Remember "Owner Operator magazine"

[Old Buckaroo]

Howdy,

Growing up in the late '70's there use to be the best magazines called "Owner Operator" . I started building truck models around the age of 15 and was not happy with out of the box builds. These old magazines had pics of all sorts from interior to engine pics. If you were real lucky sometimes there was a foldout add that featured a truck and you could skillfully cut out the gauges to use in a model. To top it off there was a section dedicated to just model trucks. I spent hrs at the local truckstop with my old 110 camera taking pics of those Highway cadillac's.

I had a fair size collection of the magazines until my sister ratted me out for having "junior playboys" due to the pretty ladies often featured with the trucks. So I was made to get rid of them

Those were the days, and what I wouldn't give to get my hands on another BJ McKay or Movin On KW.

Anybody else remember those old magazines ?

Edited December 29, 2013 by Sean D

[clayton]

Funny!

Dad would stop for a nap. I would spent the whole time looking and wishing I could do what they did. time too time I'll stop at a old truck stop looking for those book's.

A friend of mine was cleaning out his shop back in the Summer, and found a banana box full of those old books. think I spent a hour looking. Wish I had gotten a few.

[olsbooks]

Sean, you were not alone. Age/interests and getting OO magazine. Miss it. Thanks for the trip down amnesia lane.

[Old Buckaroo]

I haven't built a truck in years, are there still W-925 kits available on the market ? Sure would like to build a "Movin On" clone now that I am older and a better modeler. I checked ebay for a BJ McKay Aerodyne and got scared away

[Brinx]

Guess I'm a "truck-nerd"... O/O was the first magazine I had a subscription to (I was 11 at the time...lol). Boy were my parents ever thrilled when I too the "bingo" card from the back, circled every single number and sent it in (mom still occasionally gets mail addressed to me, and that's been 30 years ago!)

I also had a heck of a time figuring out how to affix the Owner Operators Assn sticker on my bike.

I'd sometimes sneak a copy of Overdrive in to school (long as the cover pic wasn't too racy).

brinx

[Old Buckaroo]

Oh man - I had forgotten about the bingo cards, I was guilty of sending them off too. I kept the mailbox at the ranch full of brochures..

I dont remember Overdrive though, the"lady's" did not interest me at that time of my life. They still had cooties or some such !

Brinx that was a big sticker , I forgot where I stuck mine.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Sean D

[Force]

The AMT W-925 tooling was altered to a T-600A in the 90's so it cannot be reissued in it's original state without some re-tooling...and it's not correct for the TV-series truck anyway but for the pilot called "In Tandem" it's fairly right.

But Revell of Germany has a W-900 that's a better starting point for a Movin' On project as it's a VIT with the 60 inch sleeper as the TV-series truck was, you just need the correct decals from JBot or Modeltruckin' and a short hood from either a Revell snap W-900 Aerodyne or an old AMT W-925, it will fit on the RoG truck.

Further you need a Cummins VT-903 and a torsion bar suspension (both available in resin) if you want to do a true replica of the TV-series truck...but if you're okay with likeness the kits Cat 3408 and 8-bag air ride suspension will do.

The BJ And The Bear truck is for sure expensive on ebay, but you can do the BJ truck with a cheaper generic AMT K-100 Aerodyne and aftermarket BJ McKay decals from JBot or Modeltruckin' and you're good to go.
If you want to do a correct replica of the BJ McKay truck you have to change the AMT kits Detroit 8V71T (or it could even be a 8V92T) and Allison automatic transmission and put in a Cummins NTC 400 and a manual tranny, Revell of Germany has a NTC 475 in their Peterbilt and KW K-100 kits that can be changed to a 400 if you leave out one of the twin turbos...but if you're not doing a exact replica of the BJ truck the kit parts will do.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Force

[Brinx]

Sean,

My mom still laughs about the time the GMC salesman showed up at the door but was told he couldn't see the president of Johnny Wheels trucking because he was in (9th grade) school that day...she said that guy was kinda miffed!

[Old Buckaroo]

"Johnny Wheels Trucking " that is great ! To bad you were not home you might of scored a ballcap or jacket..

Force - Thank you for that much appreciated information on the kits and conversions.

