the nearly rectangular grille, later models had angled lower corners.
1. This unit was had its twin steer installed at Simard Supsensions in Baie St-Paul, QC and was ready for its mixer body. May 19, 2001. The front axle is set back, and the fenders are angles slightly to the back, showing more recess to the headlights close to the grille than on the normal axle position..

2. Another variation of twin steer at Baie St-Paul, July 1, 2000. It also has a set back axles. Its fuel tanks are still strapped on the frame.

3. Miller Group ran this tractor in its asphalt recycling an re-paving operations. Seen in Kanata, ON, September 30, 1995. This is an earlier model with the nearly rectangular grille. It also had the factory installed radiator guard, sometimes used as a sign board, and the set back front axle.

4. J&J Wrecker Service had long wheelbase unit J8 working on an overturned tank truck at the McCloskey Blvd and Maritime Blvd intersection in Tampa FL April 28, 1995. This is the normal front axle position. The fenders are flush with the grille, and the headlights are only slightly recessed.

5. J&J's unit J3, a shorter wheelbase truck, was also standing by April 28, 1995. This one has a Farr air cleaner and a bug screen . It also has the normal front axle position.

Routemaster in Toronto

This open top Routemaster was doing a waterfront tour in Toronto on May 15. It has an interesting rear door, and its usual side door (which would be offside in Canada) has been closed to use.

Far From Home Base

Transport David Poirier, T.R.P, 9058-7510 Québec Inc. - take your pick- all claim ownership of this Western Star.

I spotted it last week parked at the foot of Denman Street, in Vancouver BC, far from its home base of St-Faustin Lac Carré, QC. According to my map, that is very near Mont-Tremblant, QC, between Ste-Agathe and St-Jovite. Since that is ski country, that may be the connection to its presence in Vancouver.

Half-cab F'liner

Another odd truck seen in Vancouver last week was this half cab Freightliner utility van. The cab was built to accommodate the bucket on the cherry picker, and is quite a neat looking rig. A more conventional pole truck is seen behind it.

American La France Condor

While in Vancouver last week I saw a very rare bird-an American La France Condor. When Freightliner acquired American La France (which it has since sold) and was building Stirling trucks (which they have since shut down) there was some swapping between the brands. The Stirling Condor cab was used by American LaFrance for some fire apparatus.

The truck I saw however, was used by the local transit authority to maintain power wires for its trolley buses. I did see some Freightliners in their fleet too.

Mack U Model

1. Atlantic Concrete Ltd of Halifax had a fleet of Macks. Number 38 is charging up Marginal Road on the Halifax waterfront. September 1975.

2. Number 36 is in about the same position on the same day. Atlantic had set up a batch plant there for some continuous pour slip form work. The trucks had Jaeger mixers with overhead water tanks.

3. This photo was not taken on the moon, but in the Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth in May 1990. Note the later model hood with more recessed lights .

4. New Concrete was using this U Model in Woodstock, NB. June 30, 1994. His bulldog is gold instead of the usual silver, and the water tank is frame mounted.

5. This rig was at Simard Suspensions in Baie-St-Paul, QC where the second steering axle has been added. It may have a power takeoff behind that big front bumper. In that case it will probably have a transit mixer added too. May 20, 2001.

Still big, but smaller than the DM and DMM models, the U model was the first and most common of the offset cab types. The vent panel on the firewall was a distinctive feature, though I have rarely seen them in the open position. Perhaps they were too breezy for the drivers feet.

Mack DMM

1. The offset cab is almost flush with the side of the dump body on this unit run by Yvon Lachance et Fils of Rimouski QC. July 1, 1996.

2. Its a long inset on the shotgun side of the offset cab of this rig also operating in Rimouski July 1, 1996.

3. Casey Concrete's DMM was typical of the type, Truro, Nova Scotia October 17, 1996.

4. Ocean Concrete of Halifax ran this clean machine June 1, 1997.

The Mack DMM was the twin steer version of the Mack DM. The big fibreglass tilt hood was slightly sculpted and aligned with the running board. Unlike the steel hood DMs, these ones had the cab vent on the firewall, instead of the side of the cab. The U models also had this arrangement. Some of the DMMs also had a reverse scoop on the hood.

Especially suited for transit mixers, it had various power take off arrangements and protruding bumpers. There were twin steer dump trucks too and these bruisers were going strong during the Quebec paving season.

Mack DM

1. Construction Emma of Baie-St-Paul, QC was rebuilding this DM 4x4 July 20, 1987.

2. This is one of several 1988 Mack DMs built in Canada for export to Ghana. They were equipped with Temisko timber trailers. Pictured on the Halifax waterfront August 20, 1988.

3. The Ville de Cabano, QC ran this long hood variant, fitted with plow gear. Photo taken July 20, 1995.

4. Construction Emma of Baie-St-Paul, QC ran a fleet of DMs. This tandem dumper was also fitted for plow and wing plow. July 20, 1987.

5. Construction Emma also had this tandem short hood model set up with a fifth wheel (probably for the summer only) and plow gear. August 6, 1986.

Among the many variants of the Mack R Model cab, introduced in 1966, were the offset cab types, and among those were the Mack DMs. They had heavy metal square fenders, a big radiator with horizontal bars and big MACK letters on the rad.

The offset cab was pretty much unique to Mack. I will post the lighter U models with fibreglass hoods later on.

These 1980s models are among my favourites of the dm type.