I am a contributor to Amazon.com’s “Car ■■■■” weblog (carlustblog.com/), where I go under the pen name “Cookie the Dog’s Owner.”
I am working on a post about Albion trucks which is inspired by the Mark Knopfler song “Border Reiver.” As Albions are a little thin on the ground here in North America, I’m having to do all my research on the Internet, from sources which are unfamiliar to me. Thanks to Truck Net UK, Big Lorry Blog, the HCVS, and other sites, I have found dozens of pictures of Albions, gotten a pretty good grasp of Albion’s history, and I’ve even learned a thing or two about the original border reivers. (My youngest son, the History Channel addict, helped with that last part.) The one thing I haven’t found is much in the way of technical specifications beyond some vague allusions to numbers of cylinders and six-speed transmissions. I’d like to be able to say that a Reiver had “a __-cylinder engine of ___ displacement that produced ___ horsepower and it carried a payload of ____,” with the blanks filled in, and not make a complete fool of myself.
To that end, I would appreciate it if any of you could answer the following (or at least tell me where to look for answers):
– What types of engines would be used in a Reiver (cylinders, displacement, horsepower), particularly those operated by Robson’s Border Transport in the mid-1960s?
– I’ve seen references to a 6-speed transmission, which I understand was a non-synchronized (“crashbox”) type. Did Albion use any other type? When did fully-synchronous transmissions become common?
– How much freight could a Reiver carry, in terms of weight?
– Were Robson’s Reivers in general service, or were they assigned to particular routes or customers?
– Was there any difference, from the driver’s perspective, between the “LAD” cab and the older style?
– Did the quality or reliability of Albions decline under British Leyland?
– Finally, to those of you who got to experience these fascinating machines first hand, what was it like to drive one? How did an Albion compare to its competitors (Bedford, Foden, etc.)?
Hiya…I,ve got a little bit of info for you the LAD and ERGO cabbed Albions IICR are all 6 cylinder.there is a 138 bhp and a 155 bhp.
there is a Albion chieftan 6 cyl 106 bhp. the gearbox is stated the same in all models…5F1R. the engines i recall was Leyland 370/400/401…
I have rode in the coach built Albions. The LAD was a leap forward although not a lot of room. The gearstick was not good as you could
bang your elbow on the back of the cab.I think Albions was more available than fodens or ERF but was a cheaper truck all round and
in my eyes not as robust. but very good double drive system that never seemed to get stuck…Noise level in the lad cab OUTRAGEROUS.
The ergo cab Albion although underpowered was very comfortable with a good heater and wipers.I had a artic version running at 20 tons
gvw and it could,nt reach 40 mph on normal roads loaded but was good for 70mph empty on a motorway…The gross weight was the same as
any other 4 or 6 wheeler. the payload was govened by the body that was fitted. if you was doing corn to farms a light weight ally body
was ok. but if you carried oil drums a heavy wooden floor was needed and could restrict the payload by 3/4 of a ton. i hope this helps
John
John’s kicked the thread off fairly well with his summary.I never ran a Riever but I had a pal in the late 60’s that had a single drive Ergo cab with the 400 engine,his name was Harry Thompson and his main traffic was ex Smith bros. Whitehaven.His Albion was what was termed the Haulage model and it was fitted with a 24 ft Wood/Ali platform and he could carry about 13.5 ton but this was often exceeded and it would regularly have 15 ton on its back!I’m not just sure about the reivers Robsons would have had through their hands over the years but they would have had every variation for sure.As a lad growing up in Kendal in the early 60’s I knew a Robson driver who lived in the town,a Scotsman called Sandy Shanks and he drove a Robson Reiver LAD cabfor a while(can’t remember the fleet name) and he was what was termed a “Roamer” and went anywhere although he spent a lot of time running into Liverpool,he liked a “wee dram” or two and was a good singer! He was a star turn in some of the pubs on the dock road and because of this could get unloaded quicker than most as all the “gangers” new him! There was or is an Albion museum at Biggar in southern Scotland and they should be able to provide you with all the the info you require.I only ever ran one Albion and that was a 4 wheeler Chieftain and its spec was Albion 4 cyl/6spd o/d/Albion HR axle.It was an honest, reliable little motor and never missed a beat!! In my opinion the Albion Riever was good for 13 ton payload at 20 ton GVW but it was superceded when the new 1968 transport Act came in and the likes of AEC Marshals,Guy Big Js,ERF’s and Atki rigids went to 22ton GVW and later to 24 ton GVW which were all able to carry 15 ton payload with the right body.The Albion cosequently “died a death” in the market place.If you type in Biggar Museum Trust your in buisness!!! Cheers Bewick.
I had one of the last ones built under the Leyland regime, it was basically the same drivetrain as the sixtes reiver but with the later Leyland Bathgate cab and turbocharged bigger capacity engine. The engine was the 411(cu in) turbo 150bhp whose basic design went back to the early 50’s, the gearbox was the Leyland 6speed overdrive box with a 2 speed planatry gear in the bell housing giving 12 speeds. The drive was transmitted to a mid chassis mounted transfer box from which twin propshafts took the drive to both driven rear axles, one prop went through the first axle casing to drive the second via offset diffentials with both diff locks and interaxle lock. As far as I know this drive train was used from the 50’to the 80’s
My 81 reiver RFD 28 W had a locomotors sleeper with eberspacher heater ( yes in 81 ! and a BRS motor to boot!) a dropside tipper, I ran metal bar from the midlands to Dundee and scrap back several times a week, in the 5 yrs I covered almost 500,000mls, it never loosed me down once and with a clydesdale overdrive gear in the reiver box and 1100x20 rear tyres it could easily top 70mph. Uprated to 26t it had a payload of just under 18t.A tad underpowered once rolling it could carry some speed ! Despite Leylands input it remained a good motor to the end when it was replaced with the heavier constructer.
And yes that Mark Knopfler song (the border reiver) brought a smile to my face too!
Hello there Cookie - I have got a 1967 Observer’s Book of Commercial Vehicles and one from 1971. If you PM me your e-mail address I’ll scan the Albion pages (photo & specifications) and e-mail back to you - might be of help - don’t want to put them on here in case there’s copyright issues etc …
Also, John, Berwick, and Trev, thank you for your recollections and comments. I will be e-mailing the Biggar Museum here to see what they might be able to tell me.
CookieTheDog’sOwner:
Gardener, I just got home and opened my e-mail. What you sent me is pretty much what I was looking for. You are a prince among men.
Hi, the Albion Reiver of the late 50’s with the coach built cabs were a light weight 6 wheeler in comparison with the likes of Atkinsons and Leyland Hippo’s and were fitted with a constant double drive bogie which would mean that you had to keep all of the 8 tyres on this bogie at the same size, i.e same wear , same pressure etc. as they would be very prone to catching fire otherwise…Tony.
Just wanted to thank you all for your input. I’ve finished my article, and it will probably be published a couple of weeks from now. I’ll let you know when it goes up.
The article I asked for help with last month went up on the website today. Just wanted to thank you again for all your help; without it, it would have been a much poorer effort.
