| Ken:
Since I was a truck driver for a while maybe I can shed some light on the lettering.
The city name on the truck was usually that of the home office of the trucking company no matter where the truck was stationed or used.
My last truck said “Grand Rapids, MI” because that was where our home office was located. I was based out of a drop lot in Decatur, IL and my home terminal was Tipp City, OH. My secondary home terminal was Lansing, MI.
We always worked on Eastern Standard time no matter the time of year or time zone where we were physically located. Ricky,
Attached is a shot of my BTL tractor fleet to date. The COE needs a black front bumper and the frame and fuel tank painted completely red. This is the tractor whose lineage is in question. The old Ulrich Kenworth (if you look under a magnifying glass you can make out "Kenworth" embossed on the hood) tandem needs white paint on top, windshield glazing, decals, and some other details. I don't remember what model the 32' trailer is as I've had it for a long time. The BTL lists one of these still in service in 1964! I've got some ribbed 35 footers and beaded 40 footers to paint up and decal yet.
I'll be on the hunt for one of those IH tractors. It seems that the BTL favored those. After all, IH was a good RR customer for the Q.
Ken Ken,
If you can find some of the older Mini Metals IH conventional trucks, they came in single axle. It would be close for BTL truck.
The Ulrich cab over is a Mack H-63 I believe, mid 50s era.
I will attempt to attach a picture of the mini metals IH.
Thanks for the decal info.
Ricky<Image.jpeg>
Thanks Ricky,
I have the MR piggyback book so I'll take a look. I didn't know about that BNSF site so I'll look there too.
I currently have one old cast metal Ulrich conventional tractor and a single cab over. The Ulrich is a Kenworth, but I'm not sure what the cab over is. The cab over might be a tad too modern for my 1964 era. From most of the photos I've seen, the tractors used for working the ramp were usually two axle jobs. Both of mine are tandems. I recently purchased a Mini Metals '54 Ford F-350 two axle that looks pretty good for my era. Parts of it even have the correct paint colors. I'll be looking for some more suitable tractors.
Micro Scale decal sheet 87-836 even has the "Galesburg, ILL" part in the cab stencils in white at the very bottom of the sheet.
Ken
Ken,
I found two pictures of IH conventionals. One is in the Moel Railroader Piggyback & Container Traffic book, page 91, Council Bluffs 1960 with just the Burlington Route herald. The other is on the BNSF website, Know Your Railroad ABCs page Know your railroad ABCs (bnsf.com). Same type of tractor but it has the lettering and permits on the door. Date and location aren't given.
Ricky
Hi Rick,
Burlington Truck Lines, Inc. general offices were at796 S. Pearl St. in Galesburg. All of the photos that I've seen of BTL tractors have that Galesburg, ILL stenciled on the cab door. That's if they had stencilling on the door with all the licensing data as well. I have a 1959 BTL pamphlet that also shows a straight box truck with just the Burlington Route herald on the door.
I have some company data that shows where all of the Q's piggy back ramps were. Almost all of them were operated by BTL using their own equipment for drayage. As I recall there were a couple exceptions.
I'm modeling Peoria in 1964. They had a BTL piggyback track there, so I have some interest in modeling some tractors and trailers with credible paint and lettering.
I hope this helps.
Ken Thompson So. Milwaukee
Did all BTL semis have Galesburg, IL on the door or was the lettering for the terminal assigned? Since there are not many photos showing the door lettering, the few that I have found all have Galesburg.
Thanks
Ricky Keil
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