Children are drawn to big machines. So are we adults, though we aren’t always willing to admit it.

Which may explain the popularity of the City of Ottawa’s truck display at the recent Doors Open Ottawa. If you weren’t aware, Doors Open is an annual event held in many cities that allows access to buildings not usually open to the public. Think embassies and water works, for example. Or museums, free for the day.

Hundreds of people, or maybe thousands, came out to see the city’s truck collection, parked for the day in the baseball stadium parking lot. There was everything from the truck that paints the lines on the road to huge trucks for hauling lumber (the city owns three of those if I remember correctly).

For the children it was a big deal, especially to sit behind the wheel of a fire engine or other massive truck and pretend you were in control. I didn’t see any adults try that, but I’m sure a few did – and many more probably wished they weren’t too shy. That sort of thing is easier for the children.

I will admit it wasn’t high on my “must do’ list. I was just back from Europe and a little jet-lagged. I had thought of skipping Doors Open this year. But my grandson loves big trucks, so we made it a family outing.

I’m not sure there were any trucks I hadn’t seen before, but I have been around a while. It was interesting though to talk with some of the operators about their jobs. I probably didn’t need to know about the machine that paints lines on the road, and about the type of paint used, how long it lasts, and the challenges of the job – but I was interested.

Each truck had a story, but I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves.