Im Robert Austin and if anyone is still interested as this thread was a few years ago, we still own this tanker. My dad died 6 years ago and we still have it. If you was to google or go on youtube the mk2 mondeo advert you will see this lorry is used in that original ad. After they used it (and covered it with some sort of paint to change the colour) it took the lacquer off the cab.
robaustin750750:
Im Robert Austin and if anyone is still interested as this thread was a few years ago, we still own this tanker. My dad died 6 years ago and we still have it. If you was to google or go on youtube the mk2 mondeo advert you will see this lorry is used in that original ad. After they used it (and covered it with some sort of paint to change the colour) it took the lacquer off the cab.
Hello Robert, sorry to hear that your father has passed away.
Good to hear that you still have that Scammell - does it ever go out? And do you still have all the other lorries in your father’s collection?
Hiya …most of the older truckers will know where this photo is taken…you can see by the colour
of the bricks this house has been seriously damaged and most likley by a truck…
The location is the A50 going out of holmes chapel the truck that did the damage was a
cowburn & cowpar Scammell…it must have been in 1964/5 it was the first crash i’d ever seen .
I think the building has been hit since that day. i remember the tanker halfway through the house.
John
Not the clearest of photos
robaustin750750:
Im Robert Austin and if anyone is still interested as this thread was a few years ago, we still own this tanker. My dad died 6 years ago and we still have it. If you was to google or go on youtube the mk2 mondeo advert you will see this lorry is used in that original ad. After they used it (and covered it with some sort of paint to change the colour) it took the lacquer off the cab.
Hello Robert, I got to know your father well as he built up his collection of Scammells and I was very sorry to learn firstly of his illness and then his passing. He really was enthusiastic about his lorries and he let me drive quite a few of them around the field adjoining his home.
W H C and C ran Seddons as well…
They also carried a lot of carbon disulphide.
Chris Webb:
W H C and C ran Seddons as well…
They also carried a lot of carbon disulphide.
I loved carrying CS, it gave you a warm happy feeling and smelt lovely. I must have been addicted to it I think 
If I remember correctly none of their tanks had landing legs fitted,dont know the reason for this prehaps someone can tell us.
Not sure about the landing legs, C+C ran with super single tyres on the tractor drive axles, we were told that with twins if the tyre went flat it could heat up and cause a fire, with singles you parked up and got it changed.
I seem to remember a similar story about the landing legs, not able to drop the trailer and leave somewhere you should’nt
Occasionally we had to drop a loaded trailer on to the tubular supports, but you had to draw the tractor out about a foot before the support would fit under the frame on the trailer … always a tense moment when you wonder if it would move
Myths or reality? but When Tankfreight took the fleet on i noticed that the trailer rear side reflectors were often melted, co-incidently the drain tubes from the top finished there, As a young apprentice I was told that the vapors would sit on top until you got moving, eventually they drop down the tubes and after an intense braking application it would flash back. Not sure if it was true or just a drivers tale, but the melted refecltors were real and CS2 had a rather low flashpoint!
The later single pot tanks were built under a derogation code, we re-wrote the spec with the Courtaulds and the HSE
Same old 4 pot tanks used for mock transfers, the old Cowburn colours showing through
A newer, single compartment version
Stanfield:
If I remember correctly none of their tanks had landing legs fitted,dont know the reason for this prehaps someone can tell us.
It dates back to the original Scammell thinking of the 1920s when their first artics were designated Articulated 6 and later Articulated 8. Although they were articulated lorries they were designed as a complete tractive unit and semi-trailer to run together, rather than for tractor / trailer interchangeability and flexibility. It was only later that landing legs were fitted to Scammell trailers following customer demands. Many Shell-Mex and B.P. Scammell artics didn’t have landing legs on the trailers until well into the 1950s.
gingerfold:
Stanfield:
If I remember correctly none of their tanks had landing legs fitted,dont know the reason for this prehaps someone can tell us.It dates back to the original Scammell thinking of the 1920s when their first artics were designated Articulated 6 and later Articulated 8. Although they were articulated lorries they were designed as a complete tractive unit and semi-trailer to run together, rather than for tractor / trailer interchangeability and flexibility. It was only later that landing legs were fitted to Scammell trailers following customer demands. Many Shell-Mex and B.P. Scammell artics didn’t have landing legs on the trailers until well into the 1950s.
I also remember it much later. I used to take spare parts into Conoco VMU at Immingham, by this time they were running 2200 DAF units and a paired trailer, they could only drop the trailer in the workshop on a special cradle. They were the first i saw with a Teflon plate instead of Grease on the turntable. I was told the reason for no legs was an extra 300litres 
Wheel Nut:
gingerfold:
Stanfield:
If I remember correctly none of their tanks had landing legs fitted,dont know the reason for this prehaps someone can tell us.It dates back to the original Scammell thinking of the 1920s when their first artics were designated Articulated 6 and later Articulated 8. Although they were articulated lorries they were designed as a complete tractive unit and semi-trailer to run together, rather than for tractor / trailer interchangeability and flexibility. It was only later that landing legs were fitted to Scammell trailers following customer demands. Many Shell-Mex and B.P. Scammell artics didn’t have landing legs on the trailers until well into the 1950s.
