1960 B-81

Clark Equipment. Off of the PA8 Oil City/Butler exit.

Did the 150 ton Rogers sell? The brochure had it paired with the Kenworth and I didn't see it in the results.

Is this the former EJ Davies tractor from NYC?

I think the twin steers came from Warner Sand and Gravel in Philly. They had a bunch of them as mixers. Not sure if that's the provenance of the Benkart one, but I'm pretty sure I'd read that about the wrecker(s).

Not sure what yard would have been near Babcock Blvd. Are you sure you aren't also thinking of Benkart? They had a twin-steer Autocar that was painted yellow.

A few photos sent to me by the late Tripp Andersen. The Ramaley trucks before the auction, a few Frank Bryan shots, and a few of Keystone, who was in the Ramaley plant. The CCC's are probably ex-Erie Sand?

I have an Autocar factory photo of Rochez trucks from the ATHS reprints. I need to get a new scanner!

I'm not sure of the timeline. BVBS was in the yard on Second Ave under the Birmingham Bridge where Duquesne was and Arrow is now.

I grew up north of Pittsburgh and have been in NYC for the last 15 years. I still get back to visit family, and keep my own 'scrap metal' collection back there.

I'll have to find some Frank Bryan and Dravo photos that Tripp Andersen sent me.

I don't think there was any connection to BVBS. I've seen photos of Duquesne Slag trucks that were also red and yellow or cream.

We went to the auction when Ramaley shut down. They had two B-61's, two DM600's and three Diamond Reo's at the auction. I still have the catalog, and there was also a B-81 ("parts only") and a Sterling chain-drive. I didn't see those two, they must have been in the back, behind the plant. We ended up buying one of the 1972 Diamond Reo's, and used it as a spare for a while until we sold it back to the people who had taken over the plant, along with another 1974 Diamond Reo we had.

The paint jobs on those trucks were beautiful - it was almost a shame to repaint it. All of the lettering was painted on.

Is that the mulch plant? There was a Mack M in there and a Euclid. Neither was neat the road last time I was through.

There was a CCC chassis with the full cab for sale on LI about 10 years ago, and that was the first time I'd seen one.

Mack M75SX, a 1988 triple frame RW713 Superliner and a lot of newer stuff:

http://www.myronbowling.com/_filelib/FileCabinet/Link_Truck/Link_Truck_Flyer-final.pdf

Is it just me, or does the grille of the Cat CT (IH Paystar in disguise) bear a striking resemblance to the Mack Granite?

What size tires are those on the discs? Curious if DSNY is still spec-ing 12.00x20's.

One of the Ron Adams books, I think its "Autocar Trucks of the 1950's" (vs the 1960's one) also has a photo of one of the Colonial mixers, as well as one of Transit Mix's big Autocars. Both photos are pretty good side or quarter shots.

The truck in your post looks like one of the ones NYC Department of Sanitation used a Fresh Kills landfill.

That BVBS DM800 photo appeared to be where the shop was. There is a pre-cast plant on that site now, but the trucks now appear to be in the yard of Wine Constuction on the other side of the road, where Wine runs a bunch of DM690's out of the old BVBS plant. I will try to swing by there the next time I am in Pittsburgh.

If you use Google earth and go to 1004 Big Sewickley Creek Rd, Bell Acres, PA, you'll see the plant and trucks. Dial the time back to 1993, and the property is full of something around 100 neatly parked trucks, likely pre-auction.

Yes, the LMSWX's are former Colonial trucks. BVBS (Beaver Valley Builders Supply) bought them along with a lot of other Colonial trucks, and they ended up at Gerharts. They have 14yd Smith mixers on them.

Thanks for the reply.

No, BVBS is long gone, as are the trucks. Some of the LMSWX's are at Gerhart's in PA. You can see them at the show this Fri and Sat.

I remember seeing some of these Emeryvilles in Pittsburgh, after BVBS had bought them. The mixers had been replaced by then.

I have a question about the deep mixer subframe - what was the purpose? Was this to get the loading height higher, similar to that of the big Autocars?

Great photo, thanks!

There was a one-page article in the January 2009 Construction Equipment magazine about the 'new' T-Line trucks. These appear to be the same trucks that were marketed as Diamond-T's in the late '90s, with updated engines. Article says they are also handling Diamond Reo parts - must have all of the old records from the Harrisburg plant, which they are operating in. The new trucks have the S-line Navistar cab, rather than the Autocar cab.

It is the same cab - Diamond Reo, Autocar and Western Star were all owned by White at one time. White began using the Autocar cab on most of the conventionals of its various brands.

Thats a great looking truck. I own a '79 C16664DB concrete mixer. The later sloped hood isn't the same as the ones on the Deutz trucks - that hood was much more aggressively sloped.

If you wanted to see a really strange-looking truck, find the "2WMX" - it was a mixer, with the Deutz engine, and a set of truck controls in back, so that it could be driven on site like a front-discharge truck. I can't remember who they developed the mixer with. I think there is info in the Herman Sass book.