Trying to keep up with you Chris😉
Two heavy units from Australia, an Autocar (?) and an Oshkosh. I wonder how comfortable the latter was on the Australian roads…?
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Steam powered heavy haulage in the early 1900s in the US by the looks of it. Does anyone have an idea about what make the steam engine could be?
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Blimey! That rear-end bogie looks like a stripped down 6x4 (the hubs look the same) tractive unit chassis! I’ve not seen that before. I never did heavy haulage so I’m a bit ignorant of what went on. Was it common practice to use unit chassis as dollies?
Clever stuff! 
I think you know me too well, is that a little dig? 
Just looking at that cab, perhaps you can see why I said no to a job in one. 
Best cab I ever had, until the foreigners came along.
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Thanks for that link, Google is unrewarding, searching for Ralph. Perhaps I should have used Rolway as the criteria.
These trucks must have been relatively unknown, even in their country of origin, I’ve enquired from every Saffa I’ve ever met, not had heard of them.
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I have no experience with Oshkosh, they were a fairly rare truck here, but I’ve heard they were rough, draughty, noisy, slow and uncomfortable, but apart from that, OK.
I’ve had a bit to do with Autocar, but much later than the one shown. White 4000, 9000, Diamond Reo and Autocar were basically the same truck, differing only in length from the firewall forward. Autocar was the longest, not only offering the best ride, but as a bonus a forty litre fridge would fit inder the dashboard, in front of the gearlever, leaving clear access between the seats at bedtime.
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Basic was putting it mildly, mind you you could easily open the passenger door from the driving seat.
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You could say the same about any conventional Kenworth, except for the 610, no need for an electric passenger window.
I only heard of Ralph, as I was reading an article that featured in the Dutch Special Transport Magazine, written by Dennis Child back in the 80s. I picked up a whole bunch of these magazines for free, and it’s really interesting to see how things have changed over the years.
Ralph were interesting looking wagons, and up for the job I reckon, but probably due to the size of the organisation, too small to compete with the bigger boys?
I think I became aware of Ralph from “The Observer’s Book of Commercial Vehicles”, when I was a kid.
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Took me a while to find it again, but I finally found it, the first Nicolas Tractomas had a Willeme cab, instead of the more familiar Berliet cabs.
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Frightening!