Hello Brakeboy. You’ve reminded me of the old days. There were three Colleen brothers - Ray, the driving force who also owned Intertruck, ■■■■ and Laurie who had been sales director of Crane Fruehauf previously and it was him that started the superstructure business. You are right they were heavy construction but I didn’t have problems with the drop side doors, they were easy to repair, the Ingamex alloy doors were expensive when damaged and hirers didn’t like the repair costs. I went on to run Pacton and Trailor myself plus a couple of Van Hool which were superb but expensive.
I said a few posts back I was looking for a picture of Asian Transport’s Scania Varbis UHM 25F which Dave Clark drove before he joined Promotor. I have at last found one which I have attached together with UHM 26F.
The question is wether thats Dave Clark driving? One person that would know looks in here occasionally so come on Dave, just a simple yes or no will do.
Talking about trailers ‘brakeboy.’ I’ve attached a photo of one of our straightframe’s stripped down. The roof cross members and boards had been removed as we had just unloaded two JCB’s and hadn’t started to rebuild it yet. The thing I disliked most about these lightweight trailers were the metal frames instead of boards on the sides. As the trailers got older and wear took place it proved more and more difficult to stop them jumping out of position. I know on one occasion I had one come through the tilt. It made a small hole but luckily I wasn’t traveling on a TIR carnet. I think there may have been small bolts to keep them in position but they soon broke. The stepframes were even worse as the dropsides on the lower section of the trailer were to high. If you needed to be unloaded from the side the dropsides had to be removed completely as when open they touched the ground.
I can imagine Paul Willis, whilst waiting to clear customs in Dover, wandering around the lorry park with his camera in hand seeing this Dutch lorry with a Promotor sign in the window. Intrigued he took a photo not knowing the significance of it. It took me a while to suss it out but I’m fairly sure I know the answer.
I was working in Tehran in the mid 80’s, I forget the exact year, when Phil Houghton, a Promotor subbie turned up pulling one of our supercube trailers. It was the only time I ever saw Phil but I’m sure he had a young lady with him. I have posted his photo on here before and I remember his son saying Phil had moved to Holland.
I believe that the Dutch lorry is Phil’s and though not very clear I think thats him sitting in the cab. Also the name ‘Anny’ on the bumper! Wasn’t that the name of the young lady he had with him in Tehran?
Please click on photo to enlarge.
sandway:
Talking about trailers ‘brakeboy.’ I’ve attached a photo of one of our straightframe’s stripped down. The roof cross members and boards had been removed as we had just unloaded two JCB’s and hadn’t started to rebuild it yet. The thing I disliked most about these lightweight trailers were the metal frames instead of boards on the sides. As the trailers got older and wear took place it proved more and more difficult to stop them jumping out of position. I know on one occasion I had one come through the tilt. It made a small hole but luckily I wasn’t traveling on a TIR carnet. I think there may have been small bolts to keep them in position but they soon broke. The stepframes were even worse as the dropsides on the lower section of the trailer were to high. If you needed to be unloaded from the side the dropsides had to be removed completely as when open they touched the ground.
Yep unfortunately the very concept of the tilt trailer with all its removeable parts meant it could go into self-destruct very quickly if one or two parts failed. Many were the variations over the years with side gates and roof gates etc but they always seemed to be either so lightly built they very soon went out of shape or so heavy it was almost impossible to rig a trailer single handed and therefore roof gates in particular were not re-fitted by the driver. Result of that was in heavy rain the tilt sheet filled up with water and I have seen them nearly touching the floor of the trailer when no roof gates or boards were in. At one hire company one of the fitters decided the way to remove this flood was to hammer down the yard and do a crash stop. Good thinking but the unit disappeared under a niagara of water and when that cleared the headbard was discovered to be leaning forward about two feet. . Every now and then the basic board in pockets concept came back but there were two main problems with side planks. One, if a trailer was left unaccompanied at a clearance depot or similar to be unloaded the boards proved a very convenient source of material for anyone wishing to construct a fence/shed/garden table and secondly when the trailer was loaded if a cargo shift occurred the boards could bow to such a degree they came out of the pockets and dropped down between dropside and tilt cover. [Ever had one land on your foot as you pulled the tilt cord out?? Yeah it hurts]. Also once the boards were out if the uprights were of the type with a folding joint above dropside level [these very soon lost favour] the posts could start folding back, which meant the boards in the next bay dropped out, lost contact with the cant rail if there was no securing pin and you were soon into that self-destruct cycle. Timber side boards were very popular on the hire fleets I was with because of the ease and speed of replacement when the trailer returned off hire and could be quickly made available again but I had many a terse conversation [and i suspect Hugh did as well] with the company returning the trailer about replacement board costs especially when the trailer had had a variety of hauliers whilst on rent. The advent of the curtain sider started sounding the death knell of the tilt, but of course it was then imperative that all loads were securely strapped. Just as an aside I did hear that the curtainsider was invented by Jack Henley. Anybody else heard the same??
