The past couple of months I've been aquiring vehicles for my 1955 era railroad. As of now it's been mostly trucks. Some resin kits and some RTR. These models are awsome. So I'm going the build a display case for the trucks that are newer than 1955. My wife at her last visit to the train cave (As she calls it) asked what I plan to do with all these trucks. I told her that I thougth these trucks are so cool, I'm going to collect and display them. Her response "OH NO!!!!!!"
I was amazed to see all the detail parts available for 1/87 semis. A couple people here have posted some fantastic pics of there custom truck work. Athearn has some highly detailed trailoers out now. Definately a sub catagory hobby all it's own.
Just have a look through some of the galleries
http://www.1-87vehicles.org/Photo/photo343.php
Good that you're a truck fan. You're not alone. Do you have a PhotBucket type of account so that you can post photos of your trucks here?
I"m a fan of trucks that could be seen during the 1950s and 60s, like the Reo Comet, Mack B-60, the Brockways and those cabover trucks that looked incredibly skinny when viewed from the side ( I don't know who made those).
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
I prefer fire engines myself. I have a whole bunch of 'em in HO scale.
As a now somewhat less than active 1/43 and now 1/64 scale collector of model cars I can understand anybody who fizzes over collecting 1/87 road vehicles either in sub-groups such as fire engines, police cars, busses and trucks etc or anything automotive in HO.
I am often tempted myself and this thread does very little to keep me staunch and focused on trains, trains, trains. I do however, have a growing collection of fishing boats and tugs in HO - these are part of a plan to include them on my train layout - yeah, right!
Cheers
Bruce
I too am a big fan of trucks, my dad being a trucker all his life and me getting to travel with him over summer vacation helped cement that! The availability of so many trucks in 1/87 now is great, especially for 50's modelers and those after 1970 or so. Just some big gaps in the 60's. Love to see a couple of Peterbilt conventionals and a Pete and KW cabover for about 1966, But until they do, I'll keep getting the RTRs and resin kits to roundout the fleet. Can't wait until Ulrich rereleases their KW conventional.
Rick
I actively model the modern day in 4 different scales.I personally feel that vehicles are very much a part of this hobby as a sub group or as a hobby itself.
I enjoy modeling modern trucks and modify both N and HO to getvwhat I want and can not buy.My main "big truck" passion are daycabs modified from the Malibu line.
Actually I could probly just model cars and trucks and use the trains to accent them, instead of the other way around.
Those incredibly skinny cabovers were either suicide macks or whites without sleepers way back when they first came out. The reason they were called suicide cabs because I hear tell that if you touched the brakes too hard, the hooks holding you to the frame would quit and you will find yourself with nose on windshield with you and the cab now 6 inches above pavement at whatever speed you were going ... head first.
I have some B macks and whites along with Internationals from Classics on my layout. However there was a ebayer who sold a Duel movie pete with tanker and I won the bidding war on that one. Bit pricey but when 30 people want it... well...
There were a few trucks that got away in 87 scale but I keep a good look out for em.
Now if I can find some goot diamond reos, marions, autos and others of days gone by... I would be content. I would not want to have to build the durn things because Ive done many a nut on those things in real life fixing this or that. Ugh.
I remember one R model mack in particular. Every day you drove it, you had to drain the air each night. I believe it was a good 5 gallons worth of sludge that came out of there by morning. And that was one of the older ones. There were a few others where nothing worked according to DOT, but it had a engine that worked and some glass to stop that wind and flies LOL.
But do I have a desire to "Collect trucks?" not particularly. But I would take advantage of some good ones where they fit well on the railroad. There were a few models that got away but keep that rubber down on the white line and wait a while.
Another skinny cabover from the 1960s was the GMC "crackerjack box". Seem to remember somebody offering HO-scale models of them back in the day.
A cabover is something that most new drivers today will never see or deal with. Those are special, particularly the sleeper class ones. You can get into grocery and northeastern warehouses with a smaller steer radius to work your trailer into the dock.
However. Sleeping in one is about the same as sleeping inside a coffin. And the doghouse makes life interesting in winter. They are vicious when it comes to climbing over and down curbs and such side to side one steer at a time. That side-to-side can hurt you and do damage.
Finally, but not last. The very best thing about cabovers is we will learn the true professional who can pack everything into it and it stays put when the whole cab is tilted forward to service the engine. We used to make bets on whose cab would not have anything fall out of place.
I dont do cabovers much anymore. My very last revenue trip in one was in a old cabover. That one was several accidents as I had to re-learn everything about them all over again after years of running conventionals.
They were useful with weights. You could axle in certain ways with them that would leave a conventional unable to cross the scales. Then again.. everything is a trade off.
In the 50's and 60's alot of trucks were put up at small motels or similar places and a room taken for the night or by the hour. (No not what you are thinking neither... sometimes we only needed 8 hours shut eye instead of a full 24.) Trailers were small enough that they could get into alot of places back then.
The purr of the kitty cat just inches from you below your bunk in a cabover either kept you warm in winter or gave you hot spots in summer. Sometimes a motel is best for a quiet nite's sleep to get away from kitty cat. Conventionals dont have that problem because the engine is so far forward.
One other item about cabovers. There is usually a 4 inch PVC type pipe coming from the front of the cab along the engine block towards one corner of the sleeper. That is the heater/ac pipe. There is usually a large output on the corner inside the sleeper. You either froze or fried. Or baked in summer if the ac quit in the night down south. waking up in a 160 degree metal box is life threatening. Usually solved by not driving that day, and sitting inside the truckstop hydrating slowly for hours off gallons of fluids until your kidneys start working again.
But with cabovers those hooks on the back cab corners at the catwalk in front of the 5th wheel is a must. Also you might want to put a bit of aluminum foil under the doghouse over the engine with a bit of lint or something around the edges to show that there is insulation under there. The sleeper bed also had insulation of that sort under it over the frame below.
Dont forget to smudge up the foot holds a bit on the front bumper and put a dallop of grease right about where the white's radiator cap would be. The oil fill tube is located there and many a pretrip started just under the windshield.
To be truly perfect, a cabover sometimes had just a tiny bend or crease just behind the sleeper and a trolley pole way back down near the 5th wheel if it is a good many feet to carry the airlines and such. Sometimes cabovers had large wheel bases to fight the rough ride and help keep the freight safe. Freight shakers were truly (Freightliner) shaking up the produce like tomatoes etc.
Cabovers without sleepers in flatbed steel service almost always had a headache rack behind the cab to carry the binds, chains and straps etc. Particularly if the flatbed trailer did not have boxes to store the stuff needed to secure the loads.
Very special Government cabovers had seperate boxes to carry explosives or Ammuntion to isolate the item from the rest of the trailer. You can find some trucks today built this way.
And finally but not last. If you model a truckstop, you must have at least one clothes hanger holding a shirt hanging off the driver's mirrior early in the morning on at least a few of those trucks. It was very useful to get the laundry out and dry in a good day without pouring quarters into the truck stop's drying machine.