Airfield Equipment

[Scott Rose]

C-87A-CF Liberator Express/41-24159/MSN 954

Can anybody identify the make and model of the fuel truck?

[JohnB]

I believe it's an Autocar U-7144 4 ton (or a very similar Federal...similar truck with minor sheet metal differences). Most were semi tractors, but this one clearly is a fuel truck, so it might be a rare variant.

[Scott Rose]

Thanks John.

what about the vehicles in this one?

C-87-CF Liberator Express/41-24158/MSN 953

[JohnB]

Left: GMC CCKW 2 1/2 ton with closed cab.

Right: The closest I can find to it is the Ward LaFrance and Kenworth M1...but my book says they were only bought as wreckers. Even then, although the cab/fenders/grille is very similar, the hood lovers are very different...vertical as opposed to the horizontal ones in your photo.
There, I've reached the end of my knowledge... I'm sure a Military vehicle buff could tell you more.

[armyjunk2]

I think these are the "Official" names

TM9-2800 Sept 1943

TOP PIC
Truck, Oil Servicing, 660 Gal, L1, 21/2-Ton 4x4 page 232


TM9-2800 Oct 1947

BOTTOM PICS
Right hand side truck
Truck, 2 1/2-Ton, 6x6, Fuel Or Oil Servicing, 750 Gal, F3 page 279

Left hand side truck and trailer
Semitrailer, 4W, Fuel Servicing, 4000 Gal, Type F-1A page 114

Truck-Tractor, 71/2-Ton, 6x6, Fuel Servicing, Type F1 page 345

[airnutz]

Scott, I don't know "Richard" about trucks, but in the 2nd photo, the tractor truck on the right is a dead-ringer for a Federal C2 wrecker I've seen on Taigh's twinbeech.com site. Mebbee a Federal 606E tractor truck. Over to the pro's...

[CAPFlyer]

I actually think that tractor truck might be a Biederman.


Biederman, 53k b/w photo of WWII F1 tractor from Bart Vanderveen's book "Historic Military Vehicles Directory" - from http://www.autogallery.org.ru/gothers.htm

[JohnB]

Yup, I think that's it.
Well done.

[airnutz]

If you guys are talking about the largest fuel truck...I respectfully think not! I think we need a...errr...umm...second opinion!
Maybe a Taigh-breaker??? Get it? Bwaaa...haaaa...

[armyjunk2]

Biederman, Federal and Reo made those, why Biederman over the others? Just curious, they do seem to have different louvers on hoods....

[airnutz]

Just curious, they do seem to have different louvers on hoods....

Yep, that and the 2 rather prominent air spring cans on the front bumper. Tho not exclusive to the Federal, the tractor also has the inertia starter handcrank setup on the bumper between the air springs. Taigh mentioned they'd love to have that bit of kit for their C2.

[CAPFlyer]

I was looking at the shape of the sheet metal more than anything. The air bottles and intertial starter are bolt-on, so having it changed in the field or at depot I don't necessarily consider spotting differences. I was also looking at the location of the lights and the metal protector frame in front of the radiator and it seems to fit the Biederman more than Federal. Federal used a different style light and mounted them higher from the pictures I saw, so that was what made me think different becuase had it been a Federal and they lowered the light placement, then you'd see modifications to that guard frame too.

[airnutz]

Yep, I erred about the air spring bottles, apparently all the big trucks had them mounted as such. I wasn't using the inertia starter as a cue, I said it wasn't unique to the Federal...I was pointing out that this example had a manual starting capability. As for the lights and grill, Taigh's site has plenty of the Federal lights mounted low and with the radiator guard the same as the tractor/tanker in photo 2. My main cue is in the body of the Biederman photo you posted differing with the Federals I've seen. The hood vents are 1st and #2 is the double rib stamped into the Biederman door concluding to a point just short of the hood vs the single rib in the Federals. I'll link Taigh's site in a bit. He notes in there that Federal, Biederman, Corbitt, and maybe REO produced that truck as a C2. I guess what we're faced with is, were they so standardized in production of the heavy truck for the Army that there is no way to tell without knowing the serial number? I'll say this, regardless of who built the truck in photo 2, it resembles the Federal 606 origination the most. Still waiting waiting for a Pro to clue us in!!!
http://www.twinbeech.com/federalc2wrecker.htm

[armyjunk2]

Here is the page from the Tech Manual

[airnutz]

Yup, Armyjunk seen that on Taigh's site and others. That's twice you've answered Scott's question, but we got hung up in who did what. Thanx!
They are all very similar, but folks on other sites have displayed there were differences in the F1's visible in the photos as to who's actual example your looking at. It doesn't matter in reference to Warbirds, but one realizes after looking at photos for a lifetime, the amount of information slipping past that can actually be an aid to the subject matter if known. When it comes up, I now know more of where to go to query.