Jump to content

B model Wrecker from PA (old pic)


Recommended Posts

V200 International it looks like

Yup. Got the I.H. triple louvers hanging out. Wrecker operator has a lot of faith in the cable splice by the hook! Paul

"OPERTUNITY IS MISSED BY MOST PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS DRESSED IN OVERALLS AND LOOKS LIKE WORK"  Thomas Edison

 “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely, in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit, what a ride!’

P.T.CHESHIRE

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did a little bit of research to see if I could figure out when this happened, and who was involved. Info is pretty scarce from that far back, but it looks like the dump truck was owned by W. L. Dunn Construction in Cochranton PA. Dunn is clearly readable on the driver's door, and it sure looks like Cochranton if you put the letters on both doors together. They went out of business in 2010, and judging by what was auctioned off, they had about 20 dual axle dumps, and a few trailers. They were in business for about 90 years.... Vernon Motor Sales, who apparently owned the wrecker, is still listed as being an active corporation in PA, but I can't find anything on the web that would indicate that they are actually still in business. And I can't find anything about the accident, except for a very blurry page from the Titusville Herald in 1960 which a search led me to, but which I can't open without subscribing to the archive service. But given the age of the Mack, that year wouldn't be out of line....

I also believe that Josh is correct about the location, and it looks like the accident, was, in fact, at the intersection of 27 and 77. If this link works, you can see that at the bottom of Hickory, the 20mph speed limit is ending for trucks at the bottom of the hill, and if you cross over Rt 27, the road opposite is still brick, and you can see that where the wrecker is sitting, it is on a brick road. And if you change the view on google map so that you're in the intersection and look back up Hickory, you can see the arched window on the second floor of the yellow house on the corner, which is in the view of the picture of the crashed truck to the rear left of the truck. Looks like the tree is no longer there... I'm thinking it would be right about where the fire hydrant is now based on the roof of the porch of that house, which is what I believe is in the picture to the immediate left of the Dunn truck.

Would be very interesting if someone could actually find an old newspaper article about the crash!

Here's the current link to the Google map - hope it works:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6399225,-80.1372793,3a,75y,210.58h,93.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shdyBBZG_vZb4Sr0fY2rmAw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Titusville Herald July 24, 1965

Cochranton Man Critical After Crash
A Cochranton man was in critical condition at Spencer Hospital in Meadville last night after the truck he was driving struck a tree, according to Meadville city police. John Kramer, 20, of Cochranton, RD 3, was operating a dump truck owned by the V. L. Dunn Construction Co. of Cochranton on Hickory Street in Meadville, police said. The truck was traveling down State Road Hill when an unknown factor caused Kramer to lose control of the vehicle. It crossed the intersection at Washington and Clark streets, then struck a tree. Kramer was pinned inside the truck for about two hours while rescuers worked to free him. Fire trucks stood by in case the truck caught fire, police reported.
An article two days later reported that he did not survive.
Possibly the cause of the accident was that he fell asleep?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...