Coal Delivery Truck
This 1955 Mack D42 C.O.E. was first owned by St. Johnsbury Trucking Co., St. Johnsbury, Vermont. It was used as a city tractor meaning that with a small trailer and its 96" wheelbase it was very maneuverable in the tight places found in cities. A man named LePearle of New Hampshire restored it and sold it to Mel Clark of Hampton, NH whose purpose in owning it was for resale. George Sprowl of Sprowl Building Components, Inc., Searsmont, Maine purchased it in 1993 and finished its restoration. He sold it at an Owls Head Transportation Museum auction to Selden Von Herten of Collectors Carousel, Westbrook, Maine who donated it to the Museum in 1995.
Early in its life it was converted from a freight tractor to a coal delivery truck. Its body can be raised by hydraulic "scissors action" to enable the coal to flow out of the body, down the chute from the truck parked on the street through the basement window into the coal bin. (Often, the coal had to be carried in canvas bags to places unreachable by the truck's chute.) Mack manufactured only 800 of this particular model and contributing to its uniqueness is that the cab lifts vertically by hydraulics for easy maintenance access. It has a six-cylinder, gasoline engine with a five-speed transmission.
Related Document: Coal Delivery Truck