Nylint #1800 Traveloader Colossal! Gigantic! The enormity of this toy can only be appreciated by viewing it in person. It measures almost 30" long. Truly a boy’s toy. There were three versions of this toy which was produced from 1953 through 1955. The differences are very minor, consisting of a change in the width of the loading blades and a color change to darkorange. All other construction details remained unchanged throughout production.
Version #1 – 1953
The first version featured wide blades for loading gravel, etc., onto the conveyor belt. This may have caused operational problems as the blades were soon narrowed – perhaps even in mid-year.
Version #2 – 1954
The only difference between Version #1 and Version #2 is the width of the loading blades. The narrow blades, shown below, probably helped prevent clogging.
The Traveloader was modeled after a real machine, but the front auger feature can only be found on the toy.
Here the front auger/loading assembly is in the raised, or "transport" position. This allowed it to be trailered to the job site.
The most problematic feature of this toy is the discharge belt. It often broke prematurely or simply decayed and separated. They are very difficult, if not impossible, to repair.
The decals remained unchanged from version to version. The Traveloader is sometimes mistakenly thought to be made by Doepke since their famous road graders were also authorized by Adams.