Text by Patrick Bell.
We have some more in transit images today, with interesting cars and a closer look at some of the transport equipment and methods. Nearly all American makes are represented, so enjoy this look back in time.
Our first image was a Mack “B” with a Whitehead & Kales (W & K) Auto-Back piggyback style trailer with two Pontiacs and two Oldsmobiles. The upper deck held a Pontiac Catalina or Ventura Vista, and an Oldsmobile Super 88 Scenicoupe, while the lower had an Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 or Super 88 Celebrity Sedan and a Pontiac Catalina 4 door sedan. The W & K Auto-Back was designed to ride on a railroad flatcar, and had a fairly level lower deck to aid in loading the longer and lower cars of the day. The driver was backing (at least it looks like he was backing) down a narrow ramp to load the trailer on the flatcar.
A ’60 Dodge 700 hauling a load of Fords? No wonder the truck sign was covered. A Starliner sandwiched by two Falcon 2 doors were on the upper deck, the middle deck had a Fairlane Club Sedan and a 2 door Ranch Wagon, and down below was a Fairlane 500 Club Sedan.
This one was another W & K Auto-Back, but a prototype version full of Corvair 700’s. The trailer was apparently similar to the production models, while the Corvairs consisted of five white Club Coupes and one dark sedan.
Two ’59 Fords were each loaded with new Valiant V-200 4 door sedans. In the right background were two Fords, and on the left were three Comets plus a small sports car on the upper deck I don’t recognize. Per search results the photo was taken in the Convoy Company’s yard in Portland, Oregon, on June 3rd, 1960.
Here was a V8 powered ’56 Chevrolet from Quebec likely hauling a load to a small town dealer, and was talking to the local welcoming committee. Up top there was a six cylinder Chevrolet Biscayne 4 door sedan, Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday SportSedan, and a Corvair 4 door bringing up the rear. Pontiacs occupied the lower deck, and probably were the Canadian Strato-Chief 4 door Safaris. A discussion on this rig from two years ago is HERE.
A ’56 Ford Cab Forward with E & L Transport Company hauling a load of Ford 4-door Town Sedans; the uppers were Fairlanes, and on the lower deck were Fairlane 500s.
Plymouth Pursuit Special 2 doors as far as the eye can see, bound for Michigan State Police duty. The trucks appear to be all Dodges, with the first one a ’60 model. A previous feature on this scene is HERE.
Buicks were the load on this W & K trailer with two Invictas on top; a white 2 door hardtop, and a green 4 door hardtop. The lower deck had two Electras; a white 225 convertible and a black 2 door hardtop. A nicely detailed GMC COE had the truck honors that day. There wasn’t any Armor All back then to make those tires shine; we used brake fluid at the used car lot where I worked.
Here were some Mercurys for the load on this Ford truck. They were all Monterey models, with two 2 door sedans at the front of the upper deck, and a 4 door hardtop at the front of the lower deck. Bringing up the rear of both decks were 4 door sedans.
A nice variety of Mopars were on this trailer with a Dodge Matador 4 door sedan first on top, followed by a nose down Chrysler New Yorker 4 door sedan, and a Matador wagon. Valiant 4 door sedans were on the middle deck with a V-200 in the front and a V-100 taking the rear spot. And in the dungeon was a Dodge Dart Seneca 4 door sedan. The tow rig was a close to new V6 powered GMC.
Another piggyback style of trailer that was full of Oldsmobiles. The upper front model was a Super 88 Scenicoupe, and while it is hard to tell, I believe the other three were Ninety-Eight models; a Scenicoupe on the lower front, and two Holiday SportSedans on the rear. The Mack “B” truck had a dolly under the front axle, which likely had to do with the piggyback feature, but I will have to let one of our truck experts fully explain that one.
Another ’60 Dodge, this time with a load of similar looking Studebaker Lark DeLuxe 4 door sedans. Perhaps a fleet order? The first one on the upper deck was a V8 model (“Lark VIII” above gas door), and I can’t see the rest well enough to confirm engine type. The truck was from the Convoy Company, was parked in front of a dealer, and the driver was likely talking to the dealer himself. A ’59 or ’60 Lark DeLuxe was parked to the left, while down the street was a ’50 Dodge and a ’57 Plymouth. The image date was April 5th, 1960.
