This very nifty little all-terrain tracked utility military surplus vehicle is from the overly fertile imagination of German modeler Ralf Grote. Originally it was a new item from Roco Minitanks.

Currently there is only a picture of the prototype (which stands in an automotive and technique museum near Ralf's home) within a NEWS flyer of Roco Minitanks. It is item #690 and is called:

"Raupenschlepper Ost" (Tractor, full track) = "Caterpillar tractor East"

This item is listed in the category 'Deutsche Wehrmacht'. So we can assume that this vehicle was used in WWII by the German Army for the heavy tasks at the Russian front. As you might know: The German Army sank literally in the Russian mud during the spring thaw. So they needed many all-terrain vehicles.

In Ralf's own words:

"But the story on MY "Bob's Express" is: After WWII a US Army soldier took this vehicle over the Atlantic to the USA. After some years of work at a farm in one of your Middle Western states and after some improvements the former soldier sold his little worn tracked vehicle to a small and not so financially strong oil or diamond company which had an exploration in the cold and snowy state of Alaska. The end of the story will be, that you will find this tracked vehicle as load onto a flatbed trailer (perhaps a 48ft + a pup) attached to a '70 or '80 truck tractor riding across the great plains; direction: Alaska!"

We definitely look forward to the next chapter of "Bob's Express"!

Posted March 14, 2002