Freightliner - Brandt R4 Power Unit

 The Brandt Group, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, operates world wide with a huge range of custom engineered products for many industries. Brandt Railroad Equipment is one of their divisions, and it produces Road Rail equipment including the Brandt R4 Power Unit, marketed as "the most powerful and versatile railcar mover on the market and the only highway-capable switching unit in the world". In other words a truck that can work as a railway locomotive.

This unit spotted today in Dartmouth, NS appears to be the "Railcar Mover" model (there is also a crane equipped model and a maintenance of way model). Using Freightliner chassis and a tridem drive axle, and with engine options up to 600 hp, can give a tractive effort of 50,000 pounds and highway speeds of 65 mph. Note the retractable coupler housed in the front bumper.

CN Rail has several scattered spurs in Dartmouth that require car sorting, but are fairly remote from their regular switcher engine locations, and so I could see this unit being dispatched over the road for a few moves in one part of town them relocating quickly to another area for a few moves. It would seem to be an economical alternative to a railway locomotive, or maintaining a small railcar mover at each location.

Brandt has an excellent web site with much interesting information: https://www.brandt.ca/

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Boom Trucks

 Boom trucks seem to be increasingly popular these days - I see a lot more of them on the streets.

The Elliott Equipment Company 50105 has a 50 ton lifting capacity and a 105 foot, four section, telescopic boom. Elliott's founder built the first truck-mounted telescoping aerial work platform and crane in 1948. They now have a range of forty products to chose from, and will mount on pretty much any chassis including Western Star. Headquarters is in Omaha, Nebraska.

Local steel fabricator Marid Industries has been running this Peterbilt for many years, as a tractor semi-trailer rig. It is very handy for delivering their products directly to construction sites and placing them in position.

National Crane is a subsidiary of Manitowoc, known also for its large crawler and truck mounted cranes, and the Grove and Potain trade names. The 600H model boom crane has a 20 tons (US) / 18.1 tonne capacity and comes in a variety of boom lengths ranging from 38 to 90 feet.

A European manufacturer, Fassi, produced this F800XF articulating type knuckle boom crane mounted on a tractor chassis. The cab appears to be a reconditioned International Transtar, and the forward most of the three rear axles has been added on.

Fassi is an Italian company represented in Canada by Strongco, but the F800XF does not appear in its current product line. 

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A Mixed Bag

 Catching up on several days worth of photos, I realized it is a bit of a mixed bag.

As usual I have some outsize loads. There are lots of farm equipment imports these days, as harvest season is fast approaching.

S+M Trucking from Sydney, NS has their big Freightliner lashed up with a four axle trailer (fourth axle is folded up on the deck) to haul a Massey Ferguson tractor.

[Massey, the Canadian company founded in 1847, later called Massey-Harris, joined with the British company Ferguson in 1953, forming Massey-Harris-Ferguson. They dropped Harris from the name in 1958. With numerous bailouts, international mergers and takeovers, ownership moved to the US, but it is still the largest tractor manufacturer in the world. It has manufacturing facilities in Jackson, Minnesota. This particular unit has a European license plate, so may be used.]

Forestry companies are also buying new equipment, much of which is imported from Scandinavia. XLR Transport from Terrebonne, QC had this sharp Peterbilt in Halifax to pick up a Komatsu loader.

Komatsu is headquartered in Japan, but is a multi-national company, and has its forestry division, based in Sweden, where it took over Partek (formerly Valtra and Valmet). This unit is a good fit on the Manac 35 tonne capacity trailer.

The biggest traffic generator in Halifax is container hauling, and there are hundreds of trucks involved on a daily basis. They are also usually on the move, making picture taking difficult. Occasionally I am in the right place at the right time:

This Navistar International Eagle model is a bit more high specification than most of the "sea can" haulers.

One of the over the road haulers that I seldom see, but is active running in and out of Halifax is C.A.T. The Coteau-du-Lac (near Montreal) based company took over the Sears Canada owned SLH in 2017.

This big Western Star is a bit of a departure from its usual Freightliners. The copmany also has some compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled tractors. Seven of them were destroyed in a fire in February, but have since been replaced. They also have some hybrid CNG assisted electric vehicles.

 When I see a load like this I wonder if Big Box Stores get their merchandise in Big Boxes? In this case however these crates are headed for Stelia Aerospace, a Lunenburg, NS based manufacturer of aircraft components made of "advanced composites".

I didn't catch the name of the operator of this handsome Peterbilt, due to the fog and rain, but it is likely from the local area. He also has a 35 tonne Manac trailer. The yellow spray painted "HAL SUN" means the crates were transported to HALifax on the ship Atlantic SUN.

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COEs and Scania in town

 COE trucks are uncommon, and Scania trucks in North America are as rare as the proverbial hen's teeth, but for some reason the Province of New Brunswick seems to have attracted at least two. See previous posts about the conventional straight truck Scania which I last saw in 2015: http://truckfax.blogspot.com/2015/07/road-trip-2-report-1-scnia-freightliner.html

Today, July 7, 2021, I spotted another Scania. Operated by Milltown Trucking from Oak Bay, New Brunswick, it was in Halifax picking up a piece of exotic machinery.

I could only squeeze off this rapid fire shot, (thankfully my windshield was clean enough that the auto focus worked.) The massive COE has a lift axle, typical of Euro trucks, and a high rise sleeper.

For machinery fans, the trailer was a Ross Elephant, beet washer! Too bad I didn't get a front view - it has an array of driving lights sufficient for movie making!

For those who really want a  COE it isn't essential to get one from Europe. Rebuilding a domestic unit from the last century may be the answer. This pristine Navistar was hauling something like ethanol for Fisher Transport, a growing liquid bulk company, better known for its milk tankers.

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More big loads

Atlantic Tilt Load got this Terex Finlay rock crusher on the road with escorts, using a Freightliner paired up with the Trail King trailer set.

With six axles under the trailer and dolly, there was no need to drop the third tractor axle.

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What's New

 The dealers have lots of new trucks on their lots:

Mack Trucks (part of Volvo since 2000) has re-entered the medium duty market going head to head with Freightliner and Navistar International, the industry leaders and to a lesser degree Paccar (Kenworth/Peterbilt). Ford and GM nibble away at the sub-class 6 market too, but haven't returned to class 76 in a serious way.

This new MD series unit awaits a body at the dealer in Burnside.

Mack's new models in the larger sizes are also appearing in service:

This "Anthem" model appears road ready. Those hood mounted convex mirrors should keep the driver well informed about what is around and behind.

This F'liner has been in service for a while, but still looks new.

Western Star's lot was full of new trucks too:

Nice to see some that weren't in 'plain vanilla' paint.

This highway rig is ready for rural areas with a stylish "roo bar". [Roo for Kangeroo - these bars were apparently first used in Australia.]

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New Territory

 Instead of hanging around the port area I decided to branch out a bit today and take in something different. Out in the Rocky Lake area, I spotted a nice day cab Mack tractor with no owners marking.

If I were going to haul slippery cargo like that I would like a headache rack or a trailer bulkhead.

Nearby was this short wheelbase Volvo day cab, specialized for moving mobile home and factory  built houses.

But back to the port, and all the oversize cargo that arrives by ship. One recent one was this pile driving tower bound for Ontario.

A sharp looking Western Star with a four axle trailer and single axle dolly bound for Ontario had to wait several days for permits. JNB Heavy Haul claims Brodhagen, ON as its home, but is really based in nearby Mitchell, ON near the home of some of my ancestors.

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