Bit of G518 history

[pfarber]

From http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/m/mifflin ... nburg2.htm

At the beginning of the Second World War, Mifflinburg was one of the 28 firms that manufactured G518 1-Ton cargo trailers for the US military. The “Ben Hur” trailers (named after its most prolific producer, the Ben Hur Mfg. Co.) were typically towed behind 2.5 ton trucks but during the war could be found being towed behind 1 ton to 7.5 ton trucks and even some Armored Vehicles. The G518 typically consisted of an 8’ x 4’ steel or wood box mounted on a heavy-duty 1-ton single axle trailer. Most were covered with a wood or metal frame and tarpaulin. Variations of the trailer were used to haul fire pumps, mobile kitchens, generators, and other goods

From 1941 to1945 G518 Trailers were made by the following 38 companies:

American Bantam, Ben Hur, Century Boat Works, Checker, Dorsey, Gertenslager, Henney, Hercules Body, Highland Body & Trailer, Hobbs, Hyde, Mifflinburg Body, Naburs, Nash Kelvinator, Omaha Standard Body, Pke, Queen City, Redman, Steel Products, Strick, Transportation Equipment Corp, Truck Engineering Corporation, Willys Overland, Winter Weiss, Baker, Covered Wagon Co., Keystone, And Streich.

Despite the lucrative government trailer contract, Mifflinburg’s sales continued to fall and on June 11, 1940, its many creditors petitioned for the reorganization of the company under Chapter X of the Bankruptcy Act. The firm never emerged from bankruptcy and the receiver held a public auction of the firm’s machinery and property on Monday, November 30, 1942. The winning bidder was Lewis Markus, the owner of the American Billiard and Bowling Co. of New York.

Markus renamed the business the Mifflinburg Body Works, and a 1945 article in the Mifflinburg Telegraph stated that the firm was currently engaged n the manufacture of "...pool tables, bowling alleys, shuffle boards, toy cars, scooters, strollers, hand trucks, warehouse trailers, prefab houses ...and radio cabinets."

The Body Works filed for bankruptcy in 1952, and the factory was eventually purchased by the Colonial Products Co. of Red Lion, Pennsylvania. In 1973, Colonial Products became Yorktowne Inc., a Division of the Wickes Corp. Yorktown Inc. was acquired by the Elkay Mfg Co. in the 1990s and continued to utilize the former Mifflinburg Body plant to kiln-dry and mill wood used in the production of the firm’s popular line of Yorktowne kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately, in 2005 Yorktowne management relocated its Mifflinburg operations to Danville, Virginia rather than comply with Pennsylvania’s stringent new air pollution standards.

© 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com