Ok you class 8 experts, can anyone recognize the year and model of this White Freightliner ? That is what happened to me as a teen driving on the Ranch like "Bo Duke" on muddy roads. It would be nice to find a kit to build up like the old Ranch Semi.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Sean D

[Truck parts]

I had a uncle who saw the o.o. mag at work. He had it sent to me as a birthday gift knowing how nuts I am about trucks. I would read, look,and dream about driving a truck someday. I d[d drive for a while. I still have the first one that was sent to me. That was back in 1979.

[Russell C]

Oh, yeah. Starting around the "Movin On'" era and on up to the mid '80s, I looked forward to going to the truckstop every two months to get the magazine.

Got my two differrent 15 minutes of fame with first place finishes in Lou's monthly contest, May/June '82 with my Pete well driller, and July/August '81 with my Diamond Reo C-90 (based on the Autoworld "Building Model Trucks" how-to article). The Pete is a bit harder to dig out of the closet, but I still have it.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Russell C
fixed busted photo links

[Force]

Sean- I have plans to build these trucks myself so I have recently done the research on them...so you're welcome to it.

I have some vague memories from the Movin' On series from when it was on TV over here in Sweden maybe a year or so after it was televised in USA, but that's a long time ago and I was very young then, maybe 11-12 or something like that.

I built the AMT version later sometime in the late 70's, it has survived and I still have it in my collection

The BJ And The Bear series hasn't been on TV here but I like the appearance of the truck so I'll build it anyway.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Force

[Old Buckaroo]

Russel I am impressed, I remember seeing your Drill rig as my older brother (supplier of most magazines) kept that one as he had plans to build a oil field "work over rig"

[Turbo590]

Guy's

If you really want a "trip" down memory lane...here is a link to my FOTKI album's....with a dedication to Lou Kroack. Last Spring I attended the estate auction of Lou's belonging's/house...since his passing...which is just about a year now....lots of Owner Operator "stuff"...enjoy, Kurt

http://public.fotki.com/turbo590/lou-kroack-in-memorial/

[Russell C]

On 12/31/2013 at 5:07 PM, Sean D said:

...I remember seeing your Drill rig...

Don't look too closely. The project was beyond my skill level at the time, I used it later at a model car club meeting as a demo on how a person should be his own harshest critic when it comes to 'big league' model car competitions. The person with the garbage truck who came in second to me at Lou Kroack's monthly contest should have gotten first.

I'm thinking of re-working it to clear up all the junior modeler mistakes I have in it, but that'll have to wait 'til I have a lot more time.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Russell C
fixed busted photo link

[redneckrodder]

Oh man thats a cool driller i wouldnt rebuild it id build a new one thats correct so you can compare the two

[olsbooks]

Ah the memories this thread has brought back.

Now anyone remember the posters (American Graphics I think) that had all the different dressed out semi's on them? Seems AMT threw a flyer for them in some of their kits back then and I just HAD to have them. Always loved "Stagecoach". A yellow long hood single bunk Pete with gold and brown striping. The lighting in the photo was incredible. Have not been able to find a pic of it on the net but remember Lonestar Pete in Dallas, had a full sized wall mural of that very picture in their lobby. It was so cool.

Funny too about circling all the reader reply cards. Wow. The reams of stuff I got to the disdain of my parents.. And Overdrive magazine? Wow. True eye candy for a young guy. Had to hide that one from the folks yet sneak it to school and show my buddies secretly in the boyrs room.. Good times.

[Q tip]

yep and still have some along with a ton of old overdrive mags from the 70's and up. great reference material, and the posters, yep remember them too. I have a clock that has an old 359 pulling a refer that came from American graphics.

[olsbooks]

Thanks for the validation that is was American Graphics. 30 some years later, finally found it.

Gotta put that one the next build list....

Thanks again.

[Russell C]

...validation that is was American Graphics ....

That got some rusty old unused gears turning in my mind, but the name still didn't sound right. Finally remembered it, it was Power Graphics Truck-Um-Up Posters, and a bit of searching turned up the original printer company and that guy's ebay store page where he sells reprints.

[Old Buckaroo]

Those posters are nice, thanks for dredging that up to lighten my wallet

When I was a teen a friend of mine and I would drive into the city with an old '64 Chevy flatbed with livestock racks and hit all the Class 8 dealerships and grab brochures and anything else we could get our hands on. One guy at the International place gave us two caps to get that truck off his lot.. My friend scored a "Peterbilt" buckle one time - they only had one...

I bet we were a sight, that old Chevy, two skinny kids with cowboy hats with brims so wide we could of flown away with a gust of wind

Boy those days were fun !