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My days as a driver

We had a demonstration from Dereklcg yesterday at The Old Crown on how to tie a dolly knot. I have been shown before and still can't do it. Thanks anyway Derek!
 
Unusual if you could get more than 32 out of a Gardener 6LW in any commercial unless you put the reigns on (pulling back the cambox forks) as the max revs were 1750rpm. When the 6LX 180 BHP was introduced speed increased to about 48 mph.

Now I hate to be argumentative,but Nick,I think you are mixing up your w's and x's.A Gardner ( not Gardener) LW was 120BHP, then came the Gardner LX of 150BHP,that in turn was developed into the Gardner LXB,which was the 180BHP version.The vehicles these were fitted to were capable,depending on the final drive ratio,typically maximun speeds of around 55-58 MPH,but compared to modern engines of around 380 - 420BHP,obviously very slow uphill.I realise many vehicles now have engines of up to around 550BHP,but it would be rare to find these in a normal fleet vehicle( stands by for a barrage of replies proving me wrong !).....Mal.
 
I said in my thread it had a cummins 220 it was a s36 twin steer tractor 6x2(2 steering axles 1 drive axle)and a 40ft crane freuhauf trailer and yes it realy did 75 mph it also only did 4.1/2to the gallon,reg no pwr625e(I think the numbers are right way round letters are) bought 2nd hand from murphys in leicester.Prior to that I drove a leyland badger 4x2 tractor (long door l.a.d.cab), Leyland 680 engine A.E.C. overdrive gearbox eaton 2 speed axle. you could get up to 60(yes 60) and then change into top (overdrive) .When this vehicle was new(bought from Browhills motor services in 1965), the regular driver did a trunk from kwickform (waterloo rd hay mills)to kwickform (east rd welling in kent).He could and would pass midland reds motorway express coaches(no motorway speed limits or 3rd lane lorry bans then) this truck would do 80+ it ran with a 30ft tadem axle trl.My brother drove kog 95e a foden s36 with a gardner 180 lxb(the lx was 150 bhp)this was flat out at 48 mph (up hills and down dales)by this time gardner had increased rpm to 1850.We allso had 3 s36 fodens with mk 7 two stroke engines these could fly(70mph) when the engines failed(cooling troubles and cracked cyl heads) Jack fitted gardners 150 lx and it was a struggle to get 45 mph out of them.Next came 2 s39s with gardner 180 lxb on j rgs (gardner had again increased rpm to 1950) these would do about 60 mph it was the first trucks we had with tachographs fitted as standard(not a legal requirement at that time). Jack paid the drivers £2.50(£2.10.0)per week extra to run @ 50 mph with a tacho card(fuel saving).
ron
 
just reading the post from Chainmaker reminded me again about the introduction of tachos and the outcry it caused I at that time worked on the Tyburn Rd the warehouse was full of these monsters lol ..some of which had been imported and set fire to (I think) at liverpool docks I had to unload these tachos in the warehouse which were made by Lucas Kienzle?:)
 
hi stitcher, great to hear your story about your dilivery of the belt to marine colliery. i can vouch for these people in cwm village they are so friendly there , and so good of you to help them . i am a brummie and lived in cwm ,having left brum when i was 22 im 52 now. i live up the road from the village now and was surrprised to read your story.you will always find a welcome in the hillsides,always love my visits home though to good old brum.
 
harley, I posted before that the only not nice people I met in a lifetime on the road was London Dockers. 50 years ago I was told that the Welsh dont like Brummies and the Scots hate everyone. My experience was always the opposite to this. I was always made to feel comfortable and welcome whenever I had bed and breakfast anywhere, especially in Scotland and Wales. I have friends near Llanelli who I visit every five or six weeks as long as the weather is o/k. I always had complete job satisfaction and felt I had achieved something when I got back home from a week in and around Scotland in the winter. Of course, in those days most people on the road, specially truckers were nice genuine people. There was of course the unwritten rules like giving way to the vehicle going up-hill, flashing the headlights to let another driver know he was passed you and it was safe to return to the left hand side. Happy days.
Trevor.
 
