adr:
C Shofield & Son, Gomersal, West Yorkshire.
Quality shot that one “adr” I wonder which of the “conversion” firms turned that Trader into a 20 ton GVW motor ? Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
adr:
C Shofield & Son, Gomersal, West Yorkshire.Quality shot that one “adr” I wonder which of the “conversion” firms turned that Trader into a 20 ton GVW motor ? Cheers Bewick.
Never driven one, but from what my Dad told me about them & what I’ve read, they weren’t that gutsy & struggled at the higher weights!
Regards Chris
adr:
Bewick:
adr:
C Shofield & Son, Gomersal, West Yorkshire.Quality shot that one “adr” I wonder which of the “conversion” firms turned that Trader into a 20 ton GVW motor ? Cheers Bewick.
Never driven one, but from what my Dad told me about them & what I’ve read, they weren’t that gutsy & struggled at the higher weights!
Regards Chris
Aye Chris they were like a lot of converted 4 wheelers of their era but it was used as a method to gain a bit more weight on the carriers licence as the conversions were much lighter than the quality built 6 wheelers from Atki,ERF and Leyland ect oh! and the conversions were a lump cheaper initially but probably worked out dearer over the life of the motor.Cheers Dennis.
Hi emmerson, I remember seeing lots of Traders and BMC tippers running through Newport in 1961/2 on what I understood was shale into Llanwern, clouds of black smoke when they lurched away from the traffic lights slipping the clutches like mad to get moving. Was it correct that Shirley Bassey owned some and another well known singer who I cannot recall was reputed to be the other big fleet owner.?
Cheers , Leyland 600.
I had a Foden which wound itself up on the rear diffs after we had been changing tyres round, funny thing was it ran all the way up to Invergordon via Creetown and on running back via Fort William after dropping off a part load and running light it suddenly slowly came to a stop on Rannoch Moor. I reversed about 100 yards or so then tried it forward without any more problems but we did have a reappraisel of tyre sizes on the rear bogie. Cheers Leyland 600.
Is this the same good looking lad that was flogging drawing tickets in Terregles village hall last Saturday night.■■ Cheers Leyland 600.
A trader coach seen in Morecambe in 1968
Hi Bewick, That Schofield Trader looks the business as they did despite my dislike for them, do you remember D&D Transport from Dundee coming down loaded sky high with rolls of Jute a regular sight travelling down the old A6. I remember the Fast Ones father had two, a four wheeler and a six with 4 or 5 speed boxes in them. My mate drove a six wheeler for Pinguey Bell of Wigton which had a 2 speed axle and when leading fertilizer over Stainmoor fom Goole or Billingham father E,s Trader was no match for Bell,s both carrying about 14 ton if I remember correctly. E,s driver used to get mad as hell when overtaken by the staid Bell company with their immaculate fleet. Cheers, Leyland 600
Leyland600:
Hi Bewick, That Schofield Trader looks the business as they did despite my dislike for them, do you remember D&D Transport from Dundee coming down loaded sky high with rolls of Jute a regular sight travelling down the old A6. I remember the Fast Ones father had two, a four wheeler and a six with 4 or 5 speed boxes in them. My mate drove a six wheeler for Pinguey Bell of Wigton which had a 2 speed axle and when leading fertilizer over Stainmoor fom Goole or Billingham father E,s Trader was no match for Bell,s both carrying about 14 ton if I remember correctly. E,s driver used to get mad as hell when overtaken by the staid Bell company with their immaculate fleet. Cheers, Leyland 600
I I remember the D&D Traders very well as they used to run through Kendal in the early 60’s,I believe their Boss/Owner was a Lady.I also recall a refactory firm from Swadlincote called Wragg and theirs were 6 wheel dropsides and they ran down through Kendal from Scotch loaded with what looked like brick rubble.The 2 speed axle would ,of course,make all the difference to the Traders performance.I’ve sent you a PM,cheers Dennis.
