Brockway 361: a heavy Brockway of the Mack years

The Brockway 361 was one of the heavy-duty trucks built by Brockway Motor Company of Cortland, New York, in the last decades of its existence. A white 1972 Brockway 361 tractor is the best-known example, because it fell over on camera during the making of the 1978 film Convoy.

Brockway 361 at a glance

There is no separate Wikipedia article on the 361, so this page uses the article on Brockway Motor Company only. It is based on one source and covers the truck as part of the marque’s final generation.

History of the Brockway 361

A truck maker in Cortland

Brockway Motor Company was a builder of custom heavy-duty trucks in Cortland, New York, from 1912 to 1977. The business began as Brockway Carriage Works, founded in 1875 by William Brockway; his son George turned the carriages into a truck manufacturer in 1909, and the first trucks were high-wheelers. During the First World War Brockway built 587 Class B Liberty Trucks for the military, and after the war it offered a range from 1 ton to 5 tons.

The company started with Continental engines and switched to Wisconsin units in 1925. It bought the Indiana Truck Corporation in 1928 but was forced to sell it to White Motor Company in the early years of the Great Depression. In August 1956 Brockway was purchased by Mack Trucks Inc. and remained a division of Mack until its closing in June 1977, when Mack cited union troubles for the closure.

The 361 in its time

In the post-war years Brockway produced single and dual axle tractors and heavy-duty triaxle dump trucks, and the 361 belongs to that line of conventional heavy trucks. Brockway commercial trucks were primarily powered by Cummins engines, though many used Detroit Diesels; some trucks had gasoline Hercules inline-six engines with Rochester 2G DualJet carburettors.

Fame through Convoy

In the making of the 1978 film Convoy, the loaded trailer of a white 1972 Brockway 361 tractor toppled when the convoy made a sharp turn at an intersection, taking the tractor over with it. The unplanned scene was left in the film: the Brockway lying on its side, kicked in frustration by the driver known as Widow Woman and then abandoned while the hero carried on in a Mack RS700, inadvertently illustrated the recent demise of the Brockway line.

The marque is remembered in Cortland, where a Brockway Truck show is held each year with events at the official Brockway Museum in Homer, New York, at the Central New York Living History Center. The Brockway hood ornament was a husky dog in pulling harness, which gave Cortland the nickname Huskie Town USA.

Design and features

• Conventional heavy tractor: a Brockway of the type the company built for long-haul and heavy work in its final decades.
• Mixed engine policy: Cummins and Detroit Diesel power, with gasoline Hercules inline-sixes in some trucks.
• Husky mascot: the pulling husky on the bonnet became the symbol of the marque and of Cortland.
• Screen fame: the 1972 361 that fell in Convoy is the most recognisable Brockway of all.

Brockway 361 versions

• Single and dual axle tractors: the post-war Brockway line to which the 361 tractor belongs.
• Heavy-duty triaxle dump trucks: the other post-war Brockway mainstay.
• B666 military range: the wartime heavy trucks, including a bridge erector and a crane.
• V1200 (1934–1937): an earlier Brockway heavy range with a 240 hp V-12 American LaFrance engine.

The wartime Brockway is described in Brockway B666. More trucks of the marque are in the Brockway collection.

Video: 1969 Brockway 361 at ATHS Syracuse

Video by DailyDieselDose on YouTube.

Sources

• Brockway Motor Company, English Wikipedia: company history, engines, the 361 in Convoy, museum