Hi Harry
Thanks for that, I don’t do bowing and scraping very well. Although not as old as you lads the getting up is starting to be a problem. Started thinking what else could I do while i’m down here…I always thought you red and rust lads were Knights of the road. I remember when drivers would stop to help you change a wheel or help you wrap up your sheets. Now if you get a flat you call a tyre fitter and a sheet is something you use when you do a spreader.Definetly the good old days.
Mappo, nice photo’s, there was a thread on " smiths of maddison" last october, because I wrote it was taken over by B.E.T., who had Bulwarks, Stamps of bristol, Ancliff’s of Manchester, and many more tanker firms, but was taken over in the late 80’s by Rentakill, and dis-mantled, used to know old Jack who looked after the sheets & tilts repairs at the Glasgow depot. Sandman Norman
hiya,
keith remember a chap starting at the old red and rust who’d only ever worked for a storage and haulage outfit, the trailers were all box vans and that’s all he knew, consequently he had never roped and sheeted a load in his life and been driving 20 years a little bit longer than myself at the time, anyway my job for the morning was to show him (how to go on), not an easy job, easy for me to do i’d done nothing else but trying to show someone else i found difficult, anyway i showed him back sheet first then front sheet i personally always kept a short piece of rope or two and always put a rope over the bit where the sheets overlap then front cross and then backwards until halfway using every hook then the back cross always using the dundee idea then every hook to middle topped off with a flysheet, not a flapping bit anywhere, he did get the idea but teaching him how to make a dolly took a lot of explaining, and i wouldn’t have wanted to pull one his trailers for a week or two, but he got there in time,poor lad was made redundant after about a year, the depot was coming to an end, first in first out rule applied but at least he left with another string to his bow and he bought me twenty woodbines for showing him the ropes, pardon the pun.
thanks harry long retired.
What a Gentleman you are Harry , teaching him everything you knew and then he gets the bullit so buys you a packet of whiffs for your trouble . I tried teaching a left ■■■■■■ dollies once and not only found it impossible because he kept the ropes in the wrong hand and was going left over blooming right , when he did learn could nobody else undo them .
Good BRS photo`s again this time from Mappo .
Regards Frenchy
hiya,
frenchy when you think about it how many firms would take a man off his duties to show a guy of twenty years driving experience how to rope and sheet, i think they would wait for someone with the relavent experience to apply, seems the old red and rust were all heart.
thanks harry long retired.
hiya,
sorry about the cold norm, doesn’t look like your’e going to be well enough to attend my roping and sheeting refresher course ready for when the old red and rust makes a comeback, frenchy’s going to turn up because he needs extra tuition on ring and rail dollies.
thanks harry long retired.
hello
You’ll have to be gentle with me, it’s my first time…
I’ve just retired from owner/driving a 4 axle Isuzu rigid curtainsider pulling a 4 axle c/s trailer carrying newsprint here in New Zealand. Which won’t be of the slightest interest to anyone else!!!
But my reason for posting is that when I were nobbut a lad I lived in Bingley in deepest West Yorkshire and used to go trainspotting from the singularly named Treacle ■■■■ Alley which ran from the three-rise locks, through the allotments and under the main line, surfacing again alongside what I remember as a British Road Services Depot on Keighley Road.
I have started on a model railway of the area and would like to include the BRS depot - BUT - there are no pictures of the area that I can find, except an aerial shot which shows a rank of about 10 pantechs and large vans parked at right angles to the railway. This was taken in about 1960something . I would be grateful for any information about the depot and its surroundings, whether it was a depot in its own right, or maybe a sub for Bradford.
I must admit to also being a novice at this computer thing and maybe I just don’t know what questions to ask it…
Any help appreciated
Kind regards
hiya,
exiledyorkshireman, wow thats a long one, welcome to trucknet and from so far away too, can’t be much use to you with regards to the bingley depot, knew of it and have passed it on the odd occasion but never had cause to use it even for fuel it was a bit too near my home base of blackburn to ever need it just hope that there is someone on here who worked there or has pics of it although we “red and rusters” are getting a bit thin on the ground the ones who use this site anyway, nice to hear from you mate and thats very sincere even from an exiledlancashireman now durham.
thanks harry long retired.
Hello Red and Rusties
Hope this works and I dont get told off for the posting but its an old Southampton depot Motor and couldnt resist. Hi ExiledYorkshireman , Welcome , sorry no info but as Im an old railway relic what the ecky peck is Treacle ■■■■ alley , love that for a handle , down south some years ago the Canadian Pacific was named Treacle Eater for a Southern run , saw her at Yeovil Junction , anthing to do with that ?
Eh Norn I bet my French colds worse than English one , Im sneezing like Maurice Chevalier , not funny mate won be able to make Harrys Refresher rope and sheet course .
Regards Frenchy
hiya,
frenchy,it’s that norman putting the virus about, i’m laden with a cold as well just seem to get one after another these days the people who pumped me full of chemo chemicals have a lot to answer for, but at least i’m still here, like the albion frenchy would be just about my size, now if i could just drive it about empty i don’t think i could even rope and sheet that now,i’d just tell the gaffer got a load of glider engines and i’ll ring when empty, then some office thicko would ask, how much weight in em?. rope and sheets course postponed due to lack o interest, i wonder why?.
thanks harry long retired.
