A Tale of Two Log Trucks.

Here I am with my hard hat on.  Everyone on this job had to  wear one.

We called this truck, the Screamin' Demon.  The sound of it's engine beat any opera singers high notes.  It had no fire wall so all the engine heat and noise lived with you in the cab.  On top of that, it had no power.

It would roll along at a fair pace until we got to the tiny hills outside of Dupuyer.  From there to Augusta it was 45 mph top speed.  Once on the freeway, it rolled along until we came to the pass going into Helena.

Most days, it was 25-30 mph up that hill.  By the time we got to the top, the radiator was hot and we'd have to stop to let her cool down.  Trucks that loaded the same time we did, would be to Townsend, drop off their loads and waving at us on the other side of the freeway as they headed home!  It was so irritating....

Another fun thing about driving an old truck like this....the cops love it.  They know if they look hard enough on an old beater, they'll probably find something wrong.  So every single day we drove that truck, we were stopped by a cop going down that pass into Helena.

They never found anything wrong, but they had to slow us down that half hour it took for them to stop us and for us to get going again.  One day they thought a log stuck out to far, one day they couldn't figure out why were going so slow, it was something new every single day. 

We said this thing overheated, we stopped on top to let her cool down, we just pulled out so we could go again, we'd need a rocket engine to be up to speed in 100 feet.

We got real acquainted with the cops on that stretch.

Another charming feature of the Screamin' Demon. She had no air conditioning.  Summer that year ran temps into the 100's.  We'd pack water bottles in a cooler and we never stopped drinking water all the way to Townsend.  When we got unloaded at the mill, first thing we'd do is head to Town Pump and fill their largest glass with half ice tea and half lemonade.  Nothing in this world ever tasted better or was looked forward to more.

Screamin' Demon had a temp guage in her cab that told cab temps and road temps.  The highest temp we reached in the cab was 104.  With the outside temps and all the heat coming off the motor into the cab, it was warm in there.

Our boss had told us at the start he wouldn't leave us in that old truck for very long, so we were real glad when we got the news one day to change into the Purple People Eater.

I took this photo of Robert at the log yard.  This photo is living proof that cops go after the older trucks and leave the newer ones alone.  The moment we got into this truck, we were never stopped again.

We carried some payloads on this truck.  It had air conditioning, it kept up with the other trucks, we were home at night a good two hours earlier.  It also had Sirius radio.  We went down the road listening to Hank Snow and Hank Williams, we were livin' in the lap of luxury but the ice tea and lemonade still tasted good.
donna

Here's Robert's thoughts on the Screamin' Demon....

The Screamin’ Demon

Screamin’ Demon yells at me from under the hood,
Ain’t much difference in the sounds, when she’s empty or haulin’ wood.
On a hot day, along with everything else, we enjoy the motor’s heat.
Think I’d be better off walking, getting blisters on my feet

I’ve ended up with sweat bumps, where, I won’t let you know...
But in spite of my grievin’, she gets me places I’ve got to go.
I’m thinking with every day of driving this thing,
My next paycheck will be my last,
No one knows but me, what I go through, as mileposts pass.

At each state scale shack, I see in their eyes, “What have we got here?”
I wouldn’t let them know, unless the sign says closed, of them I fear.
Screamin’ Demon is so old, my grand folks talk of drivin’ her too...
But I hope she lays down and dies before the end of my days,
‘Cause I wouldn’t wish this on you!

From “Down Ridgway’s Road”
By Robert Lee Ridgway
Copyright 2003