10-4 Magazine January 2025

Truck Show Report: By Duncan Putman crowd, which made it tough to shoot trucks. The other problem was dealing with wide trucks, parked side by side in parallel auto parking spaces, so it was difficult to get individual shots of many units. I found out later that there was a communication mix-up with the people who were to provide the shuttle, and the problem will be fixed for next year. Needless to say, there were challenges, but the trucks were amazing! Despite Brockway manufacturing trucks since 1909, a good portion of the show featured models from the 60s and 70s. A few pre-1950 models were in attendance, but the bulk of the trucks were 300 and 700 series Brocks. Mack acquired Brockway in 1956, and because Mack had their Bulldog hood ornament, it was decided that Brockway should have a dog ornament, and the Husky was chosen for its strength and durability. In 1958, the first Huskie Dog ornament appeared on the model N260TL (I have no idea why the name Husky was spelled different by Brockway). Agood example of a late 50s Brockway was a restored white and green 1958 157 L-2, owned by Aaron Tipton of Burnsville, NC. I’ve been a photographer and writer for trucking magazines off and on since the 1980s, and a while back I teamed up with Mark Harter to do articles for 10-4 Magazine. This year we planned on attending the 24th annual Brockway Trucks Preservation Association (BPTA) Annual National Brockway Truck Show together, but due to some problems with getting flights, Mark was not able to come. Located two hours east of me in Central New York, the show is always held on the second Saturday in August, with this year’s event on August 8-11, 2024. Since Mark couldn’t be there, my wife, Jeanette, agreed to come along and take notes at the show, which was filled with a bevy of beautiful Brockways. The Brockway Museum is housed at The Central NY Living History Center located between Homer and Brockway’s manufacturing home of Cortland, where the show was formerly held (non-truck related exhibits also occupy space at the History Center). A few years ago, the show moved to Homer, which is interesting, as Brockway was first started there by George A. Brockway in 1909. Despite Brockway using a big complex in Cortland for a majority of their truck production, there were also the Homer facilities, as well as ones in other cities in Central New York. The weekend started on Thursday night with a “Brockway Ice Cream Cruise-In” at a location in Cortland, NY. Ordinarily, the Friday events for the show have included a country “Huskie Drive” convoy, along with a special dinner, with trucks parked around the museum, an auction, and a fireworks display capping the day’s activities. However, an intense rainstorm on Friday caused the convoy to be canceled. On Saturday, the show started with a parade from themuseum, throughHomer, and then looped around to where the trucks were parked along a street in the town square. There was a band playing at the village square and several vendors, along with a shirt and hat vendor, selling Brockway merchandise. Awards for the best trucks were presented in the late afternoon, followed by a barbecue dinner at the History Center, which included a former Brockway employee recognition ceremony. Sunday morning featured a pancake breakfast at the History Center. I was told by museum employees that the best parking would be at Homer High School, which is where we parked to observe and film the parade, and that after the parade there would be a shuttle bus from the school to the event. About 15 minutes after the parade ended, I called the museum to inquire about the bus and was told it would be arriving in about 15 minutes. An hour later, and still no bus, a fellow attendee called the museum and someone told him that there was no bus this year. So, we jumped in the car, drove to the crowded street where all the trucks were displayed, and found a parking spot a block away. By then, I had lost over an hour of photo time, and arrived to find a massive 34 10-4 Magazine / January 2025 A BEVY OF BROCKWAYS