New Models Cap Off 100 Years on Track
By Dave Tallon, Tallon Custom Collectables

For December, Jay has asked us TTT authors to pick our favorite toy tractor model of 2004.  For me, this is a difficult decision.  Ertl, DCP, Spec Cast and others have made great strides in model quality and detail, and have introduced a multitude of high quality models.  The Ertl JD 6030’s, Toy Farmer MF 1500’s, and the TTT AC 7030 quickly come to mind.  My collection has definitely grown in 2004, but as I look at my shelves, I realize that the models I will remember most from 2004 hold a more personal meaning.

1/16 Scale Models of some vintage Cat Tractors
  L-R: Cat 2-Ton, Cat D2 and Holt 2-Ton
As many of you already know, my day-job is working as an engineer for Caterpillar.  Not surprisingly, my collecting interests typically involve Caterpillar related Ag tractors, and the Caterpillar construction equipment I have been involved in.  All of these are machines that have been produced within the relatively recent past.  This year, however,  my interest has grown in collecting Caterpillar models and memorabilia of the more distant past.  

This interest in the older models was largely triggered by this year bing 100th Anniversary of Caterpillar’s first track-type tractor.  On Thanksgiving Day, 1904, Benjamin Holt first tested one of his steam engines that had been fitted with a set of tracks.


Holt No. 77, The First "Caterpillar"
It was this tractor, Holt Model No. 77, that inspired a company photographer to remark, “If that don’t look like a monster caterpillar”, and thus the Caterpillar name was born. To commemorate this anniversary, Caterpillar’s Vice-President in charge of Track-Type Tractors commissioned a 2,800 square foot mini-museum in the main hallway of the Track-Type Tractors office building.  The purpose of the museum was to highlight major milestones and machines from Track-Type Tractor history.  Being the “tractor geek” that I am, I volunteered my services in helping with the display.  Little did I realize then what I was getting myself into. 

My primary area of focus was the Tractor Timeline; a graphical representation of Caterpillar’s track-type tractor history.  The timeline spans nearly forty feet and features a photo, along with the model name, serial number prefix, horsepower and weight of every model Caterpillar, and it’s predecessors Holt and Best, ever produced.  Collecting the information on the nearly 200 tractor models included in this display required countless hours of research and verification over the past several months.  This was especially true for many of the earliest models, about which relatively little is known and only a few, if any, remain in existence today.  The knowledge I gained from my timeline research proved useful in many other areas of the display, and I ended up providing input to those as well.  When the exhibit was unveiled the first weekend in November, seeing it was every bit as gratifying as seeing one of the tractors I helped design roll off of the assembly line for the first time.  Perhaps the only disappointment of the project is that the exhibit is intended for Cat employees and customers, and won’t be open to the general public, although many similar displays may appear in a Caterpillar museum for which planning is currently underway. 

Restored 1935 RD6located at entrance to hallway exhibit flanked by lifsize images of the 1904 Holt No. 77 and 2004 D9T
Best Thirty used as base for touch-screen display highlighting operation and features of vintage Cat tractors

Timeline display showing chronology and lineage
of Cat tractor models. 
The hallway is lined with vintage ads and photos from throughout Caterpillar tractor history.

Another touch-screen display highlights the operation and features of the new D9T and offers visitors a chance to sit in a real Caterpillar tractor cab,
An interactive display demonstrates how differential steering works by allowing visitors to use a steering lever to control a scale model and differential steering gear set.


In conjunction with this anniversary, a couple of commemorative die-cast models have been produced.  The first to become available is a D11R from Norscot with the 100th Anniversary logo and an antique silver finish.  At first glance, this model appears similar to the gold plated one they produced a couple of years ago for Caterpillar’s 75th Anniversary.  Upon closer inspection however, I was pleasantly surprised.  The antique silver finish on this one is a vast improvement over the plastic-looking gold plating they used on the 75th Anniversary model.  The metal tracks on this one also offer a higher degree of detail than the black rubber tracks used on the previous model. 

While the commemorative D11 is nice, that isn’t the model that I have been most eagerly awaiting.  That honor goes to the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owner’s Club (ACMOC) limited edition model of the tractor that started it all for Caterpillar, the Holt No. 77.  Although ACMOC has been advertising it in their newsletter since early summer, I saw the prototype of the model for the first time in person over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Spec Cast certainly maintains the reputation for quality and attention to detail seen on the club’s Caterpillar D2 models that they have offered the past couple years.  The No. 77 model is done in 1/32 scale, yet is larger than many 1/16 scale models.  If the real tractor were around today, it would dwarf most modern four-wheel drive tractors, yet it produced only 60 horsepower.  The model is done in die-cast metal, with some plastic detailed components. 

One of the more interesting aspects of this model is how it was created.  Neither No. 77, nor any of the other Holt Steamers are still around today.  Not even any of the engineering drawings or blueprints of this tractor have survived.  Only three photographs of No. 77 outfitted with tracks are known to exist.  Using only those three photographs, Holt Cat, a Caterpillar dealer in Texas which is run by the decedents of Benjamin Holt, created a wire-frame model of the tractor for a computer animation they produced depicting the tractor’s 1904 trial run outside the Holt factory in Stockton, California.  ACMOC was able to use this wire-frame model to help create the die-cast model of the tractor.  The Caterpillar Corporate Archives also assisted in providing materials and information used on the packaging. 


As of this writing, the model still can be ordered from the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club and will be delivered sometime in January.  It’s relatively high price and specialized nature probably won’t make it a “must have” for most collectors, however it does represent a major milestone in the history of Caterpillar and tractors in general.  With my keen interest in Caterpillar history and my participation in the 100th Anniversary of Track-Type Tractors celebration, it is, without a doubt, my favorite model tractor of 2004.

 

Tallon Tips Article Index
03/2003 - Removing Tampos
04/2003 - Detailing AGCO MFWD Tractors
05/2003 - Making Your Own Decals
06/2003 - Making 1/64 Pullers Pt. 1
07/2003 - Making 1/64 Pullers Pt. 2
08/2003 - Making a McCormick MTX
09/2003 - Photographing Scale Models
10/2003 - Making Custom Grain Trucks
11/2003 - Detailing a White 4-270
12/2003 - Making a John Deere 6030

01/2004 - Getting Started in Customizing
02/2004 - Dave Tallon's Custom Collection
03/2004 - Building a C&D Steiger Wildcat Kit
04/2004 - Building a Chevy Crew Cab Dually
05/2004 - Tire Customizing Basics
06/2004 - Making 4WD Pulling Trucks
07/2004 - Making Articulated 4WD Tractors
08/2004 - Making 1/64 Service Trucks
09/2004 - Detailing a Challenger MT765
10/2004 - Online Auction Selling Tips
11/2004 - NFTS 2004

 
 

 

T.T.T December 2004 Page 3

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