sammyopisite:
A few heavy duty Berliets off the internet even though one as a Renault badge and a big thank you to Saviem for sharing his knowledge with us
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cheers Johnnie
Evening all,
Oh boy, Johnnie…what a feast…may I bore you with a little background?
TR320 , suffering under the weight of a" small" Cat, mind you her 60 tonne gtw should have been enough, even though the 1974 08 35. 30 14. 88 litre naturally aspirated engine “only” gave 310hp (din). But look at the deflection on that bogie!
SCALEX…where should I start?..Well that picture perhaps…Now, where in the United Kingdom was that picture taken?
The lorry is one of the later three TRH 350 TRS models acquired by SCALEX, following the take over of Transports Robert Leyx, by Groupe SCAC Bolero in 1978. With a maximum gross train weight of 180 tonnes, (often, and easily exceeded), these were the first Berliets actually purchased by SCALEX, (Leyx). Previously most of the fabulous fleet operated from their premises at 73/75 AvenueLouis Roche, at Gennervilliers , Hauts de Seine, were leased from Via Location, the vehicle leasing subsidiary of Groupe Suez, whose offices in La Defense I was to know very well over the years!
Robert Leyx had created a magnificent and diverse business, originating from Saint Ouen, they had rapidly outgrown their facility and moved to the large site adjacent to the Frigidair factory in Gennervilliers. But not just transport, Export Packing for Massey Ferguson, Armoured vehicles for Panhard, servicing of the RATP Paris Underground system, plus looking after, and installing an inenumerable amount of automatic car washing systems, both above and below ground in Paris! Talk about diversification…plus a heavy haulage operation, a normal transport operation, Heavy lifting, (using UK Coles Cranes as a back bone), and some of the most exotic and forward thinking trailer designs for heavy loads in Europe.
The Periphique, every above carriageway sign for that and most of France`s Autoroutes were carried by Lyx/SCALEX…and then SCALES…all the same outfit! And most of the escalators that we have ridden upon as well…oh and all Poclain equipment was distributed via Leyx…even the 140 tonne EC1000, with its three V8 Detroit engines!
Poclain was how Robert Leyx came to lease his lorries, he went to Via with a 12 month deal from Poclain, and Via took a gamble…what resulted was the only French Heavy Haulier to lease the bulk of his tractive equipment…and some of it was very exotic…Relax cab 4x2 TRs with triple reduction rear axles, Relax cab TR250 6x4s with ultra short wheelbases and GBH heavy duty 20 tonne bogies back in the `60s. Then there were the Krupps, the L serie Scanias, and “my” SM Saviem 6x4s @110 tonnes, (regarded, with good humour, as a minimum starting weight)!!!
Then there were my sweethearts, the big Willeme`s with their 12 cylinder 12V71N 400 hp motors, and ultra quick changing RTO12513 Fullers@ 200 tonnes nominal rating…gosh I can still remember shunting one of these around their Gennervilliers premises, behind the colossal “white Elephant”, (the warehouse and overhead cranage, named as such for its size, not its UK meaning)! and loving the rise and fall of the engine note…(and being offered a “career change” should I wish to leave Saviem, and return to lorry driving)!.. I took that as a great compliment indeed!
I spent many, many hours @ Leyx/SCALEX/SCALES…and knew the company so well, really I should write a little about them for you all to enjoy, another time perhaps, what an outfit, and I think that they still exist today…but nothing could compare to the site of their 100, 150, 200, and 250 tonne Willemes, plus “my” TBO Berliet, easily pulling 400 tonnes of EDF Transformer along on a 24 line Dellatier module…KTA 450 & 335 ■■■■■■■■ and V8 &12 cylinder Detroit all in symphonious harmony!
But then Johnnie puts up a real “odd ball” the handsome Red, Relax cab with bonnet, GBO Berliet 120 tonne, (nominal), tractor of Transports Chatelet from Bourg en Bresse. Converted from a second hand rigid dump chassis, the HC, (Hors Code), like our outside Construction and Use, 6x4 15M3 chassis was powered by M640A 14.780 cc 6 cylinder turbocharged 320 hp diesel,(that air cleaner on the right side weighed approx. 73 kgs)! which with its Kaiser triple axle semi low load trailer had a road speed approaching 57kph…and that was the big problem with the" pure" heavy haulage lorries…They were a bit slow when empty!
Answered by Johnnies last picture, and another company that I was to get to know well, STAG, (Societe des Transports Automobiles de Gennevilliers), created in 1944 by André Puigelier, and during the time that I knew them based in Argenteuil, Val dOise. The picture shows Stags Delattre-Levivier 12 line module, pulled, and pushed by the two Renault TRH360 TS 6x4 units that operated as either ballast locomotives, as depicted, @35 tonnes gvw/180 tonnes gtw, (used as a starting weight)! Powered as standard with the V8 14.88 litre 08.35.30 360 hp unit. That boiler looks to be destined for one of France
s new Nuclear plants which were such a boost to the French Heavy Hauliers in the late 70s and 80s. For that 12 line to be used payload must have been around the 300 tonne mark.Those TRHs were the first Berliet/Renaults purchased by Stag since the Saviem Berliet “merger” in 75! Though they did keep on buying Saviems…(thank goodness)!
Stag also ran Willeme TGs, a really rare 6x6 TR400 .95 T Renault , (with a massive cooler behind the cab for the Torque Converter, and going back the most beautiful TBO Berliets, and Diamond Ts that looked…well…not like any Diamond T you have ever seen!
Apologies if I have gone on, but I spent years with these boys, and the memories just flood back…I cannot describe what it was like to see, let alone the skill needed to thread a 250 tonne Willeme, and a 200 tonne transformer on a 16 line Delattre module out of the narrow exit from Alsthoms Saint Ouen works onto the narrow…and very, very, rippled cobbled surface of Rue des Bateliers…but I would not be surprised if Sammyopposite had been through that entrance/exit, as I often saw Pickfords lorries in there…
Thanks for the memories!
I need a cool Bollinger to calm down!
Cheerio for now