Here’s some shots of new trucks and equipment the US Forest Service received in 1964. let’s start with this gnarly International 4×4 Travelall. As you’ll see, it’s one of the few to have four wheel drive.
Here’s some more:
This Dodge looks to be a 3/4 ton D200, with an eight foot bed that is clearly not the usual Utiline, but more likely dumping bed or something different.
A new Galion grader with some of those long-body Chevy C30 panel trucks in the background we saw the other day.
A new International Loadstar that doesn’t have its identification on its door yet.
Dodge D-Series Stake bed truck.
Case 740 front end loader and backhoe.
Dodge CT800 tiltbed equipment hauler.
And an International R-series tiltbed hauler.
Dodge w200 Powerwagon 4×4 pickup. That’s a tough looking truck.
And it appears that the Forest Service hadn’t started using its signature pea-green paint yet, as these are a khaki color. Anyone know what year that started? probably just a few years after these. And now they’re all white, as the resale is better.
Wonder if anyone of them still exist?
I’m guessing modern off-road tires are much better in all respects, but those chunky tires on the Travelall and Power Wagon sure *look* the business!
Speaking of looking the business, I wonder what the Forest Service is using these days. Those sixties’ vehicles look hardcore, quite unlike the rather genteel offerings of today’s vehicles, even when ordered in their most basic work and fleet versions.
I bought this 2002 Dodge direct from the GSA years ago. Was a BLM truck rather than Forest Service. Truck was very basic in some respects with crank windows, rubber floor mats & manual trans. Did have some options I did not expect on a government truck though. 8 liter V-10 engine, A/C, chromed grill, chromed bumpers & FM radio.
According to the data plate, it was an end of model year build. Probably Chrysler clearing parts bins as 2002 was the end of the line for the generation body style.
I see a lot of Forest Service, Park Service, and BLM trucks and SUV’s in my travels and they’re still pretty basic compared to many similar civilian vehicles one sees on the roads now. The rising tide of vehicle features, especially with the modern consumer popularity of trucks, has obviously lifted the base level. At a recent volunteer event at a National Park Service unit, I got a brief ride in a government Tahoe; it did feel pretty deluxe in some ways, but had vinyl seats … and Chinese off-brand all- season tires. At another volunteer activity at a BLM site, the ranger showed up in a previous-gen Explorer (the kind that was available as AWD or FWD; this one was AWD) fitted with a set of pretty aggressive BF Goodrich KO2 tires. Overall, in the West, I see a pretty good mix of Ford, Ram, and GM with some Toyota, Nissan and Jeep. California State Parks has more than a few Wrangler Rubicon’s, and the State OHV park rangers ride Austrian-built KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles.
I saw some of these changes in government buying during my career. When I started at the DOT pickups were built as cheap as possible, the main option was an automatic transmissions. Base six cylinder engines, no A/C, crank windows, vinyl seats, etc. Colors were awful, orange, yellow, flat battleship grey, flat dying grass green or flat air force blue.
Big trucks were no better, under powered and geared so deep that top speeds were in the 57-62 mph range.
The vehicles were ran until they were junk and auction receipts were pitiful.
Finally started buying decently equipped vehicles in “normal” colors and started to see resale value jump up.
I work as a USFS park ranger in Utah and we use mostly a combination of Ford and Ram vehicles. I can confirm that they are mostly pretty basic, although all have power locks and windows, automatic transmissions and most have backup cameras. Otherwise, they have cloth or vinyl interiors and black plastic bumpers. Whatever the various “work truck” trims exist.
So, for instance, we have the base Dodge 1500 Classics. They are all 4WD, and a mix of cab styles (quad and crew cab). I think they all have tow packs, but some are V6 or Hemi.
In terms of heavy duty trucks, most are Ford 250s or 350s. Some are equipped with service bodies and or winches. One of the 350s was a fire engine-turned-bathroom-cleaner and has a flatbed with toolboxes, pump and tank. There is also a Ram 2500 Stakeside.
All of the vehicles are white, except for a silver Toyota Tacoma which is the office runabout vehicle which we are not sure how it purchased because otherwise they are all “Big Three” American companies
So, no more green except on fire engines. The Fire Prevention vehicle at our duty station is one of the few Chevy trucks, and has green stripes at least. Most vehicles have the USFS shield on the side, but some are unmarked or have magnets which say “prevent wildfires, down out campfires cold” or something like that.
