MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. Red & White Iron, Past and Present....

[Hayesno1]

Jeremy! I have taken the information from BTC and trakloader in this thread and started working on a spreadsheet ala the Weyco list. I guess HDX and Hayesno1 have some more information...

Jackd, I hoped you would recognize someone - again sorry for the quality. Here's a picture of the dispatcher when I took the pictures. A very nice man as I remember. This dispatchers office was up above the shop in the corner facing Coulson.

TorkelH; I will try to add my few information(sorry just trucks but fire and dump trucks as well - I think lists we have seen so far are missing that some units get a 2.nd. or 3.rd life) in upcoming days from my database. I will e-mail list to HDX and for sure he can add further information. I would like to do spreadsheets on BCFP and CZ units as well but I guess we have to wait - summer has arrived in Norway, Canada and Denmark

 

[jackd]

Looking forward to seeing your data when it comes through. These second and third incarnations are very interesting from the perspective of where the machines wound up after the great sell off of equipment that HDX speaks of. When I saw the pics of H-188 getting scrapped out several years ago on the Truck website, I was taken aback. I thought the old girl was still relatively new when they took her apart but after seeing the H-110 this last week in Sqamish, I realize that time and poor care have not been kind to some of these units.

 

[TorkelH]

Jackd, if you go to PA, would you mind go out there to the Sproat lake shop and check if still the pic's remain in the corner office? They moved the dispatcher up to the dryland sort behind the shop early 2000, I can not remember any pic's there. Maybe easier is to ask Alvin if he brought the pic's with him, maybe HDX are able to find out? It would be something to get scanned and fill up this thread with!

 

[jackd]

I'll See...

I'll see if I can give this a shot for you TorkelH when I do get over there. This best be done before they decide to rip the old shop down, which is what I heard might be happening if the present tenants leave -according to one of the mechanics that spoke to me. Family matters are going to take a front row when I am there but you never know.... HDX could probably ask Alvin Roth what happened to these shots - hell he might even pass them along to HDX if he has them.

 

[HDX]

jackd George did have the H188 for a long time but was given an new P16 unit #H16 and he retired driving her TorkelH I was told that the pictures were taken down and stuffed in a box and are now being stored at the Steelworkers Hall (old IWA Hall) in the basement Will make a few calls and see what turns up OK

 

[jackd]

P-16's - How Many?

So did M & B go on a big spending spree and buy new Pacific trucks in the '80s to replace many of the older Hayes HDX units? Was there a big rush to get these things before Pacific closed its doors?

It would be great if you could post these old pics if the local union hall would temporarily part with them, HDX. I remember that our old first aid man - Ben Schaefer spent many a day taking shots of the operation back in the '70s. Some of my shots came from his collection. I heard that he has since passed on and I now wonder if his collection was also passed on to the local hall. I still call it Local 1-85 of the IWA - I could never get around the Steelworkers label.

 

[HDX]

jackd Yes in 1989 M&B went nuts buying Pacific trucks I think all the major Divisions got a few also we got a pair of Challengers one was a glider both were convetionals Sproat Lake got a Pre-Load challenger It was involved in a few accidents and then a bad one and they cut it up. Will see what happens with those pictures at the IWA Hall

 

[jackd]

They Must Have Had Plans....

So here we are climbing out of the recession of the early '80s and the company decides to go crazy on new trucks? Was everything else getting pretty long in the tooth?

I took a ride down the south side of Taylor Arm a couple of years ago along the old main line. I wanted to see how bad that slide was that had wiped out a whole section of road a couple of years previous. At the base of Branch 540 sat a bunch of loggers in a six pack waiting for a loaded truck to come down. I sat there and BS'ed with them and soon enough out came a red Challenger truck heading toward the dryland sort. It might have been a Dane truck but it sure looked like a M & B paint scheme. Good to see after many years of not being around this kind of environment - warms a guy's heart.

 

[HDX]

Did it have "DANE" on the door????

 

[jackd]

I seem to remember seeing that but who knows if my recall is correct. They were hauling out of some cutblock way out back of 540 that had been auctioned off by the Provincial Government - part of the dismemberment of the TFL. This is what the boys told me. A real bugger of a spot - so steep that they were snubbing the trucks down with a cat. The lovely location must have been why M & B left it alone in the first place.

