We got a kick out of the scratchbuilt Pierce-Arrow seven-ton dump truck model that Gene Herman sent our way last month, and now Gene’s forwarded us another scratchbuilt truck model to marvel over, this time of an even rarer truck than the Pierce. Gene writes:
The MacDonald Model O low bed was built in San Francisco in the teens and ’20s. This front wheel drive flatbed was designed specifically to make shifting extra heavy loads on and off the truck easier. Along with a similar truck built by Doane, they worked the docks along the Embarcadero in the early part of the last century.
The frame was structural steel deeply lapped behind the cab and dropped 16.5 inches to provide the low bed floor level. The rear axle had neither springs nor brakes, but the front driven axle actually had hydraulic power steering! All tires were solids, the rears being singles and the fronts doubles. The only other truck that I’ve EVER seen that has dual front tires is the GM Futurliner, although those are pneumatic, and not the driven wheels.
My friend Jeff Harper likes the “oddballs and orphans”, and brought his superb scratchbuilding skills to replicating this very strange vehicle. Here are some in progress pictures that he sent to me during the build, and some shots of the finished product. He has won numerous Best of Class and Best of Show trophies with this fantastic model. I think you’ll agree that he captured every detail VERY well. Enjoy, and thanx fer lookin’!
And lest anybody think this truck is simply a product of the imagination of Mr. Harper, there’s one in the Hays Truck Museum in Woodland, California, that photobucketeer jacksnell707 photographed.