Like I said, most are 4WD, and I think they are almost all on Goodyear Wranger tires or similar AT types.
That is except for the Ford Explorer and C-Max hybrid. These have a few more bells and whistles being more dedicated passenger vehicles. The C-Max even has heated seats!
It is my understanding that vehicle aquisitions can be made very specifically to try and get approval of a specific vehicle. A cowork mentioned that in New Hampshire, they had a manual Jeep with an offroad package which is very rare.
Not sure if anyone will see this, but throught I would comment anyhow as I was in a forest service truck earlier today and stumbled on this thread looking to see if I could find a retired truck in green.
Really liking that CT800. I have not seen any Galion equipment in years, they were known for road graders. Agree the D-200 bed probably dumps, it is sitting high on the frame of the truck.
Great photos! What’s remarkable about the early 60s era D-100 and the Loadstar is, because of their long production lives, they still looked reasonably modern in the 70s. I had a Loadstar as my early high school bus, and it was nice transportation.
As a kid, I lived in Ottawa until 1975, and never recalled seeing an International pickup or Travelall. When my parents moved to the country, I suddenly noticed their popularity. I found them very dated looking. Their upright windshields, and 60s styling didn’t age well.
The Travelall might look dated, but look at those windows. You could actually see out the back without a camera.
Absolutely, no argument from me. Very practical design. The rear quarter panel and front fender bodyside sweep, and early 60s style wheel arches dated the design prematurely unfortunately.
Is that a gas filler on the front fender of the Travelall?
Yes, ’58-’75 IH light duty trucks had mid-ship mounted “saddle” gas tanks.
Are these pictures from different years mixed together? I ask because the Loadstar looks to be a ’68 or later version, with side markers built into square fendertop turn signals and no white position lights below the headlights. It also has a shuttered grille, which tells me it’s a diesel.
A Department of Lands and Forests (Canada) Fargo was shown weekly in the opening credits of the popular early 60s CBC Series The Forest Rangers.
Love these, especially the Power Wagon.
Agreed, though the PW chassis seems to tire a little in the middle there.
I’ve been seeing a lot of light duty Forest Service vehicles in white, perhaps as a cost saving measure. The fire engines on medium duty trucks are still green. Since the Deschutes National Forest headquarters is a few blocks from my house I see a lot of Forest Service traffic.
The Dodge in the second photo appears to have a “logger box” that may have been moved from another truck. The Power Wagons were around for a long time, in “Fire on the Rim” by Stephen J Pyne the author mentions using Power Wagons when he started at the Grand Canyon in the 70s, and getting dually pickups in the 80s
I find the Dodge truck in the second photo rather interesting. It appears to have a non-stock stepside box, that is more heavy duty than the standard ‘farmer’ or civilian box. I wonder if it was made by Dodge, or added by an outside suppier
That bed looks very similar to the bed found on the old school 1940’s body style Power Wagons……The model designation was WM300 I believe by the early 60’s.
The WM300 power wagon was produced up until the late 1960’s so the bed from that model or what appears to be a shortened version of the bed looks to have been available for the newer generation truck…..perhaps a special order for the forest service.
I agree; except for the extra rail, it looks like the bed off the “Military Type” Power Wagons, which were still in production in the ’60s.
But why would they put that bed on a 2WD pickup? It could be just because they wanted the full 8-foot load space while still using a narrow bed. Until 1965, the Utiline bed that Dodge was using on regular pickups of the time (like in that last pic of the W200) was only 7.5′ long, not 8′.
…..perhaps a special order for the forest service.
The Forestry Service did special order a lot of interesting vehicles, including station wagons without rear seats, and Chevrolet (150 & Yeoman, depending on the year) sedan deliveries with the one piece tailgate, but with windows all around.
Great pictures ! .
More please .
-Nate
If you follow the body line that runs under the hood and down the beltline of the cab, it appears to my aged eye that the W200 PowerWagon 4×4 sags in the middle. Optical illusion?
Same here.
Of course, it might be destined for Bend, Oregon, but that’d be a (sub-)optimal allusion.
That line is downward sloping. It was designed (under Virgil Exner’s direction) to be a continuous downward sweeping line on the Sweptside body (see below).
I wasn’t aware of that falling line, and it’s part of the illusion, for sure. So is, I suspect, the front guard bottom in front of the wheel rising upwards to the front bumper while the rear guard bottom points upward (or is cut such) past the rear wheel. Combined, they’d create a theoretical mild “v” if lines were drawn forward (and backward) from them, with that “v” located right about under the cab.
