Brockway Motor Company

Brockway Motor Company was a builder of custom heavy-duty trucks in Cortland, New York, from 1912 to 1977.

1914 Brockway model G with Continental engine

1929 Brockway Bus

1945 Brockway 78

G690 "Treadway" 6 ton 6×6

History

It was founded as Brockway Carriage Works in 1875 by William Brockway. His son George Brockway later turned the carriages into a truck manufacturer in 1909. The first trucks were high-wheelers. During World War I, Brockway built 587 Class B Liberty Trucks for the military. After the war they produced a new range from 1-ton to 5-tons.

1924 Brockway 2.5-ton truck on display at the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum, Walcott, Iowa.

They began with Continental engines but switched to Wisconsin in 1925. They bought the Indiana Truck Corporation in 1928 but were forced to sell it to White Motor Company in the early years of the Great Depression. A new range, the V1200 was offered from 1934 to 1937. The V1200 used a 240 hp (179 kW) V12 American LaFrance engine and carried loads up to 15 tons.^[1]

During World War II, Brockway manufactured the B666 heavy truck, including the B666 Daybrook M-II-A bridge erector^[2] and C666 Quick Way crane,^[3] as well as G547 and G690 6-ton 6×6 bridging trucks, part of a standard design series also built by Corbitt and White. G547 "Treadway" trucks had a large hoist on the rear for self-unloading, while the G690 chassis were fitted with "Quickway" cranes, also used in bridging operations.^[4]

All 6-ton military trucks (of all manufacturers) had Hercules HXD 855 cu in (14 L) I6 gasoline engines, developing 202 hp (151 kW) at 2150 rpm and 642 lbf⋅ft (870 N⋅m) of torque at 900 rpm.^[5]

Post-World War II Brockway produced single and dual axle tractors and heavy duty triaxle dump trucks. The company was purchased by Mack Trucks Inc. in August 1956 and remained a division of Mack until its closing in June 1977. Mack cited "union troubles" for the closure.^[6]

Engines

Brockway commercial trucks primarily used Cummins engines, though many were powered by Detroit Diesels. Some Brockway trucks were equipped with gasoline Hercules I6 engines fitted with Rochester 2G (DualJet) carburetors.^[7]

Legacy

In the making of the 1978 film Convoy, the loaded trailer of a white 1972 Brockway 361 semi truck toppled over when the convoy made a sharp turn at an intersection, toppling over also the semi. The unplanned scene was then included in the movie. The Brockway laying on its side due to adverse circumstances, getting kicked in frustration by driver "Widow Woman" and abandoned in a hurry while the movie hero "Rubber Duck" carried on in his Mack RS700 semi, inadvertently illustrated the recent demise of the brand.

There is a Brockway Truck show in Cortland each year with many events occurring at the official Brockway Museum located in Homer, NY at the Central New York Living History Center.^[8]

The hood ornament used by Brockway was a husky dog with pulling harness, thus giving Cortland the nickname of "Huskie Town USA".

A documentary about the trucks and the Brockway company is available from Wiffle Ball Productions in Cortland, New York.

References

1. Ronald G Adams, Big Rigs of the 1950s Motor Books International St Paul MN 2001 ISBN 0760309787
2. B666 Daybrook M-II-A bridge erector: length: 370 in (9,400 mm), width: 100 in (2,500 mm), height: 103 in (2,600 mm), weight: 26,500 lb (12,000 kg), about 13 tons
3. C666 Quick-Way revolving crane: length: 408 in (10,400 mm), width: 100 in (2,500 mm), height: 136 in (3,500 mm), weight: 35,275 lb (16,000 kg), about 18 tons
4. Doyle, David (2003). Standard catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles. Krause Publications. pp. 208–212. ISBN 0-87349-508-X.
5. Doyle (2003), p. 212.
6. Wren, James A.; Wren, Genevieve (1979). Motor Trucks of America. Ann Arbor MI: The University of Michigan Press. pp. 215, 313. ISBN 0-472-06313-8.
7. Street Rodder, 1/85, p.14.
8. "Central New York Living History Center". Archived from the original on 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2013-05-15.

External links

• Brockway Truck Preservation Association