 

[TorkelH]

H320 and ?, H279 an S64E and an eagle...

Picture's from 1993, helicopter is from Taylor Arm (500 somewhere).

 

[jackd]

I remember the H-279 but the H-320 seems to be a stranger to the camp - nothing we had there had that massive M & B logo on the front grill. (HDX don't give me hell for calling it a grill...) Where did it come from? The landing that your shots are taken at seems to look like this road was part of the old 'switchbacks' - the early road to Tofino before they built the highway along the lake back in '72. I remember that there were some stands up above the 'Second Bridge' that had been left as fire breaks. Looks like very nice wood they were taking out.

 

[TorkelH]

I remember the H-279 but the H-320 seems to be a stranger to the camp - nothing we had there had that massive M & B logo on the front grill. (HDX don't give me hell for calling it a grill...) Where did it come from? The landing that your shots are taken at seems to look like this road was part of the old 'switchbacks' - the early road to Tofino before they built the highway along the lake back in '72. I remember that there were some stands up above the 'Second Bridge' that had been left as fire breaks. Looks like very nice wood they were taking out.

Pretty sure H-320 was at Franklin, forgot to write it. Picture looks like it's just outside Franklin. Found out it she was at Cameron after looking here: https://www.heavyequipmentforums.co...gging-industry&p=256392&viewfull=1#post256392. Helicopter picture is from old Tofino road/end of Taylor arm.

 

[Hayesno1]

Pretty sure H-320 was at Franklin, forgot to write it. Picture looks like it's just outside Franklin. Found out it she was at Cameron after looking here: https://www.heavyequipmentforums.co...gging-industry&p=256392&viewfull=1#post256392. Helicopter picture is from old Tofino road/end of Taylor arm.

Yes #320 was a Franklin truck. She came in 1974 with H316, H317, H318, H319 and H321. They were all preloaders. Only H316 has been scrapped. They rest are still in operation, parked or for sale.

 

[Hayesno1]

For sure Red and White looks best - here 2 pics of old M&B GMC crummy/safety unit - this truck was from Franklin River. Pics were taken last summer at Cameron. Present owner unknown

 

[Hayesno1]

I remember the H-279 but the H-320 seems to be a stranger to the camp - nothing we had there had that massive M & B logo on the front grill. (HDX don't give me hell for calling it a grill...) Where did it come from? The landing that your shots are taken at seems to look like this road was part of the old 'switchbacks' - the early road to Tofino before they built the highway along the lake back in '72. I remember that there were some stands up above the 'Second Bridge' that had been left as fire breaks. Looks like very nice wood they were taking out.

Jackd; Re the big "M" at rad guard, it is not a big "M" but silhouette of two women

 

[TorkelH]

Two Franklin 044's

I have pictures of 4 different 044's at Franklin, but I'm only able to recognize the numbers on two of them; Y-50, tag, and Y-55 which is a double main. Seems that all the Franklin 044's had cab riser but not the Sproat Lake?

 

[jackd]

That You?

So TorkelH, who is that guy standing by the Yarder in the cardigan minus the hardhat - is it you? Those are some well used machines in those shots - even the lettering at the back of the Y-55 looks shoddy. Maybe this was the way it was at the end of the road for M & B. I still remember going into the paint shop at the Sproat shops looking at all the jobs underway - there was never a shortage of red paint to spray. When things got damaged, as working equipment would tend to do, the repairs were top notch and the red paint glistened.

 

[jackd]

For sure Red and White looks best - here 2 pics of old M&B GMC crummy/safety unit - this truck was from Franklin River. Pics were taken last summer at Cameron. Present owner unknown

I remember them buying a few of those Thomas built buses for crummies. The suspensions were a little bit harsh and the guys didn't like them at first. They couldn't change the springing in them - probably designed for pavement use - so they went for some high end tire that softened them out a bit.

 

[DBDLS]

TorkelH: Keep on posting those 044 pictures. I can't get enough of them, especially in red and white. Thanks.