Fergie’s LTD on a roll once again… 
Stumbled upon these two pic’s of the only build Scammell Samson, the same one our sadly departed and much missed friend Mr. Johnnie Trotter drove for some time when he worked for Pickfords…
Gents, good evening. Would anyone recall the operator that was based in Rouen in the early - mid 70’s. The name ’ Tranports Dubois’ wants to spring to mind, not too sure if this correct, or an all too easy stereotype! Mainly hauling tank trailers, the tractors were, apparently, all ‘home made’ to a pattern of bull nose/ forward control/ day cab / gun metal gray. I gave one of their drivers a lift one Friday night from the services east of Paris to the Rouen Juction , whilst en Route to Cherbourg. In an effort to engage in frienldy chat i tried to ask him about their operation, he replied that all the employees were forbidden to discuss anything to do with the company. Later on there was an article in the UK trade press about an interview with the proprier ’ Monsieur Dubois’ , which took part, at his invitation in in offices at Rouen. The Reporter was greeted with a handshake, a coffee and croissant, and spent the entire allotted 1/2 hour wrestling with one word answers from M. Dobois.
JohnAnthonyBuckley:
Gents, good evening. Would anyone recall the operator that was based in Rouen in the early - mid 70’s. The name ’ Tranports Dubois’ wants to spring to mind, not too sure if this correct, or an all too easy stereotype! Mainly hauling tank trailers, the tractors were, apparently, all ‘home made’ to a pattern of bull nose/ forward control/ day cab / gun metal gray. I gave one of their drivers a lift one Friday night from the services east of Paris to the Rouen Juction , whilst en Route to Cherbourg. In an effort to engage in frienldy chat i tried to ask him about their operation, he replied that all the employees were forbidden to discuss anything to do with the company. Later on there was an article in the UK trade press about an interview with the proprier ’ Monsieur Dubois’ , which took part, at his invitation in in offices at Rouen. The Reporter was greeted with a handshake, a coffee and croissant, and spent the entire allotted 1/2 hour wrestling with one word answers from M. Dobois.
Sounds like Lohéac, until the bit about the secrecy.
[zb]
anorak:JohnAnthonyBuckley:
Gents, good evening. Would anyone recall the operator that was based in Rouen in the early - mid 70’s. The name ’ Tranports Dubois’ wants to spring to mind, not too sure if this correct, or an all too easy stereotype! Mainly hauling tank trailers, the tractors were, apparently, all ‘home made’ to a pattern of bull nose/ forward control/ day cab / gun metal gray. I gave one of their drivers a lift one Friday night from the services east of Paris to the Rouen Juction , whilst en Route to Cherbourg. In an effort to engage in frienldy chat i tried to ask him about their operation, he replied that all the employees were forbidden to discuss anything to do with the company. Later on there was an article in the UK trade press about an interview with the proprier ’ Monsieur Dubois’ , which took part, at his invitation in in offices at Rouen. The Reporter was greeted with a handshake, a coffee and croissant, and spent the entire allotted 1/2 hour wrestling with one word answers from M. Dobois.Sounds like Lohéac, until the bit about the secrecy.
[zb]
anorak:JohnAnthonyBuckley:
Gents, good evening. Would anyone recall the operator that was based in Rouen in the early - mid 70’s. The name ’ Tranports Dubois’ wants to spring to mind, not too sure if this correct, or an all too easy stereotype! Mainly hauling tank trailers, the tractors were, apparently, all ‘home made’ to a pattern of bull nose/ forward control/ day cab / gun metal gray. I gave one of their drivers a lift one Friday night from the services east of Paris to the Rouen Juction , whilst en Route to Cherbourg. In an effort to engage in frienldy chat i tried to ask him about their operation, he replied that all the employees were forbidden to discuss anything to do with the company. Later on there was an article in the UK trade press about an interview with the proprier ’ Monsieur Dubois’ , which took part, at his invitation in in offices at Rouen. The Reporter was greeted with a handshake, a coffee and croissant, and spent the entire allotted 1/2 hour wrestling with one word answers from M. Dobois.Sounds like Lohéac, until the bit about the secrecy.
