These (Buckwalter) switching trucks (or tractors?) were the invention of Mr. T.V. Bucklwalter, at the time, Chief Electrical Engineer of the Pennsylvaia Railroad at its Altoona, Pa. Shops. about 1911. Buckwalter wrote of his idea for an electric powered tractor, capable of switching on city streets with inlaid rails.
[see linked] @ THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ELECTRIC TRAC-
TOR FOR HANDLING FREIGHT CARS OVER
TRACKS LAID ON CITY STREETS by T.V. Buckwalter
Article also contains photos by other contributors of the PRR class 3/8000 type switcher(s) first built in 1912 for PRR service.
Buckwalter’s were used in East Coast cities; Jersey City,N.J & Baltimore,Md. They were originally electric powered, but later converted to gasoline power; their stering was by a vertically, mounted wheel, similar to those used in ships(?). They werre orignally furnished with hard-rubber ti
I’d warn you about those solid rubber tires on the neighorhood asphalt streets…
Wayne, {Flintlock76}
About 50+ years back;I owned a 1927 Autocar, G-style cab- C.O.E.–(2 ton) Flatbed truck,( tare wt. on it m/t, was 6500 lbs)… Solid tires front and rear- Had been a lumber yard delivery truck, way back when! It waqs equipped with an exhaust whistle for a horn!
It was a Beast, and chic magnet [swg] It was a Beast, and was really tough to steer, in really hot weather.and on city asphalt streets[|(] …
Had to sell it before I went to P. I., in '61 [banghead]
I can imagine! And I’m sure you were the first kid on the block with one! [;)]
And don’t feel bad about selling the Autocar, years ago I worked with a man who owned a 1938 Cord, he bought it off the original owner who just didn’t like the thing. That was in October of 1941, he was 22 years old and working in an auto repair shop in Brooklyn. As he put it…
“Well, you know what happened on December 7th 1941! I joined the Army Air Corps and sold the Cord. The guys in the shop offered to put it on blocks and keep it for me until I came back, but who knew IF I was gonna come back?”
“So I sold it. Damn, I wish I’d listened to the guys!”
The later tractors had cleated rubber tires similar to what’s on loaders. One survived at least into the late '70s in the area near Hoboken Terminal – it had a New Jersey noncommercial license plate on it! As I recall it was equipped with a 6-71, so if the gearbox permitted you could certainly equip it to run street-legal.
In the late Eighties there was a moving and storage company in the Newark area that still ran a 1920s Brockway in regular service (it had, as I recall, early Budd wheels, just as serviceable now as they ever were). I talked to the driver, who said they had no reason to (expensively) replace it – it did everything they needed.
I was at an old car show years ago and there was a 1907 Mack flatbed. Chain drive and solid rubber tires. The guy that owned it had arms like Popeye’s. He said that it was difficult to steer but once you were moving it wasn’t so bad. Top speed of 20 MPH.
You 're right, Thode o;ld chain drive Macks (Bulldogs) were really beasts; They proved their metal in WWi all over eUROE, and in post WWI, AMERICA…
Today, Mack Trucks still follow their Bulldog" mascot…
My '27 Autocar , was uilt in Ardmore, Pa. It had a double reduction rea-end, with cloth U-joints, it had a 4 cylinderAutocar motor (weighed in at almost 900#. It had been used a lumber delivery truck, and the only reason it was parked was because the only guy that could turn the crank to start it, got himself shot… I put in cylinder pressure relief petcocks to be able to start it ( ala B-model John Deere tractors !). We had rebuilt it’s bed with quarter-sawn oak flooring, over a cypress frame; [sigh] made a heck of a mobil dance floor… [swg][swg]
There is a farmer near here that has nothing newer than a 90 in his OTR truck fleet. Why he only allows manual controlled engines in his fleet mostly Cummins with a few Cat and a smaller amount of 2 stroke Detroits still running around. He keeps the 2 strokes around due to having several backup generators that use them for power so they have them in the fleet for the mechanics know how to work on the generators. His oldest one that is still in service is a 1978.
That old Mack was sorted out as a rigging vehicle with various types of vintage stuff for hoisting and what not. The tail light was a kerosene lantern with red glass. I wouldn’t attempt to drive such a thing because my upper arm strength ain’t what it used to be. I can only imagine how hard it must have been to steer and control one of those Buckwalter monsters on a cobblestone street with solid rubber tires and (obviously) no power anything with a non-synchromesh transmission if it even had one, being electric.