Lawrence Dunbar:
0Heres a real Mickey Mouse Foden, Regards Larry.
Who parked that motor on the Kerb ? Somebody could trip over on those kerbs after that heavy motor has gone and left them at all angles!! Anon1
Guilty as charged Dennis, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Guilty as charged Dennis, Regards Larry.
I’d like to bet you Larry that you’d quite happily turn the clock back and park that motor,tidy like, off the kerb !! Good old day’s what !! Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
Lawrence Dunbar:
Guilty as charged Dennis, Regards Larry.I’d like to bet you Larry that you’d quite happily turn the clock back and park that motor,tidy like, off the kerb !! Good old day’s what !! Cheers Dennis.
To right Dennis, They were the days when money was money, Plenty of work at fair decent rates & of course Diesel was about 30p a gallon, All gone Imafraid sadley to say, It must be very hard in to-days haulage now as things stand, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Bewick:
Lawrence Dunbar:
Guilty as charged Dennis, Regards Larry.I’d like to bet you Larry that you’d quite happily turn the clock back and park that motor,tidy like, off the kerb !! Good old day’s what !! Cheers Dennis.
To right Dennis, They were the days when money was money, Plenty of work at fair decent rates & of course Diesel was about 30p a gallon, All gone Imafraid sadley to say, It must be very hard in to-days haulage now as things stand, Regards Larry.
Larry,all to-days Hauliers are just unpaid tax collectors the way the rates have been depressed (self inflicted unfortunately) and costs,particularly fuel,have gone up and up and up,what is the tax on a litre of fuel now (inc vat) 80p or so,thats over half of what the motors earn ! How can that be viable? I read in Motor Transport to-day that a firm called Stalkers near Carlisle had made a profit of £35000 from nearly £6 million t/o,which equates to about half a percent !Say no more! Cheers Dennis.
j_turner023:
Thanks all, theyre great! I got in touch with BOC but apparently they have no records for any of their vehicles prior to some time in the 80’s which is a shame. But either way itll still be nice to have it back in its original livery.Jon
I work for BOC gases as it is now called, I am not in the transport dept but have a interest in all Lorries, trucks etc.
we have found a box containing the “BRITISH OXYGEN” goldleaf transfers, would some of these be any use to you?.
Sorry but I don’t have the BOC in a circle logo.
contact me if yu are interesrted.
Them pictures of the Mickey Mouse interior brought back memories of the one I drove for McMurdo of Sanquhar she had originally the Mk6 Two stroke but by the time I got her she had a well used 150 gardner but boy did I love that motor.Jan 73 seen me getting a new S39a and mutch as I liked it I still say the mouse was the better motor to sit in. Eddie.
They were a good cab IMO, I had a fold down bed in mine when I used to run Spratts down to Hull & Grimsby & up to Frazerbrough, I allways like the sitting position & the good old air change 12 Speed Foden Box, With a gear for every hill, I wish now I had kept it, Regards Larry.
Hi guys, your article caught my eye as my dad rove for BOC (later Gist), but not during the era you are looking for…still I thought I would take a look, and very glad I did too. The picture of the wagon parked up in that damp yard cut a very sad figure, especially the interior, I mean where do you even begin to think about starting on one so far gone?!.
However, to then see the later pics of it with the chassis taking shape, and then that interior makes me appreciate what you guys are all about!
Sitting here, tapping away, it’s dead easy for me to say keep up the good work, after all its not me who is out there, all hours in and in all weather, digging deep into the bank…but I’ll say it anyway…keep up the good work boys, you’re a credit to the movement, and can’t wait to see some more pics.
Cheers lads.
Thanks all. It’s so nice to hear words of encouragement. It has been quite an undertaking to say the least but we really are almost there now. It’s so satisfying to look back at the original pics and see how far we have come, especially considering we have done it all by good old fashioned graft and pretty much on a shoe string. Hope to have it on the road for the trans Pennine run later this year, to say I am dying to get it on the road is an understatement. When I get a few more photos I shall definitely post them. We are just in the process of fixing a few air leaks after all the pipes have been off and refurbished and then alls to do is paint the chassis, fit the fifth wheel and have the cab sprayed. Later jobs will be to make replica hydraulic tank and the gantry behind the cab as it had originally. Then onto the oil tanker trailer we have.
Sundanceuk, that is fantastic. I shall send you a msg later when I have a few mins but that really would be most appreciated!
Jon
Well the combination of rallying the other lorry, having a 1year old and getting married has held things up a little, but we are back on course again now. It doesn’t look like much but here’s 5 days solid work doing the 5th wheel. The end is almost in sight!
Well a bit more progress to report. After a lot of failed repairs and finally deciding that the old radiator core was beyond saving we got a new one before christmas. We have now stripped cleaned and painted the tanks, removed and replaced all studs, replaced a broken upright and milled them down on the shaping machine to suit the metric equivalent core height, drilled the core and built it all back up! We then found a leak so spent the day fixing that and now should be ready to go back into the lorry!
I think that Foden’s kept that four row core for years until the warmer running Rolls engine’s etc were fitted! Our S 10 models with the 265 Rolls engine’s came fitted with four row cores by mistake and Foden provided us with six row ones which we then had to strip the radiator tanks off and fit. At least, being new, everything came undone easily!
Pete.
my dad worked for boc in the late 70s and early 80s was finished when he slipped in the car park and broke his leg i remember goig with him as a youngster but only if he was going to the south of the county ie stanhope bishop auckland weardale such like he had an albion the 1st i can remember BET 120L then a bedford KKW 27P then he got the 1st pallet wagon at birtley a ford d series HWG 721W its funny how i remember the regs as i was only born in 1968 anyway im sure he has some pics of a few boc wagons an atki borderer amongst them il ask him and get them posted on if he can find them hope all goes well with your restoration i know how hard it is as me and my brother are doing 2 f10 volvos up if anyone can remember my dads name is les wright my grandad was tommy wright and they lived in bedford ave barley mow straight oppisite boc 
Wingnut:
my dad worked for boc in the late 70s and early 80s was finished when he slipped in the car park and broke his leg i remember goig with him as a youngster but only if he was going to the south of the county ie stanhope bishop auckland weardale such like he had an albion the 1st i can remember BET 120L then a bedford KKW 27P then he got the 1st pallet wagon at birtley a ford d series HWG 721W its funny how i remember the regs as i was only born in 1968 anyway im sure he has some pics of a few boc wagons an atki borderer amongst them il ask him and get them posted on if he can find them hope all goes well with your restoration i know how hard it is as me and my brother are doing 2 f10 volvos up if anyone can remember my dads name is les wright my grandad was tommy wright and they lived in bedford ave barley mow straight oppisite boc
Many thanks. If you do find any it would be great to see!
Great thread, I photo’d an ex BOC tractor unit not so long since…
It would be fantastic to have the only 2 surviving (that we know of) BOC tractor units - especially as this one is a 2 stroke. Although I guess that would just be greedy! 
A bit more progress for those that are interested. Had a good few days on it over the last few weeks and we now have an air tight watertight lorry! We have also done quite a bit of work on the cab interior. It’s now had its first coat of paint, dash painted, handbrake cover fitted an seats in. Chassis should be painted next week then it’s off to the painters to have the cab exterior done. Exciting times, the end is in sight!
Well it has been quite some time since my last post but things have really progressed. I couldn’t even start to list the work we have done since last time so I will let the photos do the talking. There are still quite a few little jobs to be done (including the “British Oxygen” sign writing) before we are properly back on the road, but after 4 years very hard work the end really does look like it is becoming a reality!
