Now here's a cheery curiosity to finish the day with. Can you tell me what it is? If you immediately answered 'It's an Atomic Cannon silly!" then you'd of course be right. And why is Biglorryblog writing about Atomic Cannons? Well because in a moment of idleness today I found myself thinking about them---not least as I seem to recall Monogram or Revell made a model of it in the early 60s when I was the kind of callow youth making plastic models. Though naturally I've put all those things behind me...and what I REALLY want to know is---what were the two trucks that hauled it!? If you're thinking they come from the
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/m65.htm
http://everything2.com/node/1501864
http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_atomic.php3
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=252288483406479718
Could they be Oshkosh`s?
Hi Brian,
Happy New Year to all at T and D.
You’re close, Brian, the model was made by Frog and I always wanted one , but it was very expensive in those days, something like 35 English shillings (£1.75p or about the same in euros at the moment!!) I am still looking!
It may have been re-engineered later by another kit company, but the original was certainly Frog. They made excellent kits for those days, the multi-barrelled 'Ontos' American tank was a great model.
It is like being in a parallel universe with your reminiscences;we will be debating the delights of Rowntrees fruit gums and Ovaltine biscuits next!
66 of these ‘Atomic Cannons’ were produced but , thankfully, it was only used in test firing. The gun was a 280mm calibre barrel.
The ensemble weighed in at 84 tons and was 25 metres long and they were built between 1952 and ‘53.
More important, the end pusher/puller units were Kenworths, built in Seattle. The T10 outfit was known as ‘Truck, Gun lifting, Heavy’ by the US Army and was designated M249/250, the front unit being the prettier of the two.
They went to Germany during the Cold War period, but when sold off at auction, the front-end M249 did find further work.
Although not a great success due to their huge size in relation to the German villages they were expected to negotiate, the Americans went on to develop the shape of these units towards a 60 ton 8x8 XM376 using the same push/pull configurations, which didn't go beyond the prototype stage.
Two complete units were picked up by the Belgian heavy haulage firm of Jonet and the front units were converted into ballast tractors, the rear end being retained for spares. This was in the same period, 1974, that they had the Autocars mentioned in a previous blog.
They were bought as a replacement for ageing Pacific M26 Knuckey-drive tank recovery units. The A/C units had the advantage of being all-wheel-drive.
They were powered originally by a six-cylinder 15 litre Continental A0-895-4 petrol engine mounted behind the cab, but Jonet replaced them with Cummins NTC335 diesels.
They seem to have worked very well, often working together on 250 ton transformer loads in a double-heading and pull/push configuration, pictures do exist of these , but copyright issues prevent me from showing you them.
Another was converted for heavy lifting in a yard in France I have tried to find it, but no luck yet.
I think around six or seven of the guns survive, but few of the tractors for obvious reasons. There wasn’t a big call on Atomic cannons second hand!
Looking forward to the New Year ‘Atomic Pie’, do they taste different?
I know, they don’t taste different, but you can find them in the dark!
Nice going Mike. Congrats on a very thorough explanation. Certainly the two KWs were still operational in the Transports Jonet (Charleroi) fleet when Arthur Ingram and I visited their premises in 1971. They weren't as handsome as the Autocars of course but did have a certain presence! I remember the boss, Mr. Wauthier, was kind enough to run them around the block for us which was quite a sight (and sound!) on the narrow, cobbled streeets at the time!
Re. MB's atomic pie. I understand that there was a farm near the Winfrith atomic energy establishment in Dorset that had a large sign reading 'Pick Your Own, 24 hour service'
I built a model of Atomic Annie in the mid 70's although I don't remember it being by Frog, the box art was identical to the Renwal issue (who I believe produced the original version)
Unbuilt kits turn up on ebay in the US occasionaly, expect it to go for a few hundred $$
http://cgi.ebay.com/RENWAL-BLUEPRINT-MODELS-ATOMIC-CANNON-1-32-Scale_W0QQitemZ230324347203QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item230324347203&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
There was also a reissue by Revell in the 80's, I'm tempted to have another go but don't fancy paying $40 postage on top of purchase price
http://cgi.ebay.com/REVELL-VINTAGE-1983-280mm-ATOMIC-CANNON-1-32_W0QQitemZ310121468236QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item310121468236&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50
please searching for a tm 10 1529 6to 6x6
brockway truck shovel or copy .
Can you help me ?
advance tank
JP Eucher.