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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Dragon Wagon Conversion






Once again Wayne has provided me with a great photo of a terrific vehicle. This is the Roco "Dragon Wagon" tractor. It was used in WWII and the 1950s to tow a large trailer that carried very heavy loads, typically tanks. I have also seen them with LVT amphibious tractors on them and LCVP landing craft on the trailers too.

Wayne Wanner has taken this extra cab and modified the bed from some Roco truck and glued it onto the rear end. This would be a simple conversion for a battalion maintenance company. They would have easy access to truck beds during World War in Europe. The truck bed has had a framework mounted in the rear to allow the lifting of heavy items like tank engines and transmissions and bombs.

This Dragon Wagon was a powerful, high ground clearance vehicle that could go just about anywhere. Wayne has made a conversion that would allow maintenance technicians to take repair parts to places ordinary trucks could not reach, at least while carrying such a heavy load. He as also included welding gear, making the truck even more valuable. I had an extra trailer from one of these Dragon Wagons and I converted a 5 ton truck to tow it, not unlike the rig that was developed to replace the Dragon Wagon.

Conversion like this are not exactly historical, but they are based on real vehicles, and could easily have been done at the time. I think making battalions of these is not a great idea, but certainly one or two in a collection is a fantastic idea. Thanks Wayne!

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