Rare Color Photographs

http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/old_pictures1.html ^

[navysealdad]

Rare color photographs of the era that defined a generation.

[Clock King]

Interesting “burka” from a century ago.

[exDemMom]

In old pictures, people are never smiling.

[garandgal]

Now, normally I would agree with you about the "not smiling." We have hundreds of photos of all sides of my family...and most of them are not smiling. Except for my Paternal Grandmother's family, who apparently missed the memo. In every photo, she is at the very least grinning...and in most outright smiling/laughing. Even in the family photos of the previous generation (when her Mom was little)..THEY were all smiling...I've always found that amusing.

Grandma was born in 1910(with her siblings, back left).

[archy]

Treadheads haven't changed a whole lot in 60, 65 years.

Doesn't seem to matter a lot whose army they're in, either:

[archy]

Treadheads haven't changed a whole lot in 60, 65 years.

Doesn't seem to matter a lot whose army they're in, either:

[PLMerite]

Bump for when I get home from work.

[B4Ranch]

Takes a special kind of guy to work in one of them. Not for me, Claustrophobia you see.

[archy]

Takes a special kind of guy to work in one of them.

I always thought that, then and now. Even 40 years after such service, it still shows.

Not for me, Claustrophobia you see.

It's not at all for everyone. And there's four hours of maintenance for every hour of operation. Less glory than mud, hydraulic oil, Diesel fuel and sweat.

But it was a good place for me at the time, and it'll always be a part of the way I do business.

[B4Ranch]

A couple of the guys in the pic appear as if they forgot about doing PM. maybe they were just enthusiastic taste testers. LOL

Yeah, I imagine it’s like trucking. Some love it and then there’s the ones who do it for the money. Ha ha

I helped change a track on a D-8 one time. Yup, only one time. That’s all it took for me to determine that I did not want to be a mechanic. Operator was fine but a mechanic, no, Ma’am. I imagine tank crews become adept at changing tracks if the need arises. Brakes and clutches too?

[archy]

I imagine tank crews become adept at changing tracks if the need arises. Brakes and clutches too?

Tracks is pretty routine, as is unbolting the rubber track pads and replacing them before they get too chewed up. Keeping track tension correct is a never-ending task. Track end connectors have to be periodically checked for tightness and tightened as necessary; if you're around salt water [Marines/beaches] it helps to drive through the salt water and let the end connectors rust up a little bit. Until you have to pull track opads or center guides. You can't win.

Pulling broken torsion bars, which run across the entire width of the tank's belly and have to be driven out from the opposite side with a sledgehammer is no fun, and less so in the mud, and less so in the mud when it's raining. Sometimes in Vietnam crews would pop a broken torsion bar out with the application of repeated golfball-sized charges of C4 plastic explosive. we couldn;t get away with that in our motor pool, and it's not advisable while refueling or with main gun ammo on board.

Happily, engine/transmission changes are pretty much the purview of battalion track mechanics, since an M88 recovery vehicle has to be used to pull the engine-tranny-final drive *power pack* as a unit. No clutches on the M48, M50 and M60A1, or M1 Abrams- they've got automatics.

Fender-benders, however, require a bit more talent than found at your average auto body shop, though. Having a welder and blacksmith helps.