Sterlings still on the road

Even though Daimler halted Sterling production in 2009 and shuttered the plant for good, there are still zillions of Sterlings on the road (or so it seems).
There is also considerable variety, as I have shown in the past, with former Ford cabs in various configurations, but that is not all:

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1. and 2. When Daimler owned Chrysler, they decided to give the Sterling dealers a small truck, and rebranded the Dodge Ram to do the job. I predict these will become collectors items, since so few of them were built. Maritime Fence has already rebuilt the front of their Sterling/Ram after an accident.

3. Even before shedding Chrysler, Daimler built some Sterling low profile and lighter duty vehicles, including this compact compactor operated by the City of Cleveland,OH. It uses most of the regular Louisville cab components.

4. Jack T. Cooper runs this low-rise Sterling built for autorack service.

Random Shot

I can't keep track of all the random shots, so I've given up numbering them. But when I see a nice truck I just try to gets its picture.

Today I saw this nicely done up Volvo with moose bar. Sunbury Transport, part of the Irving operation, is their special commodity carrier, but they are not seen that often in Halifax. Their yellow colour scheme is distinctive and when combined with nicely a fitted out truck is worth a shot.
The sign board atop the cab is a little odd- it seems to be out of keeping with the streamlining, but otherwise very sharp rig.
Harry Compagner of Island View, NB is the operator.

Enfield VFD roll out

Enfield, located just outside the boundaries of the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) and 10km from the Stanfield International Airport on Highway 102. Enfield and area are bedroom communities for the HRM and have numerous small industries. The VFD is dispatched through the HRM's dispatch centre.
Today's roll out wasn't for me (they didn't know I was coming) but it was a great opportunity to see their entire fleet.

1. Enfield No.2 is a 1999 International/Superior 1250/500 with 50 ft aerial.

2. Enfield No.3 is a 1997 International/Superior 1050/1000 pumper tanker.

3. Enfield Rescue has a 2006 International with Lantz body.

4. Newest unit is this 2012 Dodge Ram 5500 brush unit. With Lantz body, 240 gpm pump and 400 gal tank.

The department's first truck a 1969 Ford/Thibault is in retired status.

Full specs on the apparatus may be found on the department's web site:

http://www.enfieldfire.ca/

A pair of Petes for export

This pair of Petes was headed overseas for Weatherford, a Swiss based well services company. Clearly they are wireline trucks, but have a different body from the last one features on this blog, for rival Schlumberger. See http://truckfax.blogspot.ca/2011/11/no-dinky-toy.html
My assumption is that these trucks were built in Canada but they could be headed anywhere in the world.

Barcelona Buses

There is no end to the variety of buses in Europe. It seems every country has several coach builders that do their own thing using commercial chassis provided by Mercedes, Volvo, MAN and others.
Spain is no exception, although several the following are visitors from other European countries:

1. Spanish coach builder Carrocerias Ayats, produces the double deck Bravo 1, usually on a Scania chassis. There is also an open top version for city tour buses.

2. Irizar is the largest Spanish builder, and second largest in Europe. This is one is on an MAN chassis.

3. Another Irizar-not sure whose chassis. I rode a Mercedes version on one trip.

4. MAN Lion's is an in house MAN coach builder. This is their small 44/49 passenger model. They also have three axle 52/55 and 52/57 passenger models. MAN also provide chassis to other coach builders.

5. Bova is based in Eindhoven, Netherlands and was taken over in 2003 by VDL. This is the Futura model, noted for its round nose when first introduced. This particular unit is fitted with curtains for long overnight hauls. They apparently build their own chassis, and often used DAF engines.

6. VDL has several lines, including BVL Bova, which produced this newer Futura model.

7. Barcelona city transit buses are MAN, and most are LNG powered. This one is promoting a Titanic exhibit- see an earlier post from Halifax. 

8. Open top tourist buses are everywhere and come in several varieties.They work three routes, and are "hop on hop off." There is a driver and a conductor and commentary is provided by tape through headsets in several languages.

