Below are a few pictures of the old military machine that I had mentioned earlier. It was originally up north somewhere on the DEW line and arrived here in Manitoba either back in the late 40's or more likely the early 50's. Originally, it was similar to the old machine I posted on page one; with fenders over the tracks (no body). When it first arrived, someone had widened the back area to come out even with the tracks. It still had the narrow cab with a wide body behind it and everyone that remembers it said it was quite a sight to see. And as you can see, it has evolved again to look a little more like the regular bombardiers of today. It was redone in the early 60's by my father and probably had approx. 20 miles put on it after that before it was stored away. When we went for our first ride we ended up bringing back a load of firewood; although that part was probably planned by my father (there are no free rides). For some reason, my father always called it an extra-wide gauge. It sat in an old garage here from the early 60's till 2004. When it was first put away, it was like new, all new wood, paint , redone motor, the works. Sometime over the years, the roof leaked and this is what it looks like today, although, it looks worse than it actually is. When you look inside, it's all like new, fresh paint and clean. There was still bark inside the cargo area from when we hauled wood with it some 40 years ago.
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh31/grfishmaker/November2005005.jpghttp://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh31/grfishmaker/November2005009-1.jpghttp://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh31/grfishmaker/November2005007-1.jpgOne thing that I've noticed is that the side doors are original. I always thought that this was a modification made by one of the previous owners. Notice the cargo doors on the military machines posted previously, they are narrower than todays, square windows and on both sides. Also, notice the large space between the side cargo door and the motor doors. As with the military machines, the motor door was solid, no vents.
I was reading an article about bombardiers history and it mentioned that the military made bombardier added various specifications to the machines that they ordered. They had a military engineer on site to oversee the building of the machines to ensure they followed their specifications.
