Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2023 i Heritage Commercials

The Rona Steam and Vintage Rally takes place at Good Mondays Farm, Dauntsey, Wiltshire, SN15 4 HL, on 8-9 July, supporting Wiltshire Air Ambulance and other local projects. It will feature; Commercial vehicles, military vehicles, tractors, steam engines, stationary engines, motorcycles, cars, emergency service vehicles, refreshments, autojumble, bar, trade stalls, fairground and much more. Evening entertainment for Saturday evening is Dr Busker supported by The Dorset Rats. A great event for all the family. Entry is by donation and it runs from 9am-5pm.…

Some photos from the Solway Vehicle enthusiasts Club Show at Dumfries on Sunday the 23rd April.…

If you have enjoyed this issue of Heritage Commercials and have a passion for the world of classic lorries, trucks and vans, then why not subscribe? You will save money on the shop price and receive every issue delivered directly to your door! WHY SUBSCRIBE? → NEVER MISS AN ISSUE → FREE DELIVERY DIRECT TO YOUR DOOR → BE THE FIRST TO READ NEW CONTENT → SAVE MONEY ON SHOP PRICES OFFER 1. DIGITAL EDITION 12 ISSUES FOR JUST £32.99 SAVE 41% TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE DIGITAL EDITION VISIT: shop.kelsey.co.uk/HCM OFFER 2. PRINT EDITION 6 ISSUES FOR JUST £22.99* When you subscribe to Heritage Commercials SAVE 25% VISIT: SHOP.KELSEY.CO.UK/HCM23 OR CALL: 01959 543 747 AND QUOTE HCM23 Offer available for UK customers only. Savings are based on the standard cover…

Heritage COMMERCIALS A WORLD OF CLASSIC LORRIES, TRUCKS AND VANS…

After 40 years, Truckfest is being forced to move its season-opening, showcase event from the East of England Showground in Peterborough after the plan to sell the land for redevelopment. From 2024, the opening event will be held in the Lincolnshire showground. And while the event is more a party for working lorry drivers to get together and show off their current vehicles, in among the 3,000 or so trucks on show are plenty of classics, and this year was no different. There was a refreshing number of new restoration projects on show, with an especially good number of Ivecos not to mention the more predictable numbers of Scanias, Volvos and ERFs. A rare Hino SH truck, which was certainly not the most attractive lorry ever seen on the world’s…

Brian Hardisty from Down Under, thinks the truck on page 64 April issue, looks like a Hendrickson. Refer to the attached link to a Hendrickson truck that looks like the one in photo. https://www.flickr.com/photos/tourismguy/8048261924 He doesn’t think he’s seen any Hendrickson trucks in Australia but has seen some one-offs over the years. He also enjoyed the article ‘Indy to Iraq and Iran’ too, about the Nairn bus service that ran across the desert. He did see one of the few Marmon blunt nose trucks similar to that on page 30 in Melbourne in the late 1990s before they went out of production in the US. Brian HardistyMelbourne…

In the late 1940s, Guy Turner travelled to Britain from America to find a company who could deliver knitting machines to mainland Europe. He found Westfield transport in Mansfield who were able to move the machines in one piece. While at Westfield yard, he observed the Gardner engines at work, and was impressed by its economical fuel consumption – it remained in his mind when he returned home. On his return, the idea of the Tall Boy came about, built around a Gardner 8LW, the tractor would be able to carry 40/45 foot loads legally. The driver’s seat was so high, it put the driver ten feet above the ground for better visibility, also, it had a tilt cab which was very advanced for its time. It was fitted with…

Perhaps it’s just me, but in much the same way that Series-1 Land Rovers, only look right in particular colours, or a ‘Chinese-six’ AEC Mustang looks unfinished, or even that only one particular actor will forever be Doctor Who, don’t you think Fodens really look best with eight wheels? It struck home most recently seeing this one owned by Chris Balls. A fantastic restoration by Steve Mayle it was sitting proudly at the head office of JC Balls and Sons, the well-known Derbyshire-based plant hire fleet, with its splendid bright yellow paintwork, seemingly luminescent against the grey winter sky A Foden S39 with (then revolutionary) fibreglass cab, Foden 12-speed transmission, Leyland 0.680 engine and Foden’s worm-double drive bogie. If ever a 1970s lorry was created by the sum of its…

Two more books on buses sent in by Amberley Books to review. Rail replacement buses earn their crust whenever an alternative to rail is needed, particularly when a section of railway line is closed for maintenance. With Londoners and London-bound commuters relying heavily on railways, be it the London Underground or Docklands Light Railway, there is constant pressure to keep vehicles and tracks maintained, which invariably will lead to closures often at weekends. This book looks at a number of companies of which there are many and the vehicles used for such circumstances around London and the South East over the last 50 years. Very interesting and nice to see how buses have evolved over the years. ISBN 978-1-3981-0868-4…

