Some years ago, in 1964 I was working for Wimco Steel, in Rexdale, (Toronto) Ontario. We had an owner/operator there, that had a 1962 or 63, Hayes Conventional. He had a set of "A" trains that he hauled steel to Montreal with. It had a 318 V8 Jimmy, hooked up to a 4X4 Spicer transmission. The driver was a little short guy, and his nickname was SQUEAKS. He always chewed on a big cigar when he was trucking. He could not leave for Montreal without a box of 50 in the glove compartment.

He was a bit crazy, but a lot of fun. (In the steel business, there was a great shortage of fun)

Just to give you a little background on what happened at that time. Squeaks and his Hayes had a high speed reputation, up and down the 401 highway between Toronto and Montreal. We were in the service center, east of Toronto one night, about 11:00pm, and as we were starting to leave, a Greyhound bus driver came over to us and asked, who is the driver of the Hayes? Squeaks piped up and said, It's me what do you want? The driver proceeded to tell him that he heard of his reputation, and that this was one bus that he was not going to pass. (Bad thing to tell little Squeaks)

The bus left and we all took off behind him. The challenge was accepted, whether the bus driver knew it or not. The 401 at that time, was not completed yet, and it came down to one lane each way at Gananoquay, Ontario. The Hayes was rolling good and fast by this time, and when he went by me, he was just chewing on that cigar. The smoke stacks were cut short, just above the roof line. The trailer was for hauling steel only, and had short 30" racks. it was quite a sight in the dark, with flames  coming out of the two stacks, about a foot and a half. It took about ten miles to pass the bus, (side by side) but he made it just as the road squeezed down to a single lane.

It could be hard to picture, but try it anyway, --- the short stacks on the truck were at the same height as the passenger windows on the bus. One of the passengers was a nervous senior citizen. This exhaust noise and flames in the dark, were only a couple feet away. What we heard down the road the next night, was that the old girl screamed bloody murder at the bus company, when they got to the terminal. The driver was fired on the spot.

It was a great, memorable trip. Just great. If you see a great big HAYES coming up in your rear view mirror, and you notice that there is more smoke coming out of the window, than there is coming out of the stacks, LOOK OUT, it could be SQUEAKS.

      ----------------- William (Diesel Gypsy) Weatherstone.                        RETURN TO STORY MENU