I also remember it much later. I used to take spare parts into Conoco VMU at Immingham, by this time they were running 2200 DAF units and a paired trailer, they could only drop the trailer in the workshop on a special cradle. They were the first i saw with a Teflon plate instead of Grease on the turntable. I was told the reason for no legs was an extra 300litres
Still the same today on petroleum tanks, although the halfway house is a lightweight aluminium leg with a manual locking pin to set the height
Wheel Nut:
gingerfold:
Stanfield:
If I remember correctly none of their tanks had landing legs fitted,dont know the reason for this prehaps someone can tell us.It dates back to the original Scammell thinking of the 1920s when their first artics were designated Articulated 6 and later Articulated 8. Although they were articulated lorries they were designed as a complete tractive unit and semi-trailer to run together, rather than for tractor / trailer interchangeability and flexibility. It was only later that landing legs were fitted to Scammell trailers following customer demands. Many Shell-Mex and B.P. Scammell artics didn’t have landing legs on the trailers until well into the 1950s.
I also remember it much later. I used to take spare parts into Conoco VMU at Immingham, by this time they were running 2200 DAF units and a paired trailer, they could only drop the trailer in the workshop on a special cradle. They were the first i saw with a Teflon plate instead of Grease on the turntable. I was told the reason for no legs was an extra 300litres
Just been talking with one of the old C+C drivers who confirms the legs were omitted for weight saving, also mentioned that the old 4 pot tanks were originally fitted with one piece fiberglass wings on each side, again to save weight, wondered if the super single on the drives was for weight
As usual when you get talking, my man was re-telling tales of the olden days, how the bosses Brian Cowburn and David Cowper were well into organising charity event. Apparently they would issue intrest free loans for staff, frquently used to buy in materials for the drivers to build canoe’s in the workshops when work was quiet. and also organised Cricket matches with Cortaulds and Croft (in company time) - just like today eh
Sniffy:
Not sure about the landing legs, C+C ran with super single tyres on the tractor drive axles, we were told that with twins if the tyre went flat it could heat up and cause a fire, with singles you parked up and got it changed.
I seem to remember a similar story about the landing legs, not able to drop the trailer and leave somewhere you should’nt
Occasionally we had to drop a loaded trailer on to the tubular supports, but you had to draw the tractor out about a foot before the support would fit under the frame on the trailer … always a tense moment when you wonder if it would move
I worked for Cowburn and Cowper for a few months. They used to build their own tanks at Textalose Road Trafford Park. There were a few bad accidents. In the 1960s a Tanker rolled over on the M6 and a lady had got out of her car to help the driver. The tanker had ruptured and she perished. I had a Scammell with a gate change and without fail would miss a gear going over the ship canal on the M62, had to stop and start again in first gear. A few old drivers I remember were Billy Winters, Bill Grady, and Pete Reynolds Cyril? who I followed me to Smiths of Eccles, black oil and a contract at Pollard Street Manchester for Distillers CO2. Graham Richardson worked at Smith and Robinson late 1970 to 1980s; he also had a sports shop at Urmston selling mainly golfing gear.
Unfortunately I think the tanker was owned by RTS and was carrying Oleum and crashed in December 1972,
Wheel Nut:
Unfortunately I think the tanker was owned by RTS and was carrying Oleum and crashed in December 1972,
Hi Wheelnut. I was working for an Irish hauliers 1972. If this is the same accident, the driver lost his license and worked in the warehouse at Allens Transport Westinghouse road. I remember RTS. .
Wheel Nut:
Unfortunately I think the tanker was owned by RTS and was carrying Oleum and crashed in December 1972,
Was’nt the lady in question a nurse on her way home from being on duty?
The tanker was a RTS owned vehicle this is correct the-ncec.com/assets/NewsAndArtic … -11-10.pdf take a look on here.
Stanfield:
Wheel Nut:
Unfortunately I think the tanker was owned by RTS and was carrying Oleum and crashed in December 1972,Was’nt the lady in question a nurse on her way home from being on duty?
The tanker was a RTS owned vehicle this is correct the-ncec.com/assets/NewsAndArtic … -11-10.pdf take a look on here.
The subject is used by some ADR instructors as an introduction to why we need ADR or originally Hazchem in the UK.
I remember Alan Walker told us about it and I have seen pictures since. There is more about this incident in the long ADR thread on Trucknet.
bob-lad:
Cracking picture, about 54 years ago I was courting a young lady in Goldthorpe (eventually to become my wife) I would regulary miss the last number 14 bus to Doncaster. I had many lifts in the old Scammells of Cowburn & Cowper; they were noisy and not built for comfort but I loved them. regards Big Al
Stanfield:
Cowburn & Cowper were taken over sometime in the late 80s/early 90s by Sadler Tankers & some of their work was taken on by Tankfrieght (I think). One of the lads in the traffic office was called Graham Richardson who in 2003/4 was at Albion Chemicals Sandbach as Transport Manager.
Cowburn & Cowper as a company were taken over by a consortium resulting in a senior person from Leathers Chemicals taking control at C & C and when Leathers were taken over by Hays the transport department was moved to Sadlers Transport who at the time were also owned by the Hays Group, Hays retained the Chemical side of the business later to become Albion Chemicals and bow Brenntag.