Heritage Commercials March 2015 Preview

HorSE drAwn to HorSEdrAwnto HorSEpowEr Fairground transport through the ages

A Scammell called Sharon` 1966 Junior Constructor

SELFASSEMBLY Morris Commerical restoration

Archive Album –

Mercedes

The story of

Knowles Transport

StILL At worK

Forestry Bedford rEBuILdYourdYnAMo■HIStorYoFpEtErBILt■ AutoMotIVEwoodworKInG

No.303 March 2015

Working life archive of ERF’s M Series

Contents

32

15 MARCH 20

06 Ignition

What’s been happening in the classic commercial vehicle world recently – and what’s coming up.

10 Readers’ letters

The chance to have your say. So what have you got to tell us?

16 Cover story

If Dave Weedon had to pick just one vehicle from his huge collection to take for a drive, his first choice would probably be ‘Sharon’ – the ex-Sunter Brothers 1966 Scammell Junior Constructor.

36

78

24 Subscription form

Get your copy of HC early and save money too by subscribing.

26 Fairground attraction

Alan Barnes goes for a trawl through the National Fairground Archive to bring us the story of showland transport in the UK throughout the years.

32 Wood work

The Bedford M-Series used to be the backbone of military transport for the British Army, and a lot of the vehicles have now found their way into private hands – just like this one!

36 On location

Dean Reader reports from last year’s Classic Van & Pick-up Show held at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon.

38 Lucky Tucky!

What’s the chances? Twenty-eight years after leaving the Watford production line, one of Scammell’s finest S26s is still earning its keep on Grenada in the Caribbean.

42 A smaller B

Mark Gredzinski has a look at the working life of ERF’s M Series.

48 Manufacturer’s history

The more things change, the more they stay the same. And as Ed Burrows records, that brand of evolutionary progression underpins the products of Peterbilt.

56 Haulage company history Alan Barnes brings us up to date on the history of the famous Knowles Transport concern.

Subscribe

Save money and get HC delivered to your door PAge 24

42

56

InCorporATIng CLAssIC TruCk

64 64 Ted’s yard – part one

Mike Blenkinsop goes back to his roots and recalls happy days searching out fascinating vehicles in the north east of England.

16

70 Archive album

Four pages of sheer nostalgia from the NA3T photographic archives.

74 From our archives

This month we feature the Dodge Commando 2. Did you drive one?

78 Flat pack fantastic

If famous flat pack manufacturer Ikea was ever to get into heritage commercials, it would probably supply them in the way Bernard Davies collected his 1948 Morris Commercial PV!

84 Learning the trade

A quick look at where you can learn traditional restoration skills.

86 Workshop

Colin Peck continues his series on automotive woodworking.

90 Electrical workshop

Richard Lofting looks at how to repair your dynamo.

95 HC Marketplace

The place to buy and sell anything related to classic commercials.

38

Your say

Memories of a good beginning and a long run I AM writing regarding the editor’s introduction in the February issue. I used to go with my father from the City of London to Maidstone in a Saurer tanker with beer, half a day there and half a day back. Then we would go up the brewery malt tower to do fire watching, to direct the fire brigade as London burnt in the blitz. It always puzzled me why St Paul’s Cathedral never caught light.

When I finished school, I joined the brewery as an apprentice HGV motor engineer, and finished 22 years later as workshop foreman until just before it closed.

There were about 25 apprentices of all different trades in the brewery, and a manager over all of us.

I then joined a F1 racing team which I did not like at all, so I went back on HGVs which was

always in me, and after around 22 years I retired. If you add them all up it was 45 years of working life.

Also, on page 43 of the January issue, there is a photo of a Chinese-six Dennis Max. Dennis never made a Chinese-six and the photo shows a chassis extension and a third axle put on by someone else.

Dennis did however make a double-drive Max. The engine was very interesting, and it was designed to go in a coach in the 1930s.

When the Second World War started, Dennis started making tanks which were fitted with someone else’s engine.

After the war, Dennis started making heavyweight vehicles with a four-pot diesel engine on the Max, which it extended into a sixpot and called it the ‘Max 6’.

The features of that engine and gearbox included: eight head bolts around each cylinder, so we never had head gaskets problems, and it had four valves per cylinder and the injector was in the middle. A twin-plate clutch was fitted and it had a four-speed gearbox, plus preselected overdrive fifth gear.

All this from the 1930s!

The smaller vehicle called a Pax had a fourcylinder petrol engine. This had a hole in the end of the crankshaft that sent oil through to the spigot shaft to the gearbox and returned through a hole in the castings. The idea was that if the engine had a decent oil level, so did the gearbox.

Derek Emblen Via email

Subscribe Save money and get HC delivered to your door Page 24

Pipe problems

Same as a Scarab?