Interesting post there ‘brakeboy’. I hadn’t realised the last photo I posted showed the high rear dropsides and also that one had been removed and laid under the trailer to enable the lads to get up close to the trailer to unload. If it wasn’t removed it hit the ground and you stood getting on for a foot away from the trailer. I also believe these trailers had been converted from metal frames to wooden boards on the sides. Perhaps Nottsnortherner or Efes can remember.
It was 86 and we were working in Tehran at the International Trade Fair. It was a biggie that year and we had quite a large crew working there which included Bijan Nabavi, our agent, and his men. The German company Glahe (spelling) had built the British Group stands and it was a very hectic buildup period for everybody. However, once the Fair opened things calmed down somewhat but our Chic Steadman was kept busy as we had the cleaning contract for the British Pavilion and he had to go round twice a day with the vacuum cleaner and also emptied the waste bins. It was a lousy job but Peter, our boss, thought it would bring in a few bob and keep Chic out of trouble. Don’t think Chic saw it that way though.
During the buildup owner driver Bill Kitt had arrived driving his Volvo F12 and his second lorry, a Fiat, which decided to expire on the Northern Expressway just south of the Azardi (Hyatt) Hotel and close to the fairground. Bill dropped his trailer and went back for the other one stranded on the side of the road. He then retrieved the Fiat which Bijan booked into a local garage for repairs to be carried out. Unfortunately the engine was in a bad way and spares had to be flown out from the UK so Bill sent his driver home in the Volvo whilst he stayed in Tehran waiting for the Fiat to be repaired. As Bill was hanging about we came to an arrangement. He would work with us and we would put him up in the Esteghlal (Hilton) Hotel. He shared a room with Chic iirc. When the show was on the two of them did the stand cleaning which Chic was more than happy about.
Time could drag during the fair period and one Friday the three of us decided a visit to the ski station in the Alborz Mountains would be a great way of breaking the boredom. The northern Tehran suburbs were built right up to the first slopes and the mountains form a great backdrop to the city and our hotel was only a short taxi ride away. We started out about 0730hrs as Chic and Bill had to be back by 1300hrs to clean the stands. The taxi dropped us off at the station from where the cable car starts its journey up to the ski resort. We had a cable car to ourselves but noticed segregation of the sexes was very much in evidence. Just as well we didn’t try to entice one of the many lovely Iranian ladies to join us for the ride.
As we ascended the mountain the cable car swung lazily from side to side and now and again loud clunking noises were heard. It wasn’t until a day or two later that we mentioned our journey to our agent, he told us a lot of Iranians would rather walk up than use the cable cars as no maintenance had been carried out since before the revolution, hmmm. As you make your way up you can see the track winding around the mountain below you and there were certainly a fair few people on it but one person in particular we knew would be there. A German who was on a contract in the city and lived in the Esteglal, walked up and back every Friday. Always left the hotel at six in the morning and back just after midday. No doubt he was looking forward to getting back to the Alps again.
When we got to the ski station it was a breath of fresh air. Quite literally, as up there the air was so much clearer, cleaner and cooler. I could well understand why a lot of young Iranians made there way to the mountains and it wasn’t just just to help their breathing. There wasn’t the oppressive stifling religious atmosphere anywhere to be seen. No chastity patrols or religious zealots hounding them. Although I didn’t see a lot of close fraternisation between the sexes they were certainly not doing social distancing as we know it now.
At the ski station there was nothing only fine views. No restaurant or cafe, nowhere even to buy a Pepsi. We had a walk around but after an hour or so decided we’d seen everything there was to see including the German from our hotel. He looked fresh and I had Bill sit near him so I could take their photo. I did ask Bill if he was going to walk back with him but Bill’s reply was the kind of reply only a lorry driver would give. We caught the cable car back down the mountain and took a taxi back to the hotel.
After lunch I found a nice spot by the swimming pool whilst Chic and Bill went off to find the vacuum cleaners and dusters.
Please click on the photos to enlarge them.
After the last post thought I should show Bill Kitt’s Volvo F12. I know one of the photos has been posted on here before, maybe both. The first photo shows Bill on the back of his trailer. The ‘little fella’ on the ground is Jazzandy who was sales manager at Hammonds at the time.
It looks like Bill’s trailer has nets instead of boards as a load restraint on the side. That sounds dodgy! One for you there ‘brakeboy’, were they common?
Another photo of owner driver Bill Kitt’s lorry delivering to the Tehran Fair for Promotor. The photo was taken a few years after the ones shown above. I notice there are no nets only boards acting as load restraints now.
Another fine photo thanks to Paul Willis. Nottsnortherner’s lorry of course waiting to clear customs in Dover.
Thought I’d blow it up a bit. Makes such a difference. Trailer GB263. Wasn’t that one of our old Anglo Yugo Express trailers Tony/Efes.
