Public and Commercial Transport

[mickthemaverick]

Could you post the original version of the tanker please Neil, I'm curious!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Could you post the unmolested original version of the tanker please Neil, I'm curious!!

Here it is...bit out of focus but nice enough

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Thanks Neil, my curiosity is satisfied with the 'Hot Food'. I couldn't make out what the black rectangle was!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thanks Neil, my curiosity is satisfied with the 'Hot Food'. I couldn't make out what the black rectangle was!!

Just above the cab in the background on the original you may just make out the name Hardy.

More your trout and salmon and fly fishing traditional name and long established firm, but they would be mad not to make other gear now. er...their website looks like they are still paddling round exclusively in their traditional market

https://www.hardyfishing.com/

Neil

[Gibbo2286]

Borrowed from the Birmingham history forum, I travelled on this a few times as a lad, a bus adapted to run on gas during the war.

[NewcastleFalcon]

On a bit of a trivia link from Ilford a recent subject on the Remember these all our yesterdays thread, on geograph put Ilford in the browser search, and if you do nothing it defaults to within 2km.

This pulled up these images of the Barking Bus Garage from David Kemp and co-incidentally old favourite Alan Murray-Rust who supplied wiki commons with the photograph of the last mainline steam hauled journey before steam was officially axed in 1968, reproduced on the One for the train buffs thread...

...and yes another landmark end of an era event to record, the last journey of the iconic London RT bus, route 62 ending up at the afore-mentioned Barking Bus Garage (and a mere stonesthrow from Ilford!), with a parade following on to mark the occasion.

Here's Alan's end of an era pictures, click on the thumbnails for larger images.

The end of an era – 1979

© Copyright Alan Murray-Rust and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

London's last RT buses on parade

© Copyright Alan Murray-Rust and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

and one of David's from a 40th year anniversary event in 2019

Line-up of RT buses inside Barking bus garage

© Copyright David Kemp and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

The Series 1 episode 1 of Retro Electro Workshop just keeps giving.

The Bryan Double Decker machine

Its a sort of tipping point penny falls game with two "decks" and the added animation of a matchbox double decker bus whizzing from side to side on a rocker arrangement for each of the decks. The game featured briefly in the episode

This is a short example of its operation



For the chapter and verse this links to quite an engaging more detailed longer presentation, down to the wheels of the standard matchbox double decker being changed by "Bryan" to brass to run on the rockers.

https://youtu.be/TW-VeFnA_iA

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

In its day intended a workhorse for local tradesmen, but now whoever bought this is unlikely to shove building materials and equipment in the pick-up and re-use it as a working vehicle.

Back in 2017 it achieved a £21,000 hammer price at SWVA (South West Vehicle Auctions).

You can see from the gallery of picture that it had been "done". Absolutely pristine.

https://www.swva.co.uk/classic-car/aust ... k-up-1958/

UAB101 is the 75th Austin A35 pick-up produced out of a total of just 475. Originally intended as a small utility vehicle for local tradesmen the A35 pick-up went into production in late 1956 but was halted within a few months due to issues with purchase tax. Commercial vehicles were at that time exempt from purchase tax whereas standard road cars were not. The A35 pick-up had a tiny load capacity and no tailgate along with seats fitted in the rear tub (that fold away), and as a result the tax authorities decided that this made it more of a recreational rather than work vehicle and applied the purchase tax thus making the car very expensive to buy in the UK. As a result and with very few sold production was halted and all unsold models were shipped abroad (mostly Australia and New Zealand), roughly half of these little pick-ups ended up overseas.

Neil

[bobins]

That A35 pick-up looks exactly like the sort of vehicle you'd have seen trundling 'round Trumpton or Camberwick Green

[Gibbo2286]

The A30 and A35 were horribly enclosed, gave me a headache if driven for any decent distance, I think that pick up would be even worse than the saloons.
They also had screwed trunnions in the front suspension that were a nightmare to get out, failed through lack of grease, used to have to throw away the bottom wishbone in may cases when doing the king pins and bushes.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Hovercraft-still alive?

A nice diversion into Hovercraft from POTD viewtopic.php?p=798926#p798926
to "Nice places to stop off at" with the World's only Hovercraft Museum at Lee-on-Solent viewtopic.php?p=798938#p798938

...but are they just a nostalgic thing of the past Interesting if a little sketchy article from the beeb titled
Why the Hovercraft's time may finally have arrived

I don't think I have ever flown/ridden in one, maybe others have. Mick supplied this nice reminisce.

Hovercraft were a common part of my boyhood holidays. We used to holiday in Broadstairs and I always managed to talk Dad into taking me on a coast ride on the SRN6's which were operated out of Ramsgate on pleasure cruises:

Once I learned to drive we made a few cross channel daytrips using the much bigger car ferry version:

I don't remember using the Isle of Wight service as we used to use the Hydrofoil to get over there!

...and look here's a pic of some old cars and a hovercraft


Neil

[mickthemaverick]

and look here's a pick of some old cars and a hovercraft


Neil

A lovely memory arousing picture for me Neil! Interesting to note that BMC ruled the waves in those days with the Mini escaping to the right, the pair of 1100s, the Wolseley Hornet and the MGB GT, with the Land Rover keeping the MK2 Cortina and I'm guessing the Transit at the back!! Those were the days my friend.............

[NewcastleFalcon]

Probably the best article on the early days of the car transporter I have read, My own bias because it starts off with the story of W A Glendenning’s first one used to supply The Vauxhall and Ford dealers at Consett with cars..

https://heritagemachines.com/commercial ... evolution/


Prior to the advent of the car transporter, deliveries would typically be made like this, on trade plates



Neil

[Gibbo2286]

One of my customers has one of those Series MM Morris Minors, he's a bit fanatical about it, it's all original and like brand new.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Came across this, in a little trivia search for a red Austin 50's style pick up which had inadvertently popped into the image reel of a falcon dream. Yes it was shiny red of an A35 type of style, but with a longer pick-up bed.

Yes something more like this A40 pick up
The business on the side is active in the buying up of stocks of automotive parts from garages/accessory shops and also the general public. Based in Derby. ( https://obsoletecarspares.co.uk/ )

David Kingerley
Classic Car Spares

Neil