In light of the recent “Northeaster” that passed through here last weekend, today’s feature includes images of early Walter “Snow Fighter” plow and grader trucks in Toronto, Canada, and a video. The lead image containing a two-person crew in Toronto, Canada, dates to February 22, 1924.
The “Snow Fighter” trucks were first manufactured circa 1923 in Queens, NY. The forward position of the engine weight aided front axle traction and provided room for the “suspended gear reduction” four-wheel-drive chassis.
In the light of today’s vehicles equipped with power everything, a quick study of what the team who operated these trucks had to do can be compared to today’s workout classes. The driver had to double-clutch to shift, probably had to deal with high-effort steering, and he also had to adjust the height of the plow blade with the large hand wheel visible inside the cab. The grader blade operator used both of the extra-large hand wheels in the center compartment to change the height and angle of the grader blade.
The images are courtesy of the Toronto Public Library.
“Snow Plough P.1 & 2” – November 28, 1924 – “Toronto Public Library.”
For the second part of today’s feature you can view this short 2:33 video, with two vintage film clips. The first part takes you for a run with a Walter “Snow Fighter” on the plow route between Watertown to Syracuse, New York. The second short film demonstrates “Fast Snow Scraping” on the streets of New York City.
There was a reason that, in movies and cartoons through the fifties, truck drivers were depicted as having broad, beefy shoulders.
Machine in the top photo was owned by the Toronto Transit Commission, operators of the city’s streetcars.
“Hey Waltah”, in my best “Long Guyland” accent. There were a couple trucks that “meant business” in the snow removal biz,,, FWD, Oshkosh, and Walter, to name a few. While the movie pictures portray almost insurmountable snow, I’m sure these were isolated snowfalls, and can’t compare to the snows of the UP then. Plows couldn’t do it alone and these mombo snow blowers, with the aux. motor in back, were the only things that worked. I read,,Walter used a unique “4 point drive system”, unlike conventional 4wd setups. The motor was located ahead of the steer axle and used an internal spur gear drive, “Four Point Positive Drive” was the slogan, none tougher. Walters weren’t cheap by any means, I read, a base 1920(ish) Walter 3 ton cab and chassis cost almost $5,600, ( $150 grand today) plus you then had to equip it the way you wanted, probably another couple grand. Walter made a variety of trucks for many applications, big dump trucks, but are usually associated with snow removal. It took the likes of Jethro Bodine to operate these monsters,,no wimps, like me. My job as a truck driver paled in comparison to what these guys did and I never forgot that.
Hi Howard, yup always respected over the road truckers and plow jockeys even if the plow guys plowed my driveway in. I still think it takes immense skill for both jobs handling those rigs and watching for crazy driving on the roadways. We also had front end loaders for the big city snows and huge snow blowers on the front of the big Oshkosh trucks for the county roads. Snow thrown so high on the county roads it was like you were driving in a tunnel without a top ceiling. Sister is fixing to get 15″ brother 1″ and us 3-5″ while my pal gets freezing rain. Stay safe out there and keep it between the ditches.
Hi BigRed, thanks, but the only driving I do these days is 2 miles to Walmart in my pickup, and even that gets me uptight. I “retired” my CDL when I moved to Colorado, and never looked back. I have my CDL cut in 2 pieces mounted on me wall, celebrating almost 40 years, to the day. I miss the actual “operating the truck” part, but current regulations( can’t make money sleeping for 14 hours) and distracted drivers are the main reason I got out.
In a related subject, I was flabbergasted to learn CDOT, at the beginning of the season, was looking for over 100 snow plow drivers, paying upwards of $30/hr with benefits, I might add, nobody, or very few applied. Years ago, there would have been a waiting list for that job, today, nobody is applying for that, ( but the 1st to complain if the roads aren’t plowed) heaven forbid, they may have to pick up a hand shovel once or twice. One by one, these “hands on” jobs are going unfilled, and what we took for granted years ago, doesn’t hold true today, and that is unsettling, to say the least.