I’ve just picked up January’s copy of Heritage Commercials and read your editorial about Loughborough University’s concept truck I do agree with you – it also reminds me of a truck of the past – but not the same one as

12 Heritagecommercials.com

you mentioned. I’m talking about the Scammell Scarab – any similarity?

Pete Verlander Via email

I REFER to the editor’s comment ‘A World of Change’, in the January issue, and the photograph of the Scammell Crusader loaded with pipes. These pipes were 42in diameter epoxy-coated and were destined for the Stamford/Leicester area from the port of Immingham. That securing method was used after one of Humber Warehousing’s vehicles lost a load of these pipes in the police station yard one Sunday morning, just before the Monks Road junction in Lincoln.

I was in charge of all the pipe movements out of Immingham Dock for many years and from the pipe coating plant, Bredero Price, and I was employed as transport manager at Consolidated Land Services Immingham Ltd. There were between 30 and 50 lorry loads per day at the time. ECRS/Hoomejer were the pipe stringers and dump controllers under Stan Hall. I still have regular contact with Geoff Hallam, the then chairman of Humber Warehousing.

Paul Brewster Via email

EPN 801, a 32 seat Harrington bodied Commer coach delivered new 195152 and operated until around 1960.

DNJ 259C, a 5-ton Thames Trader 4D with coachbuilt bodywork by Palmers of Hanworth – as featured in your magazine a couple of years ago.

Removals through the ages Thank you for featuring some removal van photographs in your november issue, many of which I can recall seeing in use. Removals has always been a specialised section within the transport industry and over the years many strange vehicle specs have appeared. I attach a few of the older photos and adverts from my company archive which I hope may be of some interest.

Eric Bourne Via email FED 244L, a Bedford KG with Marsden bodywork delivered new in May 1973, pictured near to Sienna, Italy in March 1974.

Advertisement from 1968-9 with two Tiverton bodied Guy Vixens, one Ford D400, bodied by R W Osbourne and Sons of Saffron Walden, the Thames Trader, and below a Wokingham Pantechnicon built on a Bedford KF chassis-cowl.

XJJ 168G, a Bedford KF Wokingham bodied pantechnicon supplied new in September 1968 as a replacement for the over-bodied Thames Trader, due to the introduction of plating and testing within the 1968 Transport Act.

JTB 895P, a Bedford KD 7.5-Ton pantechnicon, delivered new with Vanplan bodywork in 1975.

A full page advert for Tiverton Coachbuilders in a 1958 edition of Removals and Storage magazine featuring the company’s four-cylinder petrol engined Guy Vixen, UKE 553, supplied new by Arnolds of Banbridge in January 1955.

OTB 662R, a Bedford KG with Marsden bodywork, a cancelled order delivered new in October 1976.

JVS 704V, a Bedford TM 2500 tractor unit, purchased second-hand in 1981 and extended

by Vanplan Coachbuilders. Bodywork added including the two-man sleeper pod. Delivered in 1982 coupled with a Primrose drawbar trailer.

F972 BKP, a Leyland Freighter 1617 MarsdenVanplan bodied, delivered new September 1988 – repainted in 1993, the first UK vehicle in UTS livery.

March 2015 13

transport heritage

all the fun of the

FAIR

How it was done for centuries. This is Biddall’s Exhibition on the road circa 1900.

One of the very few motor lorries made especially for fairground use was the Scammell Showtrac. This example was bought by Arnold Bros in 1947 and was later purchased by T Benson.

26 Heritagecommercials.com

Alan Barnes goes for a trawl through the National Fairground Archive to bring us the story of showland transport in the UK part throughout the years.

1

The traction engine was a common sight at fairgrounds until the 1930s/40s. This is Walter Shaw’s Foden ‘Prospector’ circa 1908.

This photo was taken on the Cirencester bypass in July 1932 and shows the Peters’ ex First World War FWD. Words: Alan Barnes Photography: National Fairground Archive/As stated

L

ast year the National Fairground Archive celebrated the 20th anniversary of its establishment at Sheffield University. e donation of a collection of showland photographs and documents by the Shufflebottom family in 1994 marked the beginning of an archive of fairground, circus and showland images, film and documents which runs to tens of thousands of individual items. e archive is managed by a team of five led by Professor Vanessa Toulmin, and the collection is housed in the Western Library building at the university. e various collections of photographs which have been donated over the past 20 years provide a valuable insight into the life and culture of the families involved with the travelling shows. e archive continues to grow and includes images and information from the many current fairgrounds and shows.

