200th post on this blog! In a continuing effort to improve the local flavour of my vehicle fleet, I assembled a Wilmots Dairy truck out of parts. A cab from an Esso tank truck, a box from a Roco military truck, wheels from a Tyco tranport trailer and chassis from scrap styrene. This truck represents a commercial dairy delivery truck rather than the home delivery truck from which the milkman made numerous stops. I used an image of Wilmots advertising, formatted to fit the side of the truck box and printed. I matched a white for the cab. I've since painted the front fenders, as well as the rear bumper I added, dark blue - the prototype Divco home delivery truck has a blue hood also. 
The finished product is at Montreal and Rideau Streets (top photo) and crossing the River Street Bridge:
The finished product is at Montreal and Rideau Streets (top photo) and crossing the River Street Bridge:
Here's the prototype, taken by George Lilley in 1948 at the Wilmots Producer Dairy at the Traffic Circle (Queen's University Archives). Note the image on the building sign, matching that on my truck:
And just for fun, a much earlier photo showing the range of horsepower used by the Hemlock Park Dairy, also in Kingston (below). The age of actual horse power was over by my modelled era!
I am enjoying the additions you are making to your delivery vehicle fleet, both the milk truck and the dump truck. Did you have a slight twinge of remorse when you started cutting up an older model Matchbox toy? The end result was worth it I must say. The (real) coal truck in the photo looks to be a Ford but a Dodge is a good substitute.
ReplyDeleteThe milk truck adds to the overall look too.
The article about "Loose Car Railroading" on the Trackside Treasure was very good too. An excellent layout all around.
Robert, I did not have any twinge, because it wasn't 'mine' so it was OK. Technically, I should be using HO-scaled vehicles, but I'm trying to keep it on a budget, so there's no way I'm spending 20-40 bucks per!
DeleteGlad you enjoyed the recent operations post on Trackside Treasure. I really enjoy not only taking those photos but also formatting them.
My layout is decidedly un-technical. There are no signals, electric anything, or DCC. Just two wires and off we go! I've always placed a high priority on Operations.
Thanks for your comments,
Eric
Wow! This is really great modelling. What a setup! Congratulations, working with models is so satisfying. I don't want to be critical, but a point that would even more realism is that the model Wilmot's truck does not resemble the original as much as it could. The logo is completely right. But The hood is too long and the doors are all wrong. The doors were those long vertical doors you see in the sketch picture, so that the driver could slip in and out of the cab from a standing position. I remember seeing the driver whip out of the cab to deliver milk to our house in a flash. The cab was well thought out to make the driver's use of time the most efficient. I don't think I ever saw the driver sitting down, though there might have been a small seat if he needed to. Also, the hood of the actual vehicle was much shorter than on most trucks today, as the sketch gets right. This was because the vehicle was electric. Electric motors have always been much smaller than the internal combustion engines that came to dominate the market. But in the 1950s electric milk carts were economical because even though gas cheap back then, electricity was even cheaper: 2 cents per kilowatt hour.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words, A. My Wilmot's truck is more of a delivery truck for stores. I know that actual milk home delivery trucks are available but likely cost $20-50. This little project was more of a modelling challenge based on truck parts I had on hand. I may have a chance to pick up one of those neat home delivery trucks at a train show sometime!
ReplyDeleteEric