Giant Loads, Vintage Road Trains, and Push-Pull Trucks

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

Truck Saturdays is when I can safely indulge my love of big rigs. And BigLorryBlog is the place to do it. Here’s a few selections picked for your truck viewing pleasure. This is described as a 325-ton transformer and 6000hp of go-power courtesy of five 8×8 Tractomas monster pullers and a 10×10 Tractomas pusher up the back crossing a bridge. Here’s another view:

On to what seems like a dinky toy, the vintage Australian road train:

Australian road trains always fascinated me as a kid, given how restrictive truck lengths used to be in the east coast (one 40′ trailer max.). But going way back, Australians pushed the envelope with their multi-trailer road trains, like this quad from the sixties. Of course, things have changed here too; in Oregon, triple trailers are now allowed, although I generally get the hell away from them as quickly as I can, given the sway I sometimes see on the last unit.

Here’s a couple of vintage British Scammell trucks hauling what was described as the “British Space Probe to the sun”. Which came with the question “How will it survive the heat?” “They’re going at night”. Corny.

This un-photo-chopped truck is what the Mont Blanc Tunnel fire department uses, for pretty self-explanatory reasons

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • Lynn Ellsworth Lynn Ellsworth on Jan 11, 2010
    Especially if these government and environmental assclowns succeed in jacking the cost of fuel way up above market value. Let me try to understand things better: bankers give credit to people who shouldn't have credit then bet they can't pay off their loans, our government gives gifts to the health care industry, we start a war in Iraq while the bad guys are in Afghanistan, OPEC lies about how much oil is still left, we spend billions on a fence to keep cheap labor from being able to get into the U.S. and keep our food prices low, GM management runs their company into the ground, and the environmentalists are at fault. Have I got it all figured out?
  • Formula m How many Hyundai and Kia’s do not have the original engine block it left the factory with 10yrs prior?
  • 1995 SC I will say that year 29 has been a little spendy on my car (Motor Mounts, Injectors and a Supercharger Service since it had to come off for the injectors, ABS Pump and the tool to cycle the valves to bleed the system, Front Calipers, rear pinion seal, transmission service with a new pan that has a drain, a gaggle of capacitors to fix the ride control module and a replacement amplifier for the stereo. Still needs an exhaust manifold gasket. The front end got serviced in year 28. On the plus side blank cassettes are increasingly easy to find so I have a solid collection of 90 minute playlists.
  • MaintenanceCosts My own experiences with, well, maintenance costs:Chevy Bolt, ownership from new to 4.5 years, ~$400*Toyota Highlander Hybrid, ownership from 3.5 to 8 years, ~$2400BMW 335i Convertible, ownership from 11.5 to 13 years, ~$1200Acura Legend, ownership from 20 to 29 years, ~$11,500***Includes a new 12V battery and a set of wiper blades. In fairness, bigger bills for coolant and tire replacement are coming in year 5.**Includes replacement of all rubber parts, rebuild of entire suspension and steering system, and conversion of car to OEM 16" wheel set, among other things
  • Jeff Tesla should not be allowed to call its system Full Self-Driving. Very dangerous and misleading.
  • Slavuta America, the evil totalitarian police state
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