Yes I think you may be right there Brian, it looks like one of those awful Collen jobbies from Gillingham, just above the “Savacentre” I believe. One other most annoying problem those trailers suffered from particularly in winter time was the fact that the rings that you had to thread the TIR cord through were too small which led to much fowl language when trying to re-thread the cord. 5 drops in Yugo on TIR meant re-threading up to 5 times for internal customs to seal you up again. I seem to remember also that they always felt very flimsy with tight tolerances between all the body sections which didn’t bode well after a few years usage. Correct me if I’m wrong Brakeboy but didn’t Mr. Sly have something to do with their ordering? Shouldn’t mind an enlarged print off of that photo Brian if you can manage it. If you can I will send my details to you via a pm. 
Thought I would combine a few photos and anecdotes today.
Nottsnortherner. The image of the photo of your old lorry is of a quite high resolution at 5mb. I am unable to attach it to a PM on here. If you want to PM me your e-mail address I can send it to you without reducing it.
The 1st photo shows Expo Freight also had the metal frames in the sides of their trailers. Lousy idea, much preferred the simplicity of boards.
2nd, 3rd and 4th photos show the Amborz Mountains which form the backdrop to Tehran. It was up there Bill, Chic and I went one Friday morning. See my recent post. 4th photo also shows where Bill Kitt’s Fiat broke down. Almost made it to the Fairground. Another 3km and it would have done so.
5th photo. Another great Paul Willis photo. He’s certainly supplied some marvellous images recently.
6th photo. This shows our old mate Bob Heath aka ‘SUPERCUBE’ on the right. It seems his son Robert had injured his foot and Bob was giving him a helping hand. Well thats what Robert told me. Believe that if you will. Looks more like they’ve just come out of a local ‘Beer keller’ somewhere in Germany.
Please click on a photo to enlarge.
I’ve found another photo of the lousy trailers with the metal gates on the sides instead of boards. In this photo it shows what we had to do to keep them in place by tying them in with rope.
The second photo was posted on F/B yesterday by Niall O’Neill. It shows our Scania 140 in Dover docks. Niall confirms the photo was taken in 77 or earlier. If thats the case the driver could well have been Billy Heath.
Photo Mick Garlick took at Watford Gap soon after Promotor took over Show-haul in the mid to late 80’s. Just noticed something under his wiper. Perhaps he’s got a ticked for not parking within the lines!
I’ve been waiting for long term Promotor subbie Roy Cloke to enlighten us with the story of an epic journey, on the end of a bar, that he undertook back in the early to mid 70’s. He was towed fully freighted from just east of Istanbul to Tehran and back I believe to Istanbul. But even though I’ve tried a number of times to chivvy him up he remains obstinately quiet. So I will post some photos he put on F/B a couple of years ago and give you what little information I have.
Roy was making his way to Iran and got as far as Austria when he came across an accident. An British lorry was involved and had head butted a tree. The Austrian police were in attendance and seeing another British lorry nearby insisted he help pull the damaged lorry back onto the road. Roy of course did what was required, which he would no doubt have done anyway without the police insisting. Little did he know though that it had put a strain on his diff. Once the other guy was back on the road Roy set off again for Tehran.
All was fine until he got to the east of Istanbul. It was here the diff decided it didn’t like the idea of climbing Bolu let alone Tahir. It conked out and left Roy in a bit of a predicament. He desperately needed to have the diff repaired but equally needed to get his load to its destination. Luckily for Roy there were some other Brits around and one of them with a Ford Transcon agree to tow him. There is only the one photo showing him coupled up but I’m sure Roy has others.
They then set off for Tehran with Roy seeing nothing but the rear of the other drivers trailer. Can’t have been an enjoyable trip.
If you read this Roy I hope you don’t mind me using your photos and story but please fill in the many blanks. I should add not all of the photos are from this trip.
Although I posted this photo yonks ago I’ve only just been given the name of the driver. I only knew him as ‘Black Jack’ but his full name was Jack Evans. We met up in Istanbul and ran together for a couple of days to the south of Adana were we parted. I headed straight on to Habur border with Iraq whilst I believe he was on his way Saudi. The only time I ever met him.
Here’s another fine photo given to me recently. Don’t know the first thing about it. Could be two Promotor lorries as you can just see the top of the other red trailer. Anyone know who the Volvo belonged to?
Please click on picture to enlarge.
sandway:
Here’s another fine photo given to me recently. Don’t know the first thing about it. Could be two Promotor lorries as you can just see the top of the other red trailer. Anyone know who the Volvo belonged to?Please click on picture to enlarge.
Just found out the Volvo belonged to Louis Peter Macdonald from Coalpit Heath near Bristol. He was doing M/E during the late 70’s and early 80’s. Not sure how many lorries he had but he had one or two subbies who worked for him.
