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?

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FWD: Part 4

I don't know what I have been waiting for, but I seemed to have stalled at Part 3 back in November. I alluded to some oddball rebuilds of Nova Scotia Department of Transportation FWDs with Ford Louisville (possibly Scot) first generation, cabs - well here are some more, and some other oddities.

1. NSDot, Middleton, June 1982. Oshkosh cabs, and on one, an FWD rad, hood and fenders. So is it a rebuilt FWD or rebuilt Oshkosh? The answer will not be found here - it will remain an eternal mystery.

2. In 2001 the department was selling off this unit at their Miller Lake garage. The cab is Walter, but the hood says FWD.

3. Doesn't matter much who made it - it looks pretty able!

4. Big one way and wing plow, with Louisville cab and FWD hood and rad, at NSDot in Truro in June 1989.

5. A similar unit, with plows off. The more typical black top on the hood.

6. A side view of this unit shows the transfer case amidships, which means an FWD chassis and running gear. The Louisville cab replaced the orginal, and the hood was modified to suit.

7. This one has a bit of a dip to the hood, but still bears the FWD name and FWD rad. All of these were taken at the Truro NSDot base in June 1989.

8. A brand new Louisville cab in a shipping crate at the Burnside NSDoT garage. NSDot operated some Fords, and some Scots from there, but no FWDs, so this may just have been a replacement.

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Road Trip Report #3

Put out to pasture literally, this classic old Scot sits forlornly in a field near Notre-Dames-des-Monts, (Charlevoix) QC. (That is in area code 418 in case you are dialling up to buy it.)

A first generation conventional, with Ford Louisville cab, it is fitted with dump truck and snow plow hydraulics, but by the look of it, it may well have been an Irving Oil highway tractor in its earlier life.

Class of 76.

Photo 2010-08-15

Last of the Big Fords

In 1996 Ford redesigned its Louisville series of heavy trucks. A new cab with swept back windshield and a new hood gave the trucks a stylish and modern look. When Ford decided to sell off its heavy truck division to Freightliner in 1997, it was this new cab and hood that was simply rebranded as Sterling. The new Ford L series were therefore only in production for about a year under the Ford banner, and thus relatively rare.

I was pleased to see one in Truro last weekend. The Nova Scotia Department of Highways, well known for their excellent maintenance and rebuilding capabilities, have kept at least one going in plow service for the winter and construction in summer. This one is fitted with a lift off plastic tank body, used for water and dust suppression.

Ford Wreckers

Back in the days when the Ford Motor Company built heavy trucks, their Louisville model was particularly popular for highway tractors and so it was that some of them were built as or became wreckers.


1. This Louisville single screw No.24 served Chatham Towing Services of Chatham, ON with a Holmes 750 wrecker body. Not a heavy weight (Chatham did have heavies too) it is more or less the definitive Ford tow truck. Chatham Towing is related to Anchor Towing of Halifax - not sure how or why- one of those mysteries yet to be unfolded. Photo'd September 27, 1995 in Chatham, ON.

2. This Louisville 9000 was for sale July 31, 1993 in New Brunswick. Its previous owner's name had been erased, but it was apparently used for some long distance work, judging by the size of the sleeper and fuel tanks. You have to be careful with tow trucks, because sometimes the sleepers were actually large tool boxes. This one has some nice chrome and pinstripes.

3. Dumont's spring shop used to keep this Louisville busy on the Trans Canada Highway at Edmundston, NB. Many were the broken springs from the state of the nearby Quebec stretch of the TCH. Of course they did all sorts of repairs and provided "remorquage de tous genres" [towing of all kinds.] The drop axle suggests some heavy work from time to time.

The Chevy next to it is fitted with a Holmes 750. July 3, 1992.

4. Top marks for creative naming goes to Ruggles Towing of Dartmouth, NS for "Forty Ton Louie" their famous unit No.15. The Ford (Louisville) LTS9000 cab and chassis appear to be at least number two for the wrecker body. Seen here hooking up to a Midland Transport tractor in Dartmouth, on a snowy March 12, 1994. I've seen several Ruggles trucks lately, but there are no Louies among them anymore.

5. The Land of Evangline was home base for Kelly's Towing of Grand Pré, NS and this massive Louisville LTL9000. It's giant sleeper "Devil's Den" stretched out the wheelbase to give it excellent weight distribution on soft shoulders and other dodgy spots it might have to go. It had some pretty big gear on it too, surpassing the 40 ton mark.

6. The last heavy Fords offered the Aeromax hood, still with the Louisville cab, and I venture to say were not often seen as wreckers. This one lived at Mecanitek Centre de Camions in Edmundston, NB and was on 24 hour call. It carries a wrecker body called "The New Slider" Model 9735S, manufactured by NRC Industries of St-Paul d'Abbotsford, QC. Photographed August 3, 2001.

Ford sold its heavy truck division to Freightliner(Daimler) in 1997 and it became Sterling. Sterling did continue to use the Louisville cab, and assembled the trucks in St.Thomas, ON, until 2009 when it eliminated the Sterling brand.

Holmes, the original wrecker manufacturer, is now one of many brands within Miller Industries, which include Century (originally started by a Holmes grandson). See http://www.millerind.com/

NRC wreckers, are sold worldwide from their Quebec base. See http://www.nrc-industries.com/