9. The best bus I saw was the Red Bull Tour Bus. It apparently travels around Europe attending major sporting events and concerts and provides live entertainment using the fold up stage mounted on its roof. I hesitate to offer a pie for its identity-perhaps a highly caffeinated energy drink would be more enticing.

10. Street Scene-part 1. From left to right:
-all Barcelona taxis are black with yellow doors and trunk. All makes and models from Seats to Mercedes, Primus to mini-van, must be painted in these colour. They mount the roof light over the passenger side and display a green light for available and red for engaged.
- another open top city tour bus from a competing company (there are two)
- a car (of which there is a huge variety of Euro, Asian and American)
- a tram. These modern looking four car unit trains do street running in some areas but also have dedicated boulevards and stations on some streets such as the Diagonal, a main shopping street. 

11. Street Scene Part 2:
Another tour bus, a motorbike, which are almost as plentiful as cars, and just so you know you aren't on Mars, a UPS van. Interestingly it does display its IVECO brand name on the grille.
[Now that UPS is in the Maritimes, Mars can't be far behind.]

Western Stars-add those extra axles

Western Stars are built for heavy work, but sometimes the regular three axles just don't do the job to spread the weight. Just as there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat, there are lots of ways to add the third axle, depending on what you want to do.

1. Atlantic Tiltload's unit #88 has a short hood and short wheelbase, so a tag axle with air lift has just recently been added to an already sharp looking rig.

2. and 3. Dexter/Municipal had this pair of Stars heading west at the New Brunswick/Quebec border on May 22. Complete with flag cars, they were hauling a pair of wide Cat dumpers. With a longer wheelbase, they were able to add a drop axle ahead of the drivers, but were not using them when these shots were taken. Identifiable only by their black company numbers on the lower edge of the sleepers, Dexter's trucks never display the company name. (Trucks without sleepers have the number on the door).

 4. This twin steer Star has been on display at the dealer's lot for a few weeks now. Depending on the intended use, this is another option, and is available direct from the factory.

5. This nicely chromed WStar showed up at Lockhart's in Burnside May 2. I posted a photo of it at their Westville lot in April.

Digging back a few years into the files here are a few more:

6. At the dealer, before the fenders were installed, this longer hood version has the short sleeper and a nice headache rack with storage for chain and other gear.

7. Need that third axle all the time? I caught this one on its delivery trip to Newfoundland. Even the long wheelbase will not save this one from lots of tire scrub.

8. And now for something completely different. Add a few railway axles and make a hi-railer. Note the railroad horn under the front bumper. The suspension system for the front rail axle must make it tricky to climb into the cab. This rig was running a short ballast train to place armour rock along the Chemin de Fer de Charlevoix in Quebec. I  assume it is a Brandt conversion, but never did see a label on it. It may also have special gearing for reverse running.

Road Trip Report - Part 3

For those of you who are not interested in European trucks-you will only have this one more to endure (before I get to the European buses that is)
Here are some more smaller trucks spotted in Barcleona-again, quite a variety of makers:
Ford:

Tight turning circles a specialty of this Ford Transit. (Don't call 911 in Spain, the emergency number is 112)

Anyone here call for an ambulance and a tow truck? Ford Transit hitches a ride on a Nissan tilt deck - lots of Nissans on the road in Spain.

IVECO Eurocargo:

Many small trucks around, like this tiny compacter.

MAN/VW

A few oldies too.

Mercedes

Peugeot

Answer to my motorhome quiz: Peugeot makes these cab/chassis. Stable mate Citroen sells a similar one with different grille. Is that a sleeper above the cab?

Looking for a North American truck in Spain - this is the best I could do:

Road Trip Report - Part 2

My  latest road trip wasn't all by road - some of it had to be by plane.
I didn't get a lot of truck watching done in Spain, but I did see an incredible variety of manufacturers. Many more brands of trucks and buses on the road in Spain than in North America and of course most trucks are COE/ CF models. In fact I didn't see a "bonneted" truck the whole time.
Here's a sampling of big size trucks:

DAF:

Iveco:

MAN:

Mercedes:

Renault:

Scania:

Volvo:

Another thing to note was the super single tires on trailers, and smaller sized tires on many rigs.