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Now I hate to be argumentative,but Nick,I think you are mixing up your w's and x's.A Gardner ( not Gardener) LW was 120BHP, then came the Gardner LX of 150BHP,that in turn was developed into the Gardner LXB,which was the 180BHP version.The vehicles these were fitted to were capable,depending on the final drive ratio,typically maximun speeds of around 55-58 MPH,but compared to modern engines of around 380 - 420BHP,obviously very slow uphill.I realise many vehicles now have engines of up to around 550BHP,but it would be rare to find these in a normal fleet vehicle( stands by for a barrage of replies proving me wrong !).....Mal.
Sure you're right Mal. I used to recondition the 6LWs fitted into Wolverhampton buses when i worked for Ryland Garage (gardner agents) in the early sixties, the state they used to come in for recon made you wonder how they had been driven. I remember Batemans transport 8 wheeler Atkinson with the 8LW, first and only one i have seen.
 
Someone has mentioned the M.E.M on another thread and it reminded of the morning I thought I was going to highjacked. I had loaded at the M.E.M on the previous afternoon. The load was a trailer full of wooden boxes stacked three high and full of switchgear, quite valuable. I had an early start and was bound for Victoria Dock London. As I went past the old Birmingham Airport I became aware of a car following me. It was strange because the car would have been able to overtake quite easily. I went round Stonebridge island twice so I was behind the car, lo and behold it was in a lay-by and followed me again after I passed it. I kept going until I saw a factory that was open with a security guard in the gatehouse. I went into the gatehouse and asked if the guard would phone the police for me. The police told me to keep going and stop at the next cafe on the left where I would find the police waiting. There was an empty police car on the car park so I went into the cafe and got a cuppa, sat by the two plicemen and told them the story. They told me to follow them and when they pulled off the road I was to keep going because another police vehicle would take up the escort. They changed several times and the last one went into the dock gateway. I was told to proceed to the shed at the birth I wanted and they would unload me straight away. I did this and found a return load and came home. The police told my Boss that the car was being driven by the Traffic Commisioners.
 
stitcher hi
When you worked for overland did you know a bloke named Roy Rudd(my brother) he worked there for a while on a low loader shifting forklifts mostly think he drove a comet or a mandator
regards
ron
 
Hello Chainmaker, the name sounds familiar but it was all a long time ago now. It would almost certainly have been a Comet or Mandator. The thing about Overland was that because of the nature of the loads, we never did much transhipping or working together. Normally as you said about five stacker trucks or one big machine was the full load and most of us took the wagon home for an early start so did not see much of each other.
 
Here's some proper lorries for you Commercial blokes but without the comforts of home the long distance trucks have now(they don't call them lorries these days do they?)
 
Nice one Mike. I used to drive a Leyland eight wheel tanker to I.C.I. at Merthyr five nights a week. It was filled with amonia and some else delivered it to Imingham during the daytime.
 
I have posted a couple of pictures on previous posts on this thread and I will post more images of the places I passed through or deliverd to in my days on the road.
 
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This is Princes Street Edinburgh 1897, not to be confused with Princess Street. I have driven a large lorry along this road a number of times.
 
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Although it had altered quite a bit by the time I passed through Salsbury is, like many other towns and vllages a very beautiful place.
This was how the High Street looked in 1928.
 
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I saw these three views and many more like them whenever I was delivering in the area just south of Snowdon. I was always impressed with the scenery when traveling along the Lanberris Pass towards Dolgellau.
Picture No. 1 is the river at Betws - y - coed.
No. 2 is the view towards Snowdon
No. 3 is the bridge at Capel Curig as it looked in the 1870s.
 
My grandfather Fred Cooper worked for Ernest Holmes. He started his career driving a Scammell 100 tonner and finally became Managing Director of Ernest Holmes (Langley) Ltd, the heavy engineering division of the Holmes empire. Roy Larkin author and researcher of heavy haulage has written a book called 'We Can Do It' about their lives, the vehicles and their heavy loads carried during WW2. Find it here https://www.historicroadways.co.uk/

Lulu
 
My Gramps Fred Cooper negotiating a roundabout in Wolverhampton in a 30 ton tank transporter. This vehicle was originally supplied to the war department in 1944 and was used by American Forces in the UK. Post war it was registered and used by Edward Box as 80 ton ballast tractor.
 

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It's a c1950 Morris Commercial FV, with a diesel engine based on (and built under licence from) the Swiss 'Saurer' company. Here's a restored one.

British commercial vehicles? Dennis, who almost disappeared in the 1960s apart from special vehicles, are about the only ones. The mighty Leyland, who survived by buying up and closing its competitors, only survives in a small way as part of the Dutch DAF company (who remembers the rubber-band drive DAF 'Daffodil' of the 60s?).
Morning I just see you mentioned about saurer can you tell me much on these as my mate has got one in his shed it's a flat bed with 6 cylinder diesel
 
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