G’day from the Land of Oz,
My Dad and the family owned a small fleet (about 7 at the one time)of Thames Traders out here in Oz. They were the 6D, 90 hp, 5 speed + 2 speed rear end. And they were fast at the time. Out here they even used them for overnight between Sydney and Melbourne (at the time a 1000 klms trip over some pretty testing roads) and were called “sputniks”. But we used them on single axle trailers carting mainly Ford products, Dad believing (in my opinion, to his detriment) that he should stick to Ford products. In the 60’s we carted Escorts, Capris, Cortinas, Falcons, Galaxies and Fairlanes and of course Ford trucks, Thames, K Models, and F Series.
The Thames were set up for long haul with 2 x 44 gallon drums slung across the chassis, a ‘hungry board’ behind the cab for tarps and things, and probably 34 or 36 foot trailers, usually with a pipe frame to cart 2 decks of cars. We could get 6 Anglias on, but only 4 Falcons. I mainly remember sleeping in them. What a ■■■■■■■■ I learnt to sleep around an engine cover with a gear lever in my back because we’d be away 3 to 4 days usually. And in winter time, I don’t know how you blokes drove them in winter in the UK. Out here it was bad enough when you had to go up over the Great Divide and there was no insulation in them what-so-ever. Summer time you could open the small louvers on the side of the cab to get some fresh air in but they also brought in grasshoppers, and bees, and wasps, and one day, a small parrot, none too happy I might add.
I’ve attached a couple photos of a couple of our trucks. One on a photo shoot for Ford with a couple of Compact Fairlanes, the other with 2 cars and a rowing eight scull up on the car frame, nearly twice as long as the trailer. You had to be VERY careful getting around corners both at the front and back because of the overhangs.
The Thames were a reasonable workhorse for the work we did with them. Car carrying was fine with 90 HP, but put 12 ton of spuds on them and they sure felt it. We had one of our last fitted up with a six-car self unloading car carrier, one of the first in Aust, but we eventually moved to the much better 1418 Mercedes which was at the time the best money for value truck in Australia. We also fitted them with the 120 HP Perkins as reasonably a simple conversion. Did I mention the brakes on a Ford Thames? Grossing 20 ton? An anchor thrown out the window would have been a better idea on some hills.
If you’d like to see some other old photos just get back to me.
Tunnels.
Great story and photo’s…of course we’d like more pic’s, keep 'em coming… 
Here you are Fergie,
The Thames Traders we had took all types of Ford products, we literally stacked them on until the reached (and sometimes passed) the 14 foot height limit. At that time the length limit varied from State to State. A truck that was legal in Queensland would to okay in New South Wales (where it was 47 foot) but too long for Victoria (45 foot). The speed limits also varied. 40 mph in Vict, 50 in NSW and 60 in Qld. Same truck, same load. At least now Aust basically has standardised all road rules, but it took them 100 years of road transport.
I’ve attached this time a couple of our Thames with cars, general freight and Ford trucks. The cars give a date for the photos, Chrysler Royals, 63’ Falcons, MGB’s, K and D models Ford trucks. It took some work to drive, and then back the trucks onto the trailers that had frames fitted. I’ve included a photo of a Commer Knocker we had loaded up with 3 trucks and a Ford Capri. We had it running about the same time as the Thames, maybe towards the end of their life. And, yeah, we carried them 500 miles stacked like this. Dad was a Scotsman at heart and if you could put something more on he would. “I’m paying for the fuel to take it to Melbourne so I might as well make the most of it.” You’ve probably worked for a few bosses like that? We also ran D Models with the Custom Cab, which were just so much better than the Thames all round. They even had brakes that worked.
The car carrier you see in the Mobil magazine story you’ll note has got a F100 Ford ute swinging above the cab. You’d be in no hurry to swing around a corner a bit quick I can tell you. You could almost hear the springs groan. I think we might have just been on the 14 foot height limit? The car-carrier was configured as a “Tug-Along”, with a low slung small turntable set down behind the diff. That allowed the second car on the lower deck to fit down under the one on the trucks chassis. In this photo however the second car is a Galaxie and there was no way you’d get a second car on the trailer lower deck with it. The rest are Ford Mustangs.
I ended up driving car carriers because I’m basically lazy. There’s no better freight than that which you just drive on and off. (and the cars were also good to sleep in, rather than the cab of the Thames…)
Anyway, here’s a couple more photos for you.
Tunnels.
great pictures and story Tunnels keep them coming ,cheers mark