Among the large collection of fairground images there are photographs of the various methods of transport used by the showland families to move their rides and themselves from location to location. While the history of fairs in this country can be traced back to the hiring fairs or mops of the 11th century, these meetings later changed from those early traders’ markets into events which provided entertainments and amusement. As the travelling fair evolved, it was the horse teams which were relied on to pull carts and vans and it can be argued that the introduction of steam power and, in turn, the motor vehicle are still fairly recent ‘innovations’ as far as the history of the fair is concerned.

It was perhaps the First World War which sowed the seeds of mechanisation for the showland families. Following the end of the war, great numbers of ex-military motor vehicles became available and many people saw the opportunity to buy cheap vehicles and set up haulage and transport business. ese

vehicles, while perhaps not as powerful as a steam traction engine, were arguably easier to use and maintain and if anything went wrong could be replaced quickly and cheaply. ese early vehicles did not have the power to haul the road trains of living vans and loaded trailers so until more powerful lorries were developed, the use of steam power continued.

However, by the late 1930s, there were certainly more motor vehicles in use among fairground operators, with some of the haulage tractors developed by Leyland and Scammell having been acquired second-hand and adapted for the specific requirements of their new owners.

More war developments

e production of heavy haulage vehicles for military use during the Second World War saw the development of powerful tractors designed to haul heavy guns etc. In addition there were many imported military trucks from Canada and the US which were used by the Allied Forces for troop transport and the movement of supplies. ese rugged vehicles designed to operate in harsh off-road terrain could be maintained in the field.

With the end of the war in 1945, large numbers of these vehicles were sold off very cheaply and found their way into commercial use. Vehicles such as the FWD SUCOE, Scammell Pioneer and Scammell Explorer were not only used by commercial transport companies but soon found their way on to the fairgrounds too. Not only were they capable of hauling the heaviest of rides but the strong well-built chassis also lent themselves to a range of conversions with pole carriers, cranes and generators being fitted to a variety of trucks.

As petrol and diesel-engined vehicles increased, the number of steam engines operated by the showmen began to decline and by the 1950s only a handful of steam engines remained in commercial operation.

March 2015 27

Transport heritage

Words & photography: Mark Gredzinski

A smaller

Mark Gredzinski introduces us to a lorry many don’t even know existed in the ďŹ rst place...

42 Heritagecommercials.com

B

D Hughes of Cradley Heath in the Black Country ran this Gardner powered M Series, together with another sporting a sleeper cab, and a Seddon Atkinson 201 flatbed rigid. The late Derek Hughes was still reportedly driving at the age of 91 and I recall him being a very friendly man on my visit to the yard in June 1990.

From Govan in Glasgow, John Smillie Ltd has a long history of ERF usage including KV, LV and B Series, right up to EC Series tractors. Its 1981 M Series was captured chugging through Wednesbury on a Monday morning in October 1989.

This 1979 M Series belonging to Paul Ruscoe of Aston in Nantwich was captured at speed on the M6 in March 1990. The timber load on board is noteworthy since it’s rather neatly loaded and strapped.

N Hunt Brothers of Culcheth in Warrington was a big ERF user and had a number of B Series 4x2 tractors and curtainside trailers. The company’s M Series was captured on the M6 in May 1989 passing through Birmingham.

ot everyone is aware of the existence of the ERF M Series from the late Seventies, and this is not really surprising. In broad terms it never really sold in great numbers and at first glance, the M Series looked just like a fourwheeled B Series rigid; but underneath it was a different lorry.

In 1974, the ERF B Series was introduced which replaced the range of LV and A Series models. e B covered all the weight ranges, including the 16 ton rigid line, but the new cab was significantly bigger than the successful, lighter LV rigids it replaced.

To reduce weight and frontal area, ERF introduced the cheaper M Series at the 1978 Birmingham NEC motor show which would be more suited for lighter duties such as distribution work.

March 2015 43

Haulage company history

Words: Alan Barnes Photography: Knowles Archive/as stated

Knowles transport Ltd ERF and Seadyke bulk tipping trailer ready for work.

part

2

B

Alan Barnes tells the story of a firm that can trace its history back more than 80 years.

y the 1960s and into the early 1970s the company had moved away from its long association with Bedford and the fleet was now almost entirely made up of ERFs, both rigids and artic units.

Although the initial costs may have been higher, the ERF was seen as a quality vehicle with proven reliability. Also, the ERFs were fitted with Gardner engines which were both powerful and reliable, and the less time that a lorry spent in the workshop the more profitable it became. e policy of buying new lorries and selling aer three years in service was also adopted.

In 1972, Dave Butwright joined the The company started handling containers for Manchester Liners in the 1970s.

56 Heritagecommercials.com

A Volvo BM loading sugar beet into a Leyland Retriever.

company as a mechanic and today as fleet engineer he is well placed to offer an opinion on the various vehicles which the company has run.

