Terry Harper

REO truck

I can't remember if I posted this under prewar photos so forgive me if its a repeat. While not automotive related it is winter related! This set of photos were taken in March of 1928. (94 years ago this month) Edouard Lacroix's Madawaska Company purchased a 188,000 lb, former New York Central (ex-Lake Shore & Michigan Southern) 2-8-0 locomotive to be used on his Eagle Lake & West Branch Railroad from a used equipment dealer in Bartavia, NY. Delivered by rail to Lac Frontier, Quebec it was disassembled and hauled overland 50 miles to Tramway which is located on the narrow strip of land separating Eagle Lake and Chamberlain Lake in the heart of Maine's Allagash Wilderness. The trip took 3 days. Remarkable, this locomotive and a smaller companion moved into the site in 1927 are still there. Back in the early 1990's I had the pleasure of leading the effort to stabilize these locomotives which included jacking them up out of the mud, which they had been sinking into since late 1933 when they were abandoned, and building new roadbed. There is no road access to the site so we had to commute to work every day by boat and all materials had to be brought in during the winter by snowmobile. In fact we hauled in 150 cubic yards of crushed stone using snowmobiles and five gallon plastic buckets. Our motivation was these photos and the realization that if they could do it back then with out heavy equipment we could do as well. And a couple non-prewar photos... That's a much younger me in the blue hard hat talking over the project with Dave Steves - one of the amazing volunteers who made the project happen

Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick, Canada.

Looking forward to following along with your progress. A refreshing addition to the restoration section.

Personally I would prefer an honest representation as this versus fancy, endless prose and slick photos being used to pass a polished pig as perfect. What the ad and photos tells me is its an older restoration, the engine isn't stuck and that it needs work and its displayed with warts and all - note the photos of the tires showing chunks missing (though plenty of life left) as opposed to not having a close-up - mind you a set of hard rubber tires for this beast will hit the bank account rather hard and have to be factored in to what one is willing to pay - far more so than the bent fins on the radiator. Its amazing how much abuse those old tube and fin radiators will take. We have one at the museum that has been abused by the fan far worse than that and it still keeps the beast cool. Plus, if you have lots of patience, they are not outside the realm of DIY restoration. Wonderful beast - hope it finds a good home.

I believe it means it turns over and isn't stuck. At the current bid its a heck of a deal!

For the front sprocket - Boston Gear offers Blockchain sprockets just match the size. You can get them with the hub blank. It simple, straightforward machining to have it board or broached for the shaft and the hub OD turned to match the appearance etc. of the original as close as possible. If you decide to convert to roller chain you can get a blank through the same source and have the hub machined as needed. For the rear sprocket - which presents a much more difficult challenge to preserve its appearance - one route would be to use the old sprocket as a pattern and have a blank cast. Then have new teeth cut. Ductile Iron would work well though grey would work too. (Cattail Foundry comes to mind) Again, this is presuming your converting to roller chain.

Sourcing parts for antique machinery can be very interesting. Back in 2014 we needed new drive chains for the 1907 Lombard steam log hauler which are an odd pitch. Replacing the sprockets was not an option. Amazingly, the original supplier, Jeffrey Chain Company of Columbus, OH. is still in business as Renold USA in Morristown, TN. and generously donated a set. It was Joseph Jeffery who patented the first industrial roller chain back in 1887. Might be worth contacting them.

I would start with Olsen Gasket https://www.olsonsgaskets.com/

Very nice Gary! Thank you for sharing. Its always interesting to see the impact people have had in development of the automotive industry.

I believe it’s an American made Saurer truck from about 1911 or 1912 made in Plainfield, NJ. The parent company was Swiss. EDIT: So this deserves a little bit more information. Saurer Motor Truck Company was founded in 1911 to manufacture trucks under the Saurer name. Saurer being Swiss that produced both trucks and cars. Interestingly Saurer Motor Truck Company merged with the Mack Brothers. American made Saurer trucks were produced until 1918 of course the company formed by the merger (International Truck Company) eventually became Mack trucks. As a note a Saurer was the first truck to complete a transcontinental trip in 1911. There is at least one book detailing this adventure: "A Grand Adventure: America's First Transcontinental Truck Run" Ron Colbert.

I agree with Dave, A bronze casting would be fairly simple and cheap. You can use your original for the pattern. Simply clean it up, remove the iron pipe and fill and fair in the pipe hole, bolt holes, pits and dimples with body filler. The casting would need to be thicker than the steel. I would build it up all over on the inside so your total thickness is minimum 1/8". (Any irregularities would not be visible) Add an extra 1/8" thickness to the flange to allow material removal for machining. Due to shrinkage (I usually use .18"/ft but it varies with the alloy so you will need to talk to your foundry person) the cover will be slightly smaller. However you could build out the flange a bit to compensate using thin wood strips etc. The Iron pipe could be replaced by brass or bronze and silver soldered. Other than a sightly thicker flange no one would be able to tell the difference and it would last a long, long, time.

