Here’s one for you red and rust BRS lads,a bit of BTC co-operation,nice and friendly 
Except when you were waiting at level crossings,like Altrincham,Blythe Bridge and those two at Bentley,Doncaster if you ever went to Prosper de Mulders. 
hiya,
another canny action pic Chris nice see to them in their working environment, tell you what if the tie-up between road and rail had been managed properly it would have been formidable but non-combatants who couldn’t organise a p++s-up in a brewery put paid to any chance of it becoming workable, of course there would always have been stuff that couldn’t go by rail but the majority of it could and that would have cut down all this nose to tail motorway traffic,but if i’m really truthful i don’t think i could have stuck local working from a railhead day in day out not when i was a lad anyway.
thanks harry long retired.
Harry, there was no chance of road & rail link up, because the bigwigs and bosses knew it would become too strong for them to pay the drivers them low wages, we were the beggers, and they like to keep us under there thumbs, look what happened to the coalminers, when they got strong, they used Maggie to break them, by using the police, then stuffed them afterwards, its a hard old world if you are poor, and takes a lot of work, to get out of the system. Sandman Norman.
Harry, there was no chance of road & rail link up, because the bigwigs and bosses knew it would become too strong for them to pay the drivers them low wages, we were the beggers, and they like to keep us under there thumbs, look what happened to the coalminers, when they got strong, they used Maggie to break them, by using the police, then stuffed them afterwards, its a hard old world if you are poor, and takes a lot of work, to get out of the system. Sandman Norman.
Cheer up Norman,you could have been tramping with one of these.
But you got one of these instead 
.
Could be yours,it’s got a Northants trade plate in the screen.
Quite easy mate, but noway of confirming it, they did look good
Chris Webb:
Cheer up Norman,you could have been tramping with one of these.
But you got one of these instead
Could be yours,it’s got a Northants trade plate in the screen.
hiya,
Chris saw that nautical pic somwhere before, was it part of a calendar??.i should have transferred to it whils’t i still had some sea legs, just about trawler size,and was never seasick, wonder if there was any dodgy’s and where did you go with the old OPs6 if you needed some readies.
thanks harry long retired.
Chris I do not have a license for a ship, or a wheelchair, or a plane, but most otherthings, I did like the photo of the Marthon, it brings fond memories. Sandman Norman
hiya,
just going back to my BRS days and my early eight legger and drag days, a lot of deliveries where to places which had been designed for horses and carts and the only way to get backed in was to drop the trailer off turn round and “nose” it in, not an everyday thing but if you was doing a pre loaded job it sometimes had to be done, if you loaded yourself you sorted awkward drops to be on the motor so’s you could leave the trailer somwhere until you got rid of the bad drops, just wondering if modern outfits ever have to do “nosing jobs” these jobs usually was on monday morning when a driver phoned in a “sickie”, i never once did that.
thanks harry long retired.
hiya,
just going back to my BRS days and my early eight legger and drag days, a lot of deliveries where to places which had been designed for horses and carts and the only way to get backed in was to drop the trailer off turn round and “nose” it in, not an everyday thing but if you was doing a pre loaded job it sometimes had to be done, if you loaded yourself you sorted awkward drops to be on the motor so’s you could leave the trailer somwhere until you got rid of the bad drops, just wondering if modern outfits ever have to do “nosing jobs” these jobs usually was on monday morning when a driver phoned in a “sickie”, i never once did that.
thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
hiya,
just going back to my BRS days and my early eight legger and drag days, a lot of deliveries where to places which had been designed for horses and carts and the only way to get backed in was to drop the trailer off turn round and “nose” it in, not an everyday thing but if you was doing a pre loaded job it sometimes had to be done, if you loaded yourself you sorted awkward drops to be on the motor so’s you could leave the trailer somwhere until you got rid of the bad drops, just wondering if modern outfits ever have to do “nosing jobs” these jobs usually was on monday morning when a driver phoned in a “sickie”, i never once did that.
thanks harry long retired.