“In the Fiies, which was well before my time I might add, the fleet was almost entirely Bedford, while by the Seventies it was all ERF. Today we are practically back to that one marque position as apart from eight Scanias and a single DAF the rest of the trucks are all Volvo. When I joined the company we were running 40 odd ERFs and there was only a single AEC and a single Foden.

FCE 576D was one of very few Mercedes lorries to have been in the Knowles fleet.

Looking after the fleet

“All the maintenance was carried out in our own workshops and there were three of us in that department; today there are four and we now look aer 65 tractor units and 120 trailers. At one time the company had its own recovery trucks to deal with breakdowns but the last of them had gone by the time I began working here and today any recoveries are usually made using a lowloader or one of the recovery companies.

“One of the major changes over the years has been the introduction of European-built trucks into the British market and the demise of truck manufacturing in the UK. Now you cannot ‘Buy British’ even if you wanted to and the market is dominated by the likes of Scania, Volvo and DAF, and in recent years all three makes have carried the Knowles orange and white colours.

“at livery came in just as I joined the company with the first ‘orange’ truck being delivered by ERF. It was a 32-ton tractor unit, registration number KEG 178L, with a Gardner 180 engine, Fuller nine-speed gearbox and an experimental Kirkstall rear axle. We didn’t know it was experimental at the time and we wondered why the Kirkstall ‘boffins’ kept paying us visits to look at the truck, making notes and recordings. e production version of that axle was later used for the ERF B Series. “e latest Volvos are certainly first class

bits of kit and would appear to deliver in terms of performance, reliability and economy, but that is really what the industry has come to expect from Volvo. Over the years a good many different trucks have been through our maintenance bays and I would rate the Volvo F7 and the Volvo FL10 320 along with the ERF 54G among the best vehicles that have been on the fleet.”

Dave’s high opinion of the FL10 is shared with Tony who also rates the ‘Wendyhouse’ as one of the best performing models that the company has ever had on its fleet.

March 2015 57

Next month

ON sALE MARCH 19, 2015 suTTON’s AT sIXTY

By the mid 1960s, Sutton & Son (St Helens) Ltd had become the largest privately owned road haulage company in Great Britain, and 2014 marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the business.

Alan Barnes tells its story.

TRAdINg PLACEs

David Crouch now has something like 36 frontline vehicles in his Midlands-based recovery fleet. But if ever he feels nostalgic, he can wheel out a brace of Fords that are reminders of the days when recovery men were expected to work miracles with the most modest of hardware. Bob Tuck discovers how this brace of classics may look totally different but share a lot of similarities.

ATLANTIC CONVEYOR George Rotinoff only built something like 35 of his massive ‘Atlantic,’ ‘Super Atlantic’ and ‘Viscount’ heavy haulers during the 1950s, but thankfully many have survived. Graham Booth is now the proud owner of the 20th Rotinoff to be made and he reckons the engineering to his Atlantic 6x4 was way ahead of its time. Bob Tuck admires yet another fantastic Booth restoration.

PLus.

Workshop. Fairground transport part 2. On location. Archive album.

News and events. & More.

Editor Stephen Pullen Publisher Julie Brown Design Anita Waters & Fran Lovely Group production editor Tim Hartley Divisional advertising manager Sandra Fisher sfisher@mortons.co.uk Advertising representative Nathan Pendregaust Tel 01507 524356 Subscription manager Paul Deacon Circulation manager Steve O’Hara Marketing manager Charlotte Park Production manager Craig Lamb Publishing director Dan Savage Commercial director Nigel Hole

Editorial address Mortons Media Ltd, PO Box 99, Horncastle LN9 6LZ Website www.heritagecommercials.com General queries and back issues Tel 01507 529529 24hr answerphone Archive enquiries Jane Skayman jskayman@mortons.co.uk Tel 01507 529423 Subscription Full subscription rates (but see page 24 for offer): (12 months 12 issues, inc post and packing) – UK £50.40. Export rates are also available – see page 24 for more details.UK subscriptions are zero-rated for the purposes of Value Added Tax.

Subscription agents Australia: Greg McNiece, Tel 3-5824 1734 America: Wise Owl Worldwide Publications, Tel 310 944 5033 New Zealand: White Bus Family Productions, Tel (064) 027 221 7763 Distribution COMAG, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE. Tel 01895 433600 Printed William Gibbons and Sons, Wolverhampton Published date Third Thursday of every month Advert/editorial deadline February 18, 2015 Next issue March 19, 2015

Member of the Professional Publishers’ Association

Having trouble finding a copy of this magazine?

Why not Just Ask your local newsagent to reserve you a copy each month?

Independent publisher since 1885 © Mortons Media Group Ltd.

© Mortons Media Group Ltd. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

ISSN No 1476-2110