If your ever out in this neck of the woods just let us know and we can make that happen! Terry

Yesterday at the Maine Forest & Logging Museum we hosted a film crew. It was a magnificent, crisp March day with a beautiful coating of fresh snow. Needless to say, since they were working on a film project about Alvin Lombard, we just had to get one of his wonderful machines out and and play in the snow with it. It won't be long before mud season is upon us so we made the best of the opportunity - and my daughter got another driving lesson. And we had the 1928 Lombard Model 'T' out and about a bit too

From the Smokestak Antique Engine Forum. These track conversions usually command a premium but this one might be bit optimistic. 1930 Model A with Super Snow Bird Attachment. Converted to 12 volts. Gear reduction boxes in rear end. Front wheels swivel 180 degrees when on pavement. Runs and drives. Ready for the snow. Located in Phoenix, AZ. $30,000. More photos here: https://www.smokstak.com/forum/threads/1930-model-a-ford-with-super-snow-bird-attachment.220380/

From Smokestak Antique Engine Forum for sale section: Hate to but I gotta. For Sale: Nice straight & solid for a 99 year old car, spent a lot of its life in a barn. Rolls. Engine spins over, transmission shifts. Suicide doors. Grille shell/radiator is 1924/25 Studebaker. Has Gabriel Balloon Snubber canvas strap shocks on the rear. Parts shown are what I have to go with the car. Located in Excelsior Springs, Mo. Being sold with a bill of sale. No trades. More photos available. $4000 or make offer. More photos here: https://www.smokstak.com/forum/threads/1923-24-studebaker-light-six-roadster.221178/

Great work Joe! Do you have the tool to dress the stone? Also, wetting the news print with WD40 or light oil will help keep the grit in place. Know that you have used it, I am thinking your going to find the tool post grinder a helpful tool!

Didn't work on anything today.. just went to the Maine Forest & Logging Museum and let the beasts out to play in the snow. This particular Lombard was setup to plow roads - thus the front wheels rather than skis as most of them had (they can be swapped out quite easily) Hopefully we will have a set of skis for it soon. I guess I miss spoke. We did do a bit of work. Just getting to the museum was an adventure. Its about a mile off the paved road. Here is a photo of the road in. It was total ice. We ran the 10 ton Lombard up the road a bit and down the hill to try to break-up the ice a bit for better traction. The area to the left is where someone piled their car into the snow bank. You can see by the tracks that we tried to turn the beast around but the front wheels just slid so we backed up the hill and found a better spot to pull a three point turn. These machines were designed to run on ice roads so side slip isn't much of an issue though you still have to be careful. A birds eye view of a rare beast out in it's natural habitat.

OK... that is cool! You don't see one of these up for sale very often and colors and materials aside its pretty neat!

Nothing wrong with fitting by feel. You know what you want the end result to be. Your doing the job of a skilled fitter from back in the day.

Tim, That clarifies a lot. (please correct me if I am wrong) your goal than is to utilize as much of the original "fabric" as possible even though it may be imperfect. That's a refreshing approach and interesting topic and one that has perplexed many restoration efforts across the spectrum. I remember the debate over Ray Brooks SPAD XIII at the Smithsonian. It was in a sad state of decay with, among other things, the original fabric severely deteriorated. Some parties called for a complete restoration including new fabric painted to replicate the original, etc. as opposed to stabilizing and conserving the original material. The other issue with such an effort is defining the degree of "replacement" and restoration versus conservation. Is the end goal an operating exhibit or static? To what degree do we compromise to achieve the goal? For instance, the museum I am involved with is a hands-on "living history" museum - all our major exhibits (and vehicles) are fully functional and demonstrated to our visitors on a regular basis. As such, things are going to wear out and or break. Could we modify or replace components with improved or more durable materials and components to reduce down time and repair costs? It could fast become a slippery slope wearing away at the original fabric. Its an interesting debate! As others have stated I really appreciate your efforts to preserve and document such an interesting part of automotive history.

That is really cool!

You would be surprised. There is quite a significant group of collectors out there and several highly active organizations such as the American Truck Historical Society https://aths.org/ and the Historic Construction Equipment Association https://www.hcea.net/ Looking at the Liberty truck in the offering I can't help but think of the Historic Military Vehicle Forum based out of the UK. Several lengthy threads detailing epic restoration of these beasts are worth the time including: https://hmvf.co.uk/topic/35087-ww1-peerless-lorry-restoration/ and https://hmvf.co.uk/topic/9672-ww1-thornycroft-restoration/ They might not be fast or comfortable or stylish but they are a lot of fun and represent interesting history and technological evolution.

Looks like some nice heavy Iron. March 24-26 https://www.mecum.com/auctions/east-moline-tractor-2022/collections/hays-museum-antique-truck-collection/

Looks can be misleading. For the most part the engine appears to be all there which is a significant part of the battle. I had an engine that looked very rough but it had been in dry storage and unloved since 1933. I was shocked as could be when it turned out not to be seized-up. Now if only all the missing bits and pieces had been at hand life would have been perfect.