I never "nosed"one in all the time I was on drawbars Harry,it wasn’t allowed in the depot as your rear view was restricted so we were expected to be able to reverse in the proper manner,on the mirrors.I was on them for years and used to them but other drivers used to make a pig’s ear backing them up,much to the amusement of the warehouse staff. We did drops off the trailers at night at selected Littlewoods stores,never having to split.
When I went back on artics I kept putting the wrong lock on for a start so it was me who got the stick.
Here’s a couple I had from new.
hiya,
bet that was a nice drive Chris and power steering as well, never had that luxury when i was doing tug and drag work, when i had to come off them to go back on artics i was just like you wrong lock and making myself appear a right twerp for a day or two, it was like learning all over again.
thanks harry long retired.
Hi Harry, Hi Chris, did you find yourselves cutting the corners when going forwards?
flishflunk:
Hi Harry, Hi Chris, did you find yourselves cutting the corners when going forwards?
Correct,the old drawbar followed like pup hence the name,but when back on artics I used to forget until the last minute then give myself more room,a bit embarassing.They weren’t popular with the majority of our drivers,they didn’t like dropping trailers and then taking the dollies off and coupling up again and they were forever knocking airtaps off when backing onto the dolly again as they couldn’t be ars** to check the pin alignment.There were one or two deliveries we did on nights where it was easier with a drawbar than with a 40ft trailer,Manchester Arndale Centre and the precinct in Bradford spring to Nothing special about handling a wagon and drag,just something you got used to with experience,like an artic…
Those continental lads were good with them,put me to shame.
hiya,
FF always drove the eight legger as if i had a trailer on even when on the rare occasion not pulling one just something you quickly got used to, only corners cut when making the time sheet out, or am i the only person who ever did that, bet old Norm never cut corners.
thanks harry long retired.
Harry, with my army training, I always took a wide berth on everything I did, even on the road Ha Ha Ha .Sandman Norman
hiya,
here we go, holier than thou and never cut corners, i personally was in the forces and was the biggest corner cutter and skiver you could come across,and Norm if you didn’t you were the only one i’ve heard of, now you’ve got to admit that part of military life was good training for becoming a BRS driver that outfit was riddled with skivers and corner cutters and i met a few fiddlers as well, but oh no i couldn’t be amongst that lot.
thanks harry long retired.
Harry, I keep telling you, I should have had Saint, in front of my name Ha Ha Ha , I am a strong believer in rules & regulations, because you can always use them to your advantage, but you must know that in the army, they had a load of crooks, villians, and mis-fits, but going in the REME and with volenteers, we had a better class of soldier to serve with, you always have skivers, but they soon got shipped out if they never done their wack. Ciggarette’s was a good thing in the army, I would buy the coupons, when some squaddies wanted money or did not smoke, then buy cigs, then sell them later, or if I had to many, sell them to the Germans for 2marks a packet, that is what is called enterprise. SAndman Norman
hiya,
Norm we had free ciggies in korea first parade on monday was a fifty tin of cigs, two boxes of matches, two razor blades and a tot of rum was issued every day seven days a week something to do with the regiment being water borne during WW two, so if you wasn’t an alcoholic ciggie addict when you got called up you sure as hell was when you got demobbed plus my best mate was a non smoker so i got double rations i did flog a spare wheel or two “borrowed” from the BLR’d vehicles, i got rid of these via a bus company which was en-route to the RASC depot i used to go to for the post and rations, i was in the RA, the ciggies perk came to an end when the regiment moved to malaya but they was only a few coppers there so no fiddle, more none lorry related drivel, i’ll have to get my thinking cap on and find something sensible to write about,
thanks harry long retired.
Harry it might be dribble, but it interesting, these young lads, can learn a trick or two, from us season troopers, give a few years, and they will have ruddy robots driving, they will not know where the oil is dripping from, the lorry or the robots, Ha Ha Ha . Sandman Norman