Classic Refuse Trucks NEWS

Fleet of Gar Wood Load-Packers owned by Warren, Ohio in 1955

CRT News Update, Summer 2009

CRT STARTS YEAR FIVE WITH E-Z PACK

July marks the 5th anniversary of CRT. Back in July of 2004, CRT first went online featuring several small manufacturer albums, including E-Z Pack. Now, that album is at long-last updated to tell the story of the humble beginnings of two Ohio body builders, Hercules and Galion, which combined to form what would become E-Z Pack. Through some occasional tough times and ownership changes, E-Z Pack has survived and thrived, and is today one of the major producers of refuse equipment in the United States.

In late May, circumstances beyond my control in interrupted my writing of the new album about halfway through. Due to time constraints, this edition will feature only part one of the E-Z Pack album, which consists of five new pages covering the period from the 1940's to the early 1970's. The remaining pages should be competed for the next edition. Nevertheless, I think you will enjoy part one, which features many new images from CRT contributors as well as from my own collection.

Though this will have to be an abbreviated edition of the update, there are some news items to pass along:

TOWNER NU-WAY
Back in the Winter 2008 news update, the identity of an unknown front loader from the fifties was found to be a rare body by Towner Mfg. of Santa Ana, California. After finally identifying this one, I never expected to learn much more about this innovative but extremely rare model, which apparently went out of production before the 1960's.

Then I received an e-mail from Gary Lerno who provided some information about some personal family ties to Towner. "My dad worked for Towner Manufacturing Co. in Santa Ana, California from 1947 until 1981. " writes Gary. "He drove a 1955 Towner trash truck to El Paso Texas as a demo down there. I do know that Universal Studios bought one of the trucks. They were on a White chassis."

This is a significant bit of information, in that Universal Studios' Towner front loader may have made it to TV or motion pictures. The Towner system (and front loader technology in general) was very advanced hardware during the mid-fifties, and would have made a nice prop in a movie, readily available on the studio property. We'll have to keep an eye out for this one in Universal productions of the 1950's.

SEBASTIAN DICKAU'S SUPER SCHORLING MODEL

This hand made model, complete with working hydraulics was the sensation of last edition's collectors corner. Many of you have written seeking more information on this fantastic model. I have in fact heard form Sebastian, who had been traveling and was out of Germany for a while, and we should be seeing film of this one in action in the near future. Better still, Sebastian is planning on building another one (a FAUN Powerpress !) over the summer. As you may have assumed, building a scale refuse truck with working hydraulics is not cheap. Sebastian informs us that the parts for hydraulic system alone on the Schorling model cost $1500.00 USD.

Rest assured, as soon as any video or other information becomes available, I will be sure to post a link on the CRT Message Board at Flickr Groups.

Be sure to see the latest edition of CRT Collectors Corner for pictures of Pierre Collette's latest hand-made model, a Heil Colectomatic Mark V on Ford Louisville truck chassis.

CRT IN READERS DIGEST
I have contributed some old photos to Readers Digest, for those of you who may subscribe to that magazine. They are old Gar Wood models from the 1930's. I don't know details on the article, which is supposed to be a history of refuse/recycling trucks, and is tentatively scheduled to be published in the August issue.

REFUSE TRUCKS ON FILM
Only two new films have been added since the last edition. One was an old Adam-12 episode from 1971 featuring a Wesco Jet front loader drive-by that I posted to YouTube back in April. And Travis Giles sent along a new clip of a Pak-Mor 200 series rear loader with 't-bones' a Ford Expedition from the TV series Burn Notice. Travis also added a third Waste Management commercial as well. See the CRT Films Page for links to the film clips.

Although arriving too late for this edition, I should have video from the 1958 film Stakeout on Dope Street in the next update. The movie features a 1940's-era Gar Wood Load-Packer unloading at a landfill.

God willing, CRT will return with another edition on October 4, 2009. Until then, here's hoping everyone has a great summer.

Eric Voytko
July 5, 2009