Re: Sumpter Valley Ry. Trucks

L. H. Bill was the President and General Manager of Fageol Trucks in Oakland, Calif. Fageol used Hall Scott engines and production of their vehicles came to a halt when the Govt took over the Hall Scott production line for making aircraft engines in WWI. Allegedly, the employees of the Fageol truck plant call the vehicles Bill-Built in honor of L. H. Bill, the President, and the company used the moniker in their advertising. A lumberman by the name of T. A. Peterman was successfully using trucks to haul logs out of his 30,000 acre stand of Doug Fir in Morton, Wash, by modifying military surplus White trucks to better suit them to Northwest logging. One requirement he had was for the brakes to not overheat and fade when fully loaded running East on what is now WA Hwy 12 into Morton. This led him to fit the trucks with finned brake drums and the hill is locally known as Peterman Hill. While in California on a business trip, he found out the Fageol plant was for sale and decided to get in the truck business. When trying to figure out what to call the new company, the employees suggested Peterbilt, and the name stuck. In 1938, he ended up with the entire plant, tooling and parts. Given Fageol's existing relationship with Hall Scott, it might explain why early Peterbilts had them. Peterman proved it was cheaper to harvest timber and get it to market by cutting a logging road with a Cat RD8 and hauling logs out of the woods with trucks, rather than building railroads. It's still done that way today.