Pic of the Week 5-24-10

After posting last weeks pic of the week, I received an email from Andy Hill with some more history regarding the asphalt business, as well as a great pic of his truck. I thought it would make a great pic for 'pic of the week'. Here is the info Andy sent me...

"Loved the picture of the Midland tractor. I have a lot of family history with Midland. My Grandfather entered the asphalt business in the 1930s when his Brother -in -law, asked him to come to work for him. He owned Midland Asphalt of Buffalo at the time. My Grandfather later left Midland to serve in the Marines in WWII. When he came back, he was not happy with a lot of changes that transpired during his absence and went to work for Fitzgerald Bros. of Troy. Finally in 1956, he took out a loan using his Life Insurance policy as collateral to start his own Asphalt business. His Brother in law had passed away and he asked his sister if she would sell him one of Midland's old trucks. She agreed and sold him a very tired 1940s Mack EQ model, which he fixed up and started Hoosic Valley Asphalt Co., Inc. in 1957. His first Three trucks were all ex-Midland trucks, then he started buying new Brockways. The last truck he bought was a 1975 Brockway 761L, truck # 18, before he sold the company to Peckham Materials in the 1980s. My Uncle would later run the Valley Falls terminal for Midland, until he retired.
This is where my love for Brockway trucks began. Since I could remember as a kid I always wanted to work for my Grandfather so I could drive those Brockways. I wouldn't get the chance since I was so young. Ironically, I was able to buy an Brockway asphalt distributor from Stan Bradley. The truck was originally bought new from Krantz (one of two identical trucks). Later Krantz was bought by Midland, and a few years later the older Krantz trucks would be sold off since they were outdated. My truck and its twin went to Rochester Road Materials, where the twin was completely wrecked in a roll over accident. With the help of Peter Grimm and Dave Stowell, I was able to restore the truck to look like my Grandfather's. I numbered it #19. The interesting thing is that I was able to finish the truck ( an ex-Midland truck once again) on the 50 anniversary of my grandfather starting his company. He died later that year, September 2007."

Thanks for the pic Andy!