M100 cfr
 

I was able to find the CFR under some paint on my 1953 M100 trailer. Does anyone have any info on these numbers?

53-71179

Thanks

The number will be repeated stamped on the left-side arm of the tow frame. Mine is about 12" from the front end of the U-channel.

M100cdn
 

The attached photos are from my M100CDN.
Deliver Date: 3/53
Serial Number: 1206
Manufacturer Motor Coach International Limited (MCI)
53-71200

Regards, Al Nickolson

M100 Trailer
 

The EDR Viewer indicates your trailer (TRAILER CARGO 1/4T 2WHL M100CDN) 53-71200 was disposed of on 24 May 80 by CFB Calgary. The previous holding unit was 1 PPCLI. There is nothing there about vehicle movement order history, maintenance or modifications. I`d suggest,it is likely (but not guaranteed) that it bounced its way between Sarcee Barracks, Suffield and Wainwright A LOT. Off to a few floods, forest fires and summer camps too.

It sold for $364 as serviceable, although the acquisition cost was recorded as $0, that might just be a blank field someone had to complete. Interestingly, there is a note that the original CFR was 70200. The entry for that SN is the same as 71200.

Hi Al.

Your trailer was likely made here in Winnipeg by Motor Coach Industries. They also made CMP MACH 3-ton bodies during WW2 and operated out of a large complex in St. James in NW Winnipeg.

I had a friend who was a mechanic with MCI in the mid-1980's. His job at the time was to take newly delivered transit buses from the MCI plant down east and take the air conditioning systems out of them before Winnipeg Transit took delivery. Transit did not like the idea of keeping their passengers comfortable way back then! Now of course, the passengers are a lot older and a way lot crankier, so we finally have new A/C equipped busses. But I digress.

While he was working on that project, MCI held a huge store of M100CDN spare parts in their warehouse. The military no longer needed them and had stopped placing orders for spares. Eventually, MCI was able to get rid of the parts and a group of us tried tracing their whereabouts. We always seemed to be about one half day behind and when we finally found the scrap yard they had gone to, the last of the parts had gone to the shredders the day before. It was frustrating that even with good, inside information, we could not move fast enough!

Enjoy your trailer, it is a nice piece of equipment!


David

Thanks everyone for all your help. She needs a little straightening and a little TLC but I guess for $200 I couldn't go wrong. I'm adding her to my long list of projects.

The ref to it having originally been 70200 is interesting. The CFR number usually relates somewhat to the trailer's serial number. Not exactly, but somewhat. The serial number is 1206, and the CFR is 71200. Makes me think the CFR is correct.

I did run into more than a few trailers that seemed to have switched CFRs with other trailers over the years, and were recorded in the loomis data that way. Before the big sandblast project in the mid 80s, you could dig through the old paint and fing the different number, after they sandblasted and mixed up all the plates, we used the trailer arm. However, in the end the loomis data would prevail. Way too much work to reverse that. Some things were best left alone.

The EDR viewer skips past 71179 for 1/4 ton trailers. What is stamped on the left tow arm?

The manufacturer`s SN on EDR for 53-71200 is 1206, so I think the reference to 70200 was someone having a bad day at the keyboard. Although I don`t know why or how.

The EDR viewer reports the original serial number for 70200 is 0210 (with a letter O character for the first character).

The EDR viewer only contains information from equipment that was still in service from about 1977/78. If the trailer in question was an early release from the downsizing of the Cdn Forces in the Trudeau Era, then it would not appear in the EDR viewer.

The serial number from 70200 supports my hypothesis that the CFRs were assigned more or less in batches as the trailers left MCI. The numbers will usually be within a dozen or so of the CFR.

If you think about it, the M100 run started in Dec of 52 and run until what? March of 53? Figure at around 20 working days per month (conservative) with a run of about 1400 trailers, and you have less than 20 per day. If the DND quality inspector had someone on his team assigning the CFR numbers in batches of around that size, then the CFR and the serial should not vary by much more than that.

Your snapshot of the EDR viewer is too small to see if I am right on this hypothesis Terry.

M100cdn
 

Thanks for the info.

Al Nickolson

Some cowboy welded a plate over the top of the tow arms so it will have to wait until I cut it off.

The serial number off the plate is 1185.

Ian:

I went back to the EDR Viewer and found the mfr`s SN range. (The ECC is 131101 if anyone else is looking.) There is a pattern with 53-71179 falling into a gap. CFR 71176 is #1182, 71178 is #1184 and 71180 is #1186. There is no listing for 71177 or 71179. If as Rob Love has stated, the EDR Viewer started with all vehs in service at a specific start date, yours would have been surplused (or stolen ?!?) prior to that date.

Is the Crown still interested in that trailer or its recovery? I strongly doubt anyone would know where or how to build a case. The benefit of the doubt is on your side anyway.

M100cdn
 

I've attached another photo from my M100CDN.
Deliver Date: 3/53
Serial Number: 1206
Manufacturer Motor Coach International Limited (MCI)
53-71200

I sanded down the rear panel and found the attached marking on the left side.

Regards, Al

The main symbol is armored infantry (X over the set of tracks in a rectangular box). My recollection of military symbols is not that great, but going by the location that you are in, I am going to guess 1PPCLI, which now that I look back at the earlier posts in this thread, matches the history of your trailer.

M100 Trailer
 

I recently purchased a M100 Cdn Trailer. DOD 3/53. CFR 53-71070
Serial 1070. Can anyone advise me the history of my trailer