Orwigsburg Historical Society schedules tour of 3 vintage truck museums
Jul. 28—ORWIGSBURG — The Orwigsburg Historical Society and Museum will host a private tour of vintage truck museums from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 16, presented by historian/collector Keith Ernst, at his "Tired Truck Museums."
Tickets are $40 per person, $35 for society members, and must be purchased by Aug. 30, according to information provided by the society's Jennifer Bowen. The fee includes transportation to the museums and a luncheon at the 419 Market Café & Eatery.
Tickets are available at the society headquarters, 109 E. Mifflin St., Orwigsburg. A bus will be at the Orwigsburg municipal parking lot on the square at 11 a.m. to pick up passengers.
In a press release about the tour, Bowen asked, "Would you believe that over 40 companies built trucks right here in Pennsylvania?"
Over the years, she said, Ernst has been collecting such trucks that he could find.
The bevy of regionally built trucks includes Hahn Motors, built in Hamburg; Mack, in Allentown; and others, like Clinton, Reading; Maccar, Scranton; Rowe, Lancaster; Vim, Philadelphia; Atlas, York; Autocar, Ardmore; Seldon, Allentown; Bessemer, Grove City; Kearns, Beavertown; and "even Fords in Chester," Bowen wrote, adding that there were companies that made the bodies for truck chassis, such as Martin-Parry and York Hoover in York.
Ernst also has an assortment of International Harvester vehicles. The collection includes "everything from a 10-20 McCormick Deering road roller, to a chain-drive Model 54C dump truck that was used on the Boulder Dam Project and even International's very first pickup truck, a 1933 Model D-1" will be included on the tour.
"So, if you're into old iron or just want to see what our forefathers used to build America," sign up for the tour, Bowen urged. She also cautioned, "not all trucks in the three museum collections are completely restored; many are still in their 'work clothes.' "
For more information, call 570-366-8769 or 570-617-7809. People may also send checks in the proper amounts to the society, and to include a phone number when registering.
