I reckon C.A.M.E.L. had more than two NGCs. I posted the article (below) from Motor Transport 7th July 1978, near the beginning of this thread. It gives a thorough account of Cunard’s subsidiary (CAMEL) in Jeddah and shows a picture of two NGCs. In the article it mentions ‘a number’ of steel cabbed export model ERFs but includes the B-series in the same breath, leaving an ambiguous impression of how many there were. To be fair, I’ve brought up this subject before.
Finding anything out about the CAMEL operation is very difficult. I once found a splendid history of Cunard in a 2nd-hand bookshop and reported on this thread that it mystified me that there was no mention of the CAMEL operation in it, or indeed any reference to Cunard shipping container movements in the '70s. Someone in the know posted a comment to the effect that the operation was a bit of a disaster and that Cunard was keen to make sure that no adverse publicity should besmirch its passenger liner reputation.
I have met a CAMEL driver, Ian Tyler, who drove their 6x4 LHD B-series units. I posted pics of those, provided by Ian, on the LHD B-series thread. He gave me a photo of a CAMEL NGC next to a B-series unit which I scanned posted on here ages ago - really nice bloke, by the way. Unfortunately he can’t remember how many NGCs they had.
If anyone knows how many NGCs they ran, speak now or forever hold thy peace!
To sum up: I reckon CAMEL had more than 2 NGCs! robert
PS. Just for the record, here is what I had to say on the subject on this thread on the 17th March 2015:
» Tue Mar 17, 2015 10:00 pm
Earlier in the thread, I posted an article about the operations in Jeddah of Cunard Arabian Middle East Lines (CAMEL). I pointed out that they ran 18 ERFs, all with 9-speed Fullers; that six of them were B-series 6x4s, that two of them were NGCs and that the rest were B-series 4x2s with day cabs and ■■■■■■■ NHC 250s in.
Today I learned that in addition to those ERFs, CAMEL had a number of GMCs. That got me reading the article again. The article doesn’t actually state that there were ‘only’ two ERF NGCs. I must have inferred that were two, simply because the picture only showed two of them. The text actually states: ‘Cross country working at 40 tonnes gvw or more calls for more power. Cunard operates a number of steel-cabbed ERF export-model tractors with ■■■■■■■ NTC 335…engines for such work.’
Of the 18 ERFs in their Jeddah depot, if six were B-series 6x4, then the other twelve were divided between the day-cabbed B-series and the NGCs. ‘A number of steel-cabbed ERF export-model tractors’ implies more than just the two I cited. There were clearly more. Robert