zemsi

I hope it's not too much off-topic. Found a good set of pics abouth the Biederman. Twinbeech has on 2 pages a lot of information abouth the Federal 606.

Page 1

Page 2 Survivors

Greetings

Chris

Ok, I wasn't aware of that. So was it actually a Federal design, just made/badged by REO (let's like the Ford/Willys Jeep)?

She's in a private collection, just some few km's as the crow flies from my place (my "state" has a lot of MV collectors).

As far as I'm aware she's not for sale. BTW, the correct trailer she had in the Swiss Army Service is still there too, but unrestored. She was the only one here, together with another big Mack with a similar aeroplane fuel trailer...

Greetings

Chris

... one in Switzerland fully restored in Swiss Army grey.

You probably mean this truck. That's a REO and not a Federal. The color is called "schattenschwarz" (shadow black).

Greetings

Chris

... here's a close up of the drum

Hi Richard

That's probably a good explanation. According to a provisional manual from 1959 I've got, the rope length was 60m. How long was the standard rope? Unfortunately a "real" Swiss manual about the Diamonds was never made (only about the Ward La-France).

Greetings

Chris

Hi John & Alex

Thank you for your input. I wasn't aware before that the cable drum is bigger than usual. I looked at my other pics but unfortunately all are from the other side. So I can't confirm if this is a regular or unique feature.

OT: The Swiss have a special word for "converting something to the Swiss standard": helvetised (or in German "Helvetisierung", see bottom of the linked article)

Greetings

Chris

PS: If anybody is here who owns a former Swiss Diamond T wrecker. I'm looking for the information if his model is a closed or open cab. I've got all the chassis numbers of the Swiss Diamonds and can tell in return the exact former Swiss Military registration number. There were 52 trucks.

Please drop me a P.M.

Thanks

Chris

According to the "Standard Catalog of US Military Vehicles" from David Doyle the type of Holmes Wrecker used on the Diamond T's was the model "W-45 H.D.".

However, the Diamond T wreckers the Swiss Army used had two different twin booms. E.g. the position of the spare wheel is different and on one model the twin booms are slightly longer. This means the tarpaulin used to cover the booms won't fit. Another difference is the rated weight: one is 3 tons, the other model is 4 tons.

So my question: Does anybody know if the Diamond Company used two different Holmes models on the wreckers? Or is that a Swiss modification? Is there a good website/book about the Holmes company?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks a lot

Chris

Thanks a lot for your replies. Here's the best size of the pic I can get. In the original pic, the truck is quite small.

I don't know if that's a Swiss modified hoops/canvas as there was probably only this one truck in (short) service. I've never seen a pic of a Mack in Swiss Army service (except one with a big fuel trailer behind).

Greetings

Chris

Hi Alex

Thanks for your input. Could probably also be an Mack NM. It's hard to tell.

Greetings

Chris

.. excellent Maurice! I agree.

This was probably a unique specimen as the Swiss Army didnt have any other Mack's...

Thanks a lot

Hello

I need some help in identifying this heavy US-Truck. Picture was taken in the earliy 50ies in Switzerland, probably in the Army Motor Park in Thun. I would guess a Brockway or Mack NO. What do you think?

Thanks for your replies

zemsi

...not all Fords had the "Ford Canada" written under the headlights. If I had to tell by heart I think it was only done on 1943 produced trucks(?)

 

... you can say, that approx until the end of 1942, the Ford Script wasn't written on the cab. In around 1943 only "Ford" was written, and from 1944 onwards "Ford Canada". Chevy never labelled their cabs.

Hi Tony

This is the official website. Burgdorf is not a museum, so you can't just pop down. However, it is open to guided tours, which last around 2-3h, depends on the interest of the visitors. That's the reason why only group tours are offered. The group should consist of about 8 - 10 people (at least), and only about 1-2 guides speak English. So you would have to enquire quite some weeks before your visit as there are sometimes very busy times as well.

Hope that helps...

Greetings

Chris

Thanks for the new information mate , what where the main problems that the Swiss experienced please ? :-D

... well, mainly the gearbox (the gears changed automatically under power), different engineparts and aggregates (generator, air compressor, brake system, clutch etc). At the end of 1964, the 10 Rotinoffs were improved for each CHF 12'000 (without material). And also the Rotinoff Company was very slow in delivering requested parts and also sent the wrong parts...

... and here my Video from 2008. Look at 1:42min, that's the Full-Reuenthal based Rotinoff

... ah, ok. These are 3 steel-cable rolls.

The aftermarket closed cab was an official Swiss Army modification. It's based on an early Saurer 4CM cab.

And yes, one of them is a Kenworth. Model 570 (1941)

Greetings

Chris

... I think it's time to reopen this thread again.

The Swiss Army had 3 Atlantics and 7 Super Atlantics. As far as I am aware, not more than 1 Rotinoff was bought from the South Africans, along with 100 Centurions and 10 Centurion ARVs (I did quite some research in our national archives). The others were bought directly from Rotinoff. There's a lot of correspondance on the problems the Swiss had with these huge machines.

Here's the official technical data from a Swiss manual:

Atlantic and Super Atlantic

And here's a Swiss website with some additional information:

Atlantic and Super Atlantic

... and here the official Swiss Army Collection in Burgdorf. More pics of the whole collection on my website.

... and here the official Swiss Army Collection in Burgdorf. More pics of the whole collection on my website.

... here some old pics from 1996, taken in Birmenstorf and Thun (Switzerland).

... and here two pics from 1996 as well, was the 75th anniversary of the motorpark (AMP) in Thun, Switzerland

.. here are two pics from the Event "Convoy to Remember" in Switzerland. Taken 1996.

Can anyone shed light on what is sitting on top of the boom, looks like there are 3 identical items.

 

I think these are 3 spotlights. Here's a close-up.

Great photo! If that truck still had a petrol engine it would have been a veeeery slow journey...

Well, to my awareness, the Swiss never switched to diesel or newer engines. All of the trucks (GMCs, Diamonds etc) had always their original engines...