One for the Dodgy fans , 15t of drums on an old V8 Perky . We had 6 of these Dodges that replaced the Mercurys , Bristols and Atkis in around 1970 . Thats some virus of Norms , its infected Europe also ?. Pity about the course Harry , I could have taught you how to ring dolly , or is that ring a dolly , cant remember now .
Regards Frenchy
Hello again
Many thanks for the welcome, I never expect information to fall into my lap straightaway - but you never know, especially if you don’t ask…
Just drifting through the site, I have some sympathy for various viewpoints, and yes I know I live in the past, but…
We are seeing (until the Recession) a huge growth in the number of trucks on the road here. The railway has shrunk over the years as various private owners have failed to reinvest in maintenance and rolling stock, and the fact that it’s only 3’6" gauge limits its capability and speed, and this is not helped by the terrain. So the trucking companies have grown hugely, as have the number of truck accidents…
It’s long been my opinion that there are any number of guys who can find the right radio channel, polish all the chrome and change all the gears, but there are not that many who know instinctively what to do when something goes wrong and it turns to custard at 100kph and pulling 44 tons.
The growth of good drivers can not keep pace with the number of powerful trucks going on the road.
Well, that’s my little serrmon, and it’s probably nothing you’ve not heard before.
I’ve been looking through some sites and it didn’t take me long to realise that some childhood memories are way adrift of the mark. I used to think that the 4 axle Fodens I saw were BIG.
Some of your preservation societies are clearly doing a great job, there are some fine photos on the web, and, great for me, there are plenty of truck models now available, ready-to-run as well as kits. I was particularly taken with a kit for a Bristol 4 axle flatbed which hopefully will be winging its wayto me asap.
As far as Treacle ■■■■ Alley is concerned, well, yes it’s a strange one and I must try to find out how it got its name. It was a dark and dank tunnel but the allotments end was a great place for trainspotting (and a great place for scoring the odd bit of rhubarb). Alas it is no more, it was fillled in as the A650(I think) bypass bludgeoned its way through Bingley and was replaced by a footbridge. Why "red and rusty’? ". Cheers
hiya,
hope you don’t mind me shortening your moniker to yorky, you ask why red and rust, thats down to frenchy, most BRS vehicles were mechanically spot-on but as they aged any scrapes and little dents never got treated and as red was the prominent colour in the early years red and rust was a pretty accurate description of the motors, good old motors though i liked the old bristols and the leyland octopus’s have driven both the eight leggers pulling drawbars and the artic versions of the same models always got you there and back without problems, as you’ve guessed most of the red and rust motors pictured are restored motors, rarely seen looking like they did when on active service ,when the BRS finished i packed in as a proper driver just couldn’t face working for the private sector and finished my working life for the local water authority doing a bit of driving and a bit of labouring and loved it.
thanks harry long retired.
hiya,
stravaiger the eight legger was in the yard of a company called stansfields i think, when i did a couple of weeks for them in the late 50s it was in there all tidied up but not then lettered and everybody said it was the motor from the movie, great film by the way, thank you, never did drive it only worked there for a couple of weeks holiday relief, i don’t think i could tug one of them old girls round the corners now but a blast up the M74 would be OK, in those early days i hadn’t worked for the old red and rust i think i got a start there in about 61/62 having progressed from wagon and drags to artics courtesy of fearing’s of burnley were i taught myself to drive them, i always said if you could manage an octopus and drawbar you could drive anything, i spent about half an hour shunting about in a customers yard and set off for london the same day, started for the old red and rust, first job octopus and trailer to southhampton, but drove just about everything going when i worked for BRS if you was lucky you got an AEC mercury with a single axle trailer flying machines, always good for a dodgy night out when you had one of them.
thanks harry long retired.
Can anybody tell me anything about this truck please?
It started life painted black, with Philblack in the headboard, which I believe was a BRS Contract.
Then later on it became green, then finally red.
The trailer is a 1956 and one of only 17 produced. I think the unit is the same age, but I couldn’t swear to it.
I know it’s a long shot, but any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
hiya,
kate philblacks was wholly owned by BRS, quite a large fleet of bristols only traffic was carbon black, horrible stuff no matter how careful you was when loading you always finished up like a black version of a homepride flour grader, i seem to think they went over to mandators later on, but i can’t help with that motor i was north west area, but i’ll dare bet someone on here will know all about it.
thanks harry log retired.
Hi
We used to do that carbon black in the early seventies to a firm just off the M4 IIRC we used to slip out of the Membury services when no one was looking as getting off at the next junction added miles to the journey. We also used to take it to Phenix Rubber at Pipegate Near Woore. like you said it would take weeks of washing to get rid of the stuff.
hiya,
yes the carbon black was horrible traffic, it was all handball the times i did it but i believe it became palletised with shrink wrapped covering later on never got any of that, the sheets where only suitable for steel after a load of that stuff, have handballed china clay as well, that washed off ok though and there was the compressed air hose for blowing it off your clothes before needing to get back in the cab, health and safety would have a fit seeing that used today,the BRS did some funny old loads but more good traffic than bad, reels of paper were ok especially when driving the old 8 leggers and trailers, was always one drop and usually yard to yard without too much shunting about, not guaranteed with the return loads especially if you got a backload of spuds most farms could accomodate the 8 wheeler but not with the trailer hung on so you had to load 6 tons on the motor take it away you and the mate tranship it leave the mate to rope and sheet the drag while the driver went back to the farm to load motor, they were hard work days and it could take nearly a full shift to get loaded,and not a one off, i did it on a few occasions, the red and rust still owe me a new back.
thanks harry long retired.