A load of Ramblers has arrived and the driver is about to unload. On the upper deck was a Custom Cross Country wagon, Custom sedan, and an American Deluxe Club Sedan, while down below was a Super sedan in the rear, and I can’t tell what the front one was. Parked on the right edge looks like a ’49 Pontiac with a California license plate.
Wagons, ho! Chevrolet Parkwoods were the load, with three single colored and blackwalls, and two with two tone and whitewalls. The truck was a close to new ’60 Chevrolet, the image location was given, and there was the taillight of a ’59 Oldsmobile in the left background.
And some more Chevrolets, including the tow rig, which looks the same as the last image but it was a different truck. On top, an Apache C10 Fleetside long bed, and either a C5103 or C6103 Cab and Chassis. Down below was a Biscayne 4 door sedan and an El Camino. The driver had that pickup cinched down, I presume, because it was up there catching all the wind. Photo date and location can be seen on the photo.
Here is an example of piggyback style trailers secured to the flatcars. A load of Lincolns and Thunderbirds, plus maybe some mystery cars, as all the ones on the lower deck were covered. Did those cars leak that bad? Or, perhaps they were some of the new ’61 models that were still under cover. This train more than likely originated at Ford’s Wixom, Michigan assembly plant. A Continental sedan and coupe were on the first trailer, followed by a standard Lincoln or Premiere sedan and a Thunderbird on the second, with a standard Lincoln or Premiere coupe and T-bird on the third, with the next two all T-birds.
Our last image for today was a load of Cadillacs, which were known as the Standard of the World. They all are Sixty-Two models; with one Coupe and three Six Window Sedans, and the truck was a ’59 Chevrolet.
Thanks for joining us and to all good day!
Re the Plymouth “pursuit specials”. Were they “on methane “ and “very toey “?
I would think the Dolly on the Mack would be for riding on the rails to pickup the piggyback trailer, seems like there should be another Dolly in the rear.
Hey JoAnn, I’ve seen this photo before along with a lot of discussion about the dolly under the front end. It’s very dark under the truck but looks like something hanging under the back axle, that and the fact there’s no tags on the truck makes me think it never gets off the lot. Pair of 600 series GMCs to the right and what might be an H model Mack on the left above the fender on the B.
Beautiful photos! Thank you. They all remind me of toys! Why Peter’s vintage models, appealing to me so much.
I would have loved to seen 1960 Corvairs on the same transporter as the 1960 full-size Chevys. It would be one of the most dramatic juxtapositions of old and new vehicles from the same manufacturer, right up there with seeing a new Horizon next to a New Yorker Brougham on a 1978 Chrysler-Plymouth showroom floor.
Waay cool! I arrived in “60” as well. That generally is not exciting to folks..lol
All the “Corvairs”, together is my fav of the bunch.
some great car haulers, only 4 or 5 cars at a time, cars were bigger back them
It is interesting to see how clever the trailers are configured to maximize the load capacity.
In particular, the “nose down Chrysler New Yorker” looks extreme by shortening the overall length allowing it to squeeze in.
As for the highest count on one load, I counted (8) on the Larks trailer, no doubt due to their short wheelbase.
It would seem that some basic math must be applied to determine the best fit for the trailer before load time.
The Southern Pacific Mack with a trailer full of Oldsmobiles has a Clejan dolly on its front axle. The Clejan system was an early ‘trailer on flat car’ (TOFC) piggyback system that had depressed troughs that ran the length of the flatcar that the dolly rollers and semi trailer landing gear would fit into. Multiple Clejan flatcars couple be coupled together and with the aid of connectors between the cars they could be loaded with trailers very quickly using tractors equipped with Clejan dollies. The dollies were necessary on the tractors and trailers to keep them going straight as they backed down multiple coupled flatcars. Clamps were used to secure the trailer dolly rollers to the flatcars. Southern Pacific was an early adopter of the Clejan system, and it worked well for them. However, the problem with the Clejan system was that it required the dollies to be installed on all trailers and the Clejan flatcars were not compatible with other ‘piggyback’ railcars. When other systems were developed that didn’t require the dollies on the trailers the Clejan system were phased out quickly. The picture was probably taken at S.P.’s Taylor Yard in Los Angeles, the Clejan system was in use there and the yard was close to G.M.’s Southgate plant.