Hey Howard, I kept my CDL after I quit working, you never know and it’s easier to keep it than start again. That being said, it’s been almost 15 years and I haven’t been in anything bigger than a pickup!
Hi Jim, to put things in perspective,,,$8 bucks, EIGHT lousy, stinkin’ bucks. When I came to Colorado, getting a license change was probably harder than going to a foreign country. Colorado implemented the “star” thingy on the license, Wis. hadn’t had that yet. I’m telling you, for a spell, I didn’t think I was going to get one. Birth cert., PARENTS birth and death cert., diploma, heck, they went back to kindergarten, I couldn’t satisfy this guy. FINALLY, got it, he said, “now, before I process this, do you want to keep your CDL? If you cancel it now, you’ll have to start all over, it’s only $8 bucks”. I said,,,”Pete( his name was Pete) I’d stock soup cans at Walmart before I drove a truck again,,,just push the button”,,,and with that he unceremoniously ended 40 years of truck driving.
You know, I never did take any kind of road test for a CDL. I got my chauffeurs license in the late 70’s, funny story there too, my 1st ( real) trucking job, my boss asked if I had a chauffeurs license. I said no, and was pretty much in state, but they had some out of state runs, he said, you better get a chauffeurs license. Fine, I go to the Wisconsin DMV, told the guy what I needed, he said, “have you had a road test of any kind in the last 2 years?” I said, “well, I took my motorcycle test last year”,,”Good enough, $6 bucks,,,NEXT”! And was grandfathered in all those years.
The last place I worked among other things was a Meyers Snowplow dealer. There’s not much you can do to a vehicle that’s more abusive than plowing snow.
Hi Jim, boy howdy, got that right. Maybe off road work is more abusive, but plowing snow, only the strong survive. When I hauled eggs for Crystal Farms in the 80’s, the shop had a ’57(ish) Ford F500 Marmon Harrington with a big plow and a BIG ceeement block on the back they got from an airport. Naturally, the unit had only a few thousand miles on it. One snowy night, I came in at my usual 1am, some guy, that either didn’t know what they were doing, or didn’t want to be there, was clearing the lot with the plow. The abuse that moron put on that truck was out of line. Next day, I told the shop foreman about it. It was a stout unit, for sure.
The Tug Hill Plateau is a bit east of the area shown in the first video and receives a lot of lake effect snow. The reason is the location down wind and the rise in elevation.
I remember bucking drifts with a 64 Impala in the Finger Lakes area. If you lose your momentum after the first drift just back up and then charge ahead to the next drift. Repeat as necessary. One time the alternator light came on from drift bucking and when I got home I opened the hood to see nothing but packed in snow – the engine was running with the fan belt knocked off by the snow. Fun times.
In the first photo, it looks like the two hand wheels controlled the up and down movement of the ends of the center blade while the whole mechanism pivoted in the center. I think that if you tip one end down you can get the mechanism to pivot while the rig moves forward. There must have been a way to lock the angle of the blade.
Solid rubber tires on cast iron wheels with deep treads and added chains.
They could use a couple of these beasts here in Boulder, Colorado. Here, the city uses a couple of old Volvo bricks with snow shovels duct-taped to their front bumpers.
In Salida, we got about 5 inches, below zero tonight, but 50’s next week. I’m simply flabbergasted, a state with primarily snow to deal with on somewhat regular basis, how poorly these towns maintain the roads. They use a liquid mix for the main highways, but in towns, they don’t do much. The city streets become packed, turns into ice, and dangerous as heck. I guess I’m used to Wisconsin where they dump Bonneville Salt Flats down for an inch of snow.
We have one of these Walters in our museum. It is newly restored and on public display. Can I send you some photos?
Original owner was the Fifth Avenue Coach in New York City. Thank you. Dave