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Black Widow's Brockway 361 and the
Crash

The rarest truck in the movie was likely the Black
Widow's early 70's Brockway 361. Although it was
not intended, the truck overturned in Bernalillo, NM
at the intersection of what is now US 550 and State
Route 313.

Brockways were primarily an East Cost truck, built
in Courtland, NY. Bought by Mack Trucks in the
50's, Brockway remained an autonomous part of
Mack Trucks until it closed in early 1977 due in
large part to a labor dispute and long lock-out.
Brockway was long a competitor to Mack, and
along with White Motors, was among the last
manufacturers to embrace diesel technology for
heavy trucks. The 361 was replaced by the 761 in
late 1974 as all Brockways received the newer
Mayflower-built Mack R Model cabs.

This particular truck was serial number 75696, built
1/13/72 and sold to Seminole Transport Line Inc. of
Miami, FL. The truck was sold to El Paso Truck
Center on Dec. 28, 1976 and transferred to New
Mexico Mack Sales shortly thereafter. EMI Films
bought the truck on April 21, 1977 as part of a large
truck purchase in preparation for filming. After
filming was complete, the truck was sold (along
with numerous other Convoy vehicles) to Bruhn
Enterprises and returned to Logan NM to work
again, albeit with the door wired shut from the
wreck. The truck was sold off in the 1980's to
someone in the New Mexico mountains and was
wrecked sometime later. Its current wherabouts
are unknown.

As for the Brockway's crash scene, aerial filming
was largely conducted by the Second Unit director
and crew, leaving Peckinpah to the more
"complicated" scenes and battles with his
unfortunate addictions. The trucks were typically
loaded with real loads, but increasing troubles led
the stunt coordinator to have prop loads built for
safety reasons. In the case of the Widow's truck,
she was loaded with railroad timbers and no prop
load was built. The second unit director reshot the
scene several times, insisting on increased speeds
for drama The resulting crash was unscripted and
quite accidental, but was quickly written into the
script the afternoon and evening of the crash, just
as where so many of the other things that wound
up as part of the final movie. The truck was turned
upright after the accident, only to be laid back over
the following day to shoot the impromptu scene you
see in the movie. Today, the intersection is flanked
by a new Walgreen's, several gas stations and a
new Holiday Inn Express hotel.

Looking west on US 550 back towards the intersection of NM 313 from where
the Duck stopped after Widow overturned. The only common buildings here
in 2007 are the Pizza Hut and the old buildings on the left.