Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2024 i Classic & Vintage Commercials

Welcome to the January 2024 issue, and as this is going on sale from December 22, I’ll start by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year. As we look forward to 2024, there seems to be good news, and some not so good, in the air. One big downer, as reported on page 14 of this issue, is that Great Dorset Steam Fair has been cancelled for 2024. This is the second year in a row that this has happened. More worryingly, it also seems as though the event’s long-term commercial viability is now in question due to massively-increased costs. GDSF is up for sale, and whether or not there are any more is, it seems, dependent on finding a new owner.…

From 1929, AEC began developing a new range of lorries, all with model names beginning with the letter M. There was the Mercury, Monarch, Majestic, Marshal, Matador and Mandator. The Mammoth, model 667, was a forward control 7-8 tonner. AEC developed a 6-wheeler from this 4-wheel Mammoth in 1931, which they called the Mammoth Major, the first being model 668. AEC were determined to be the first manufacturer to build a rigid 8-wheeler with an internal combustion engine (there had been some steam powered rigid eights previously), and in 1934, the Mammoth Major Eight was duly launched, model 680, with either a petrol or diesel engine. Only 33 of the original version were built before the Mammoth Major Eight MkII, model 386, was introduced in 1935. This was over 1-ton…

It’s hard to believe, but when I started taking pictures of lorries back in the mid-1950s, colour photography was way beyond the ordinary person’s reach. Even black and white film was quite expensive and I had to persuade my father to let me use the family Kodak ‘Folding Brownie’ (that was all of 25 years old and was given him by a relative). He rarely used it so he kindly allowed me to take a few lorry pictures from time to time when he could afford to buy me a roll of film. Colour photography did not come within reach until 1965 by which time I had saved up and bought a cheap 35mm camera and someone I knew who worked for Kodak could get me Ektachrome 64asa transparency film…

The Corris Railway started life in the 1860s as a horse-drawn tramway, and provided a link between a number of slate quarries in the Corris valley, and the market town of Machynlleth. Steam power arrived in 1878 in the form of three identical locomotives made by Hughes of Loughborough. Two of these were scrapped in the early 20th century but number 3 remained in service until the railway closed in 1947. Then it, along with Corris No. 4 (a Kerr Stuart ‘Tattoo’ built in 1921) were sold to the Talyllyn Railway where both are fully operational today. After closure, the Corris Railway basically faded away, until the Corris Railway Society opened a small museum in 1970. Then, in the 1980s, work started in earnest on recreating a section of the…

The 2024 Great Dorset Steam Fair has been cancelled, and the event’s long-term future seems to be in doubt, with the Oliver family having announced that they are looking to sell it. ‘Great Dorset’ is without doubt Britain’s largest and best-known transport heritage/preservation event. With a history dating back to 1968 – albeit as a much smaller show on a different site – GDSF runs for five days around August bank holiday each year, and the Tarrant Hinton site extends to 600 acres, making the show visible from miles around. Detailed directions are unnecessary; all visitors need to do is “head for Tarrant Hinton and you’ll see it.” Like pretty-much every other public event, GDSF couldn’t run in 2020, and the 2021 event was also cancelled. The show returned in…

Our Editor was delighted to be invited to attend the annual Christmas dinner of the local (Lincolnshire) branch of the Scammell Register on December 3. This was held, as is usual, at the Anglia Motel and Café on the A17 at Holbeach – also known as Harold’s D-Day Café and a real old-school transport cafe of a type that’s now all-but extinct. It’s the one with all the military stuff outside. This event has become something of a traditional gathering of local lorry-people, and one even arrived in his recently-acquired Scammell Trunker. We were also able to catch up on some interesting news, including what sounds like it could be an extremely positive development regarding the 2024 Norwich Classic Show. Unfortunately due to site non-availability the main 2023 event was…

MEMORIES Regarding your June issue, where you talked about preserving memories before they disappear, here are some which might be of interest. My dad, now gone, was a lorry driver all his life and drove pretty-much everything from the smallest to the biggest of lorries. MY memories are of talking to him years ago, and skipping school to be in the cab with him. We lived in Bermondsey, South London, which was then a haven for lorries, and my dad drove for a firm called Cannons General Haulage where he had a brand-new Thames Trader. Bliss! He also drove Bedford TKs and the Thrupenny-bit cab Austin. When work finished for the day in winter we used to stand round an old oil drum full of wood, keeping us warm. Just…

There were a few changes to the 2023 Heart of Wales Road Run in September, although the starting point remained Shrewsbury. From here, they travelled through Denbighshire before the traditional overnight stop at Llanberis where £1250 was raised for the Lingen Davies Ward at Shrewsbury Hospital. Sunday began with the challenging climb up Llanberis Pass before having a short break at Cerrigydrudion. From there it was on to Llangollen before returning to Shrewsbury for lunch and then home. Further changes are planned for 2024 including extending the event to three days and two overnights at the Royal Victoria Hotel in Llanberis. Meanwhile, here are some of the vehicular highlights of the 2023 run.…

What part of a lorry – or, come to that, any steerable vehicle, does the driver probably know best? I’d suggest it’s the steering wheel. From the moment that the car, van, lorry, bus or whatever starts to move, the steering wheel demands pretty-much constant attention. And let’s not forget that “steering wheel attendant” is the oft-used term of derision for those who sit behind the wheel but aren’t considered to have the knowledge or experience to be a real driver. Steering wheels come in many different sizes and styles, but the most common type to be encountered on commercial vehicles comprise a circular steel ring with metal spokes leading to a central boss. Then, the ring at least, and quite often the whole thing, is covered in hard plastic.…

I left off last time by saying that I’d investigate the history of refuse collection vehicles in the USA. It has not proved to be easy but seems to confirm that compression bodies arrived there, just as they did here, in the late 1930s probably influenced by Continental developments. The big names were Heil, established 1901 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Gar Wood of Wayne, Michigan which, in a 1942 advert, claimed more than a quarter century of continuous service. There was also a newcomer called Dempster, of which more anon. Heil made tipping and tanker vehicles whilst Gar Wood is remembered for its wrecker truck winches and equipment in the Second World War and the fact that the dashing founder, Gar Wood, was a playboy renowned for his exploits with…

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