I just bought my first WSI Western Star and "Good Grief" is it big. Everyone absolutely sure this is 1:50 scale? Next to Chuck's Pete or KW, it is overwhelming. The quality is pretty good, but nothing compared to Sword. I'd say it is more in line with an Alan Smith 1:48 scale. It goes okay with Sword's Rogers lowboys. Who bought out Western Star? Was it Ford? Is it primarily in Canada? What trailers do you guys recommend matching up with this beast. It comes by itself. I'm think of the buying the Kenworth too. It has no trailer either. Now I think I'll go to bed. Be sleeping in this big sleeper cab tonight.

It truly is a great piece. I originally purchased the western star and after being impressed I purchased the kenworth as well both excellent pieces neither one disappoints and if you have a chance to get the other don't hesitate to purchase you will reget it. I will try to get pics of them both together.

Compared the Smith T 800 KW model tractor with the WSI T 800 KW and the WSI Western Star tractors and there is quite a difference in size. If time permits this afternoon, I will try and get some pics and post them. Do not know what the better half has planned for this afternoon. Shes working this AM to support my bad habit of collecting models.

Great pictures. A picture says a thousand words. These WSI monsters have to be closer to 1:48 at least. By the way, I hooked up a black Sword Nelson ramp trailer to the gray Western Star and Holy Smokes does it look good. Also, pardon my ignorance, but what does the "D" on the oversize red & white sign on top stand for? I think I'll get the KW for sure now. A red would match well with a Rogers flip or a Nelson ramp. The B train flatbed really looked good. How about one of those Chuck? Get off your big wallet and get us some models!!!!! The Colonel

Actually Randy, the "D" stands for Dimensional. Dimensional as in oversized load. In Ontario, the D has to be placed on the trailer when carrying an oversized load and has to be removed from the trailer when it is empty. I just had a conversation today with one of our float drivers when he was delivering equipment to my jobsite today.

Ross

Hahaha Randy was wrong again, so awesome!


Jeremy Whitlow
Chicagowhitlow@yahoo.com
jeremy.l.whitlow.rad.@mail.yea.lol

No Randy it's just you we can't trust.

Jeremy L. Whitlow
Chicagowhitlow@yahoo.com
jeremy.l.whitlow.rad.@mail.yea.lol

Isn't the Western Star truck made by WSI physically a larger truck then most other trucks? Western Star is pretty much the standard around the world when it comes to heavy haul it seems. Mammoet uses them as well as many other companies so I would assume they are the best. Whenever I see the big heavy haul Western Star trucks they always look a lot bigger or at least bulkier then typical every day heavy haul trucks like a T800.

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- Kyle

Thanks for all those pictures. Elimax you can send that Smith triple down this way. Been a long time since I had one of those. Don't forget to put a support under the lowboy. Just ordered the WSI Kenworth in red thanks to you guys. Please don't tell my wife. I spent our "butter and egg" money on it. CAW

Western Star has a long history. It started out as a White product developed to be competition for Kenworth and Peterbilt in the west. In the late 1980's and early 1990's after the Autocar plant in Exton, PA was closed, both brands were briefly built it Ogden, Utah. After White's bankruptcy, Bow Valley Resources acquired the brand. At that time there was only Canadian production in Kelowna, BC. During an earlier decline in oil's fortunes the brand was again sold or added the involvement of their Australian distributor. Freightliner under Jim Hebe then acquired the brand as well as the former Ford line that was renamed Sterling. Both Autocar and Sterling had sold in the western US before their the introduction of Western Star. The mid 1980's Western Star axle forward tractor and the Autocar ACL series were identical trucks save the nameplates and grills.

Interestingly, Western Star remained closer to the old Autocar in build quality, and custom building. Autocar and White were acquired by Volvo and in turn acquired in pieces through a short lived joint venture GMC class eight trucks. The consolidate product became the White WG series which shared a cab with the final Autocar conventionals.

Western Star with its plant near the Canadian logging and oil fields and its low volume allowing almost custom building, as well as exposure to the Autocar line during the Ogden days, became one of the almost custom builders. The move to Portland care about in an effort to make production more efficent and cost effective. Freightliner had updated most of its convention line and established new volume plants but was left with the need to build certain frames and cabs to satisfy US military contracts. Hence the Freightliner FLD SD and it's military variant continued in Portland along with the "Classic" series. To utilize the balance of the plant, Western Star production was moved from Canada to Portland. When the military contract ran out, the Freightliner models were discontinued and updated and production moved to plants that built the new generation Freightliner frame. At the same time Freightliner was trying to become a highway brand as it initially had been when owned by Consolidated Freightways. Sterling (former Ford) and produced in Mexico and Western Star were to be the vocational side but Sterling never captured enough market share other than in municipal markets to be viable as it had lost much of its fleet business during the transition.

Fortunately Western Star was enough under the radar that it continued on and served a small cadre of over the road truckers as well as eastern US customers looking for a truck similar to earlier Macks and Autocars as well as it's original US and Canadian customers in logging and oil.

As truck manufacturers became more volume oriented, only two have continued to serve the heavier GVW ranges. Those are Western Star and Kenworth with the C500 variants. The Western Star, when moving for the earlier cab inherited from Autocar, developed a much wider but more modern in construction galvanized steel cab and hence its wide and high stance. Paccar had earlier eliminate some of the overlap between Kenworth and Peterbilt. Peterbilt lost its extreme duty models but continued as the sole provider of low cab forward chassis for refuse work. Mack under Volvo lost the 800 series and only recently with the Titan has attempted to restore some of the options available in the DM and RD 800 series.

Hence the North American specialty trucks remaining are the Kenworth C500 family and Western Star 4900 severe duty and 6900 extreme duty models. Both are popular with heavy haulers and in severe logging and oil field work. Hendrickson as the ongoing HME and under new ownership has concentrated more on fire apparatus. It remains to see how the Titan does at Mack.