Inspired solutions by vehicle operators – and vehicle manufacturer innovations that defy boxed-in conventional thinking – have a rich history well worth celebrating. Admittedly, this has been less apparent in recent times due to the tightening stranglehold of bureaucrats-know-best legislation. Happily, for those who lament the enormously varied types of commercial vehicle that characterised earlier times, the quest to eliminate CO2 emissions is driving a renaissance in automotive engineering creativity. (And no more so than the development of hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engines and fuel cell units). A standout example of inspired outside-the-box thinking was the recognition by YCF (Yacimientos Carboníferos Fiscales), Argentina’s former State-owned coal mining organisation. In the late 1940s, YCF reached to conclusion that it needed to replace more modern trucks with a seriously obsolete, out of production,…

Developed during the 1930s, the Leyland Cub FK7 became a scaled-down version of its bigger siblings in the heavier weight range. It was an advanced vehicle for its time, having a 29.4 hp, 6-cylinder 85 bhp engine with a seven-bearing crankshaft and side valves with Lockheed brakes fitted to all wheels. To compete with the likes of Bedford was difficult, as although the Cub was a smooth well-designed performer, it was no match for the Bedford on price as it was almost twice as expensive. Dennis was also putting in a lot of work to catch up with Leyland’s innovation and they succeeded. In 1933, an optional power unit became available as an overhead-valve, six-cylinder 4.4 litre, diesel engine for the Cub which added £150 to the basic chassis price.…

Truck cab designs in the 1960s, usually had a much shorter shelf life than they do these days, so Mercedes’ new LPS cab unveiled in 1963 would only go on to last a decade before being replaced by a new cab that the German firm dubbed the New Generation – a tag that has been used by Scania, MAN and now DAF in recent years! The cab first broke cover five decades ago and has gone on to be one of the best cabs Mercedes ever produced in terms of longevity. It also enhanced its driver appeal beyond all measure when it first appeared, those 50 years ago. The new NG80 cab had a slightly sloped windscreen but still shared some similarities with most predecessor, namely two oblong headlights mounted…

There is something I would like to know the answer as to what happened, where was it going and was it the RAF Welford Park Scammell? Asks Patrick Turner. In 1950, I was Stationed at Welford as a MT mechanic. It was an ex-wartime airfield for ‘D’ Day. The hangars were used for vehicle storage, and based there was a Scammell Wrecker with crane and winch, with a canvas canopy for a cab. I drove it once on camp, it was over-width and its maximum speed was 22mph. I made two trips with it as second-man to tow vehicles back to Welford from Daventry and Birkenhead. I was posted to Watton in Norfolk in August 1950, and my final resettlement was six months in Bridgnorth, Shropshire in 1953. Fast forward…

In this, Urban Buses in Northern England: A Second View, the author fills the pages with more superb pictures featuring previously unpublished images. Bus enthusiasts have long been interested in vehicles from the North of England and this book covers buses used in that area between the 1990s and present day. Regions covered include; the North East, North West and Yorkshire and operators such as; Stagecoach, Arriva, First, Northern, Yorkshire Rider and independent companies. A must read for the bus enthusiast and anyone interested in the changing face of northern England. Another fine book from Amberley. ISBN 978-1-3981-1347-3 Both books available at www.amberley-books.com at £15.99 each.…

Mat Ireland, has once again been on a long overland trip in the pet van, this time to Podgorica the capital of Montenegro. The route was through France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and into Montenegro itself. Knowing that this part of the world should hold some older trucks, he had his retro sensors on point. The trip would also see him head south into Albania to get the ferry back to Italy and head for home. It happened that Albania would bear a lot more oldies than anywhere else, which was to be expected. However, there were not as many about as he was hoping, or maybe this was just chance. There are a few more trips in the pipeline which he hopes will come off, and he has also…

All these waste disposal companies used to be a familiar sight on the Black Country’s roads. How did these companies develop across the Black Country and, more to the point, where did they go? Cartaways was Stourbridge based, and was started by the late Norman Cartwright who already owned and operated a transport business. He purchased his first new chain lift type skip loader in the 1960s from Meiller in Germany which was mounted onto a Dodge chassis. The company grew quickly and more skip loader vehicles were added to the fleet. By the 1980s, Cartaways had been sold to Little Heywood Transport of Burton upon Trent. After the sale, Little Heywood Transport retained the Cartaways name as it was a recognised brand across the Black Country. The fleet expanded…