Cletrac 55?

[erik]

Found this picture and wonder if this is a 55 and why it went to the scrapheap? It looks really nice to me. Wonderful Picture.
Erik

[hotratz]

That is a cool picture! I'm guessing it was pretty worn out. Back then there weren't many people trying to save old iron from the scrap heap. The philosophy was to melt 'em down and make newer ones.

[Blake Malkamaki]

It could have been war effort too. Look at all those old WW 1 tanks! And the steam crane.

Blake

[erik]

What can you say about the tracks/grousers on the Cletrac, they seem very "flat". Not much grip with those.

[Bob]

Could be a 30B, or 40 as well as a 55.

Those had bolt on grousers. Could have been removed for working on pavement or something? Guessing it must have been some type of military tractor because of all the other military items?

[Bob]

Upon further investigation it looks like the steam crane is in use. I searched the name on the back of it. Comes up as a scrap yard that is located in Baltimore Md. Been in business for 96 years. So that's the story!

[JimOutside]

I could be wrong, but the whole thing looks like a black and white photo of a painting. It looks very realistic, but not quite authentic. It looks very idealized, like a war bond painting or something.

[Bob]

I'm not an expert, but it looks pretty crisp to be a photo of a painting. Any idea who has the original copy?

[Lowspeedlife]

I'd say the grousers were removed, looking closely you can see light shining thru bolt holes in two of the track plates. Pretty detailed to be a painting, shadows all look correct, light shining thru bolt holes. I'd say it's an old photo.  don't know what the cletrac is but the tanks are French made Renault FT 17s. They were the first tank with a rotating turret for the main cannon. Likely France's greatest innovation in tank development. These are what Gen. George S. Patton cut his teeth on in WWI, developing his "style" of tank warfare.

Scott