I agree, M. loheac, however he was a very open man in interviews …in fact John met him many times and became friendly with both him and his family…there is quiet a bit about him and his lorries further back on this thread if you do a search…they ran out of Le Harve with chemicals and fuel, so don’t understand the secrecy part… 
It indeed sounds like Loheac, who used to run home-made tractors based on ex WW-II International M 426s. These trucks were regularly completely rebuilt and lasted until c. 2010 when they were all withdrawn and put for sale for export.
Looking for information about Lohéac, I came across this:
yvon59.fr/les_transporteurs/ … age_01.htm
It seems Becquet were also converters of ex-military vehicles.
Froggy55:
2
Introduced in 1934, the Citroën Type 45 (and not P 45) was a very basic, toughly built bonneted truck fitted with a 6-cyl Citroën petrol engine. 5 tonnes payload.1
In 1953, a more modern cab built by “Carrosserie de Levallois” replaced the old traction-like one, but everything else was kept unchanged, though both Citroën and Perkins 100 bhp diesels were available too. Here’s the standard bonneted Citroën Type 55 U replacing the Type 45 in 1953. It remained in production until 1967. Picture from Traveller Dave’s Gallery.0
As it was common in these times, the chassis could be fitted with a forward-cab bodywork built by a “carrossier”, matching the owner’s needs. This Type 55 is very similar to the two trucks on the Co-op picture, and belonged to the renown Suze apéritif manufacturer.
Any reason why Citroen stopped producing these types? Thought they were right at the top of the 7.5t market…? Still, smart looking motors 
Talking of Citroen, now, we’ve seen the six wheeler versions based upon the CX type, but I’ve never seen one build on a DS chassis…?
Popquiz question of the week…what make is the tractor unit…?
Bit of history then, the following is about Van Twist, one of the oldest firms that started doing heavy haulage in a time where they yet had to invent that word…Van Twist eventually merged into Mammoet along several other specialised firms, to become one of the biggest players in this field of expertise.
Plan is to post some pic’s of all those firms that eventually became part of Mammoet if there’s interest in it…
Cracking pictures Patrick!!
Sent from my Hol-U19 using Tapatalk
pv83:
Popquiz question of the week…what make is the tractor unit…?
It’s a Scania Vabis LV75, with a Roset cab. I have not seen that photograph before. Where did you find it? Here’s another one, possibly of the same vehicle:
pv83:
Any reason why Citroen stopped producing these types? Thought they were right at the top of the 7.5t market…? Still, smart looking motors
Citroën replaced the Types 25.50 and 55 in 1967 by the “Belphégor” models (produced 1965-69). A totally new and modern cab… but still the 1934 chassis! Available with both petrol or diesel engines. fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3% … h%C3%A9gor
They were quite popular as fire trucks and also used by loval county road maintenance services (services de l’équipement).
In 1969, the cab was replaced by the Berliet “K” cab, issued from the Stradair range. Berliet and Citroën were both owned by Michelin at that time. I think the production ended in the mid-1970s.
Here’s a video showing a Type 55 with a diesel engine. youtube.com/watch?v=pFXjPHTq42Q
I owned for a few years this 1948 Citroën type 23 U fitted with a 52 bhp Perkins. Most uncomfortable and noisy, but so simple!
jsutherland:
Cracking pictures Patrick!!Sent from my Hol-U19 using Tapatalk
Cheers mate! There’s more coming… 
[zb]
anorak:pv83:
Popquiz question of the week…what make is the tractor unit…?It’s a Scania Vabis LV75, with a Roset cab. I have not seen that photograph before. Where did you find it? Here’s another one, possibly of the same vehicle:
0
Cheers for the info Anorak! Pic was send to me along with the one you’ve posted, could vagualy see it was a Scanny Vabis, didn’t had a clue about the cab though…