But I’ve had a good stare at this – I’m stuck waiting for an errant child – and the line from bottom sill to its continuance under the bed (under the spare) rises to the back: and the gap betwixt bed and cab closes up a little from bottom to top.
So I still think it’s a slight banana, or was perhaps loaded with vastly too many of them just previously.
The kid better turn up soon.
I too have spent a long time looking at this, not waiting for anyone, I just do things like that.
The rear pillars contribute to the effect , almost like an arrow pointing to it, as well as the unusual dip in the door beltline.
I love these trucks , the design just gets better the older I get.
I think the beltline dip gave the truck a lot of character. For some reason South Americans didn’t see it the same way and their versions of that era Dodge had a straight beltline, as we covered previously:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake/spotted-in-argentina-1971-dodge-d100-still-hard-at-work-cat-is-worried-about-that-dog/
On the Travelall in the first pick, is that the gas filler ahead of the passenger door?
If so it must be for a mid-ship fuel or second tank. Anyone know?
The government surplus auctions in the 1970s used to be pretty fun and worth it if you had the time and resources to do the repairs they all needed. A friend up the street bought a USFS 4×4 Power Wagon. My roommate bought a USFS 1 ton Dodge Tradesman passenger van he used to haul around the clogging dance troupe he belonged too – not a comfortable ride on those stiff shocks and skimpily padded seats for hundreds of miles! My brother bought an old USPS Divco mail van to haul around photo and lighting equipment along with his bike and climbing gear.
One acquaintance bought a surplus Immigration and Naturalization Service (predecessor to ICE) Dodge pickup. As I recall, the INS trucks had green paint a few shades lighter than the USFS trucks, but I couldn’t find any photos online. Does anyone else remember this paint color difference?
Anyone know the location of these photos?
In 1967 I worked for BLM out of Eugene, Oregon.
The trucks were light green and I believe that was also the case with the FS that year.
Four wheel drive in those days was still very primitive. There was no connection between the driver and the (mud filled) road and you could get in trouble very easily. Two wheel drive was actually better on the woods roads and of those, I preferred the Dodge. It could hunker down and ease through places Fords wouldn’t manage. Chevies were dust-filled rattle cans.
I disagree that the International tilt bed hauler is an R-series. It has the R-series cab, but the truck itself is at least ten years newer than the last actual R-series trucks. That cab was retained for years, not only on later newer series Internationals, but for other makes as well, such as Reo.
Last R series trucks were built in 1968. International had a habit of continuing production of popular models as long as they had orders.
The R Series was one piece of iron. It weighed too much, which reduced the official load capacity, but did anyone care? NO! R series of V series with V8 engines. Tough trucks.
“xr7
Posted April 22, 2022 at 11:10 AM
I saw some of these changes in government buying during my career. When I started at the DOT pickups were built as cheap as possible, the main option was an automatic transmissions. Base six cylinder engines, no A/C, crank windows, vinyl seats, etc. Colors were awful, orange, yellow, flat battleship grey, flat dying grass green or flat air force blue.
Big trucks were no better, under powered and geared so deep that top speeds were in the 57-62 mph range.
The vehicles were ran until they were junk and auction receipts were pitiful.
Finally started buying decently equipped vehicles in “normal” colors and started to see resale value jump up.”
Having spent almost 30 years in Government employment I’ve got to say you nailed it. I remember pickups from the 70s that wouldn’t even climb a curb without a running start. I know, I got hung out in traffic one time before backing up and ramming it with traffic approaching. And the thing about resale value? I swear you were quoting the fleet manager I used to work with, word for word.
In an attempt to be frugal, they wasted a lot of money back then on crappy cars and trucks.
Had an 85 Dodge D150 that originally was for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Had the 225 and 2WD. Was a fun truck. It was a light mint(?) green and shortbox. I miss it now.
The USFS started using its green in the 1950s, so those vehicles probably are green, but the photos are horribly discolored.
As for what USFS (and DOI agencies) are using these days, it’s a mish mash of N American manufactured vehicles and depends on location and intended use. Everything from minivans and Ford Escapes to Jeeps of several flavors and heavy duty pickups and SUVs. Like I said, it depends on usage, and that depends on location. Road crew, fire service and law enforcement vehicles will be more robust, vehicles that timber cruisers use not so much, and then there are the pool vehicles used to run errands and go to meetings.