Hello every one as we mentioned on the ME thread SVT 953N was an ex Comart F89 which had been driven by Wheeler, we bought it off Malcolm Harrison circa 1978 ish.We did a lot of ME and European work with it and modified it quite a lot,if you look on the ME thread page no. ive forgot you ll see some pics of it at Asprovalta ,Greece with the Middle East Minerals Scania on its back. Regards Crow.Page no. 157
The two guys who started Commercial Engineers and were there when I was night shift foreman,(at the time we were supplying FIAT’s to C & B,),
were John Mountford and Ron Evans.They both previously worked at Albert Chatfields commercial garage in Clough St Hanley,where strangly enough,I was workshop foreman there after they left.
They started their business in Cheadle where I first started for them while they had the garage in Sneyd Hill built.
geoffthecrowtaylor:
Hello every one as we mentioned on the ME thread SVT 953N was an ex Comart F89 which had been driven by Wheeler, we bought it off Malcolm Harrison circa 1978 ish.We did a lot of ME and European work with it and modified it quite a lot,if you look on the ME thread page no. ive forgot you ll see some pics of it at Asprovalta ,Greece with the Middle East Minerals Scania on its back. Regards Crow.Page no. 157
Geoff,
Been following the astran middle east thread and have missed this, thanks for bringing it up, nice to know it carried on giving good service after Dad swopped to his new F10 - didn’t want to swop, actually threatend to jack in when they made him get out of SVT - loved that truck. Little story about SVT, used to go in that truck loads with Dad and once in 77 , remeber it well it was the night Elvis died and we had heard it on radio Luxembourg in the night going through Luxembourg on our way to Italy after loading in Germany, broke down near luxembourg / french border with a broken gear likage, problem was, Dad could not find the warranty book - never told him this, but I had taken it home from the trip before to trace the picture off the front of it to do a drawing and had left it in my bedroom !!! - caused all sorts of problems, but eventually after many calls to and from England, got the problem fixed. Sorry Dad !!!
Brilliant truck - Before
After
Thanks for these photos Geoff, when did it eventually retire ■■, must have had some miles on teh clock !!
Regards
Ant
sorry to be the bearer of bad news. but an ex comart driver from leek has died. he was 79 , so only the earlier members of the comart crew will remember him. very nice chap and a real character R I P ray regards terry
top cat leek:
sorry to be the bearer of bad news. but an ex comart driver from leek has died. he was 79 , so only the earlier members of the comart crew will remember him. very nice chap and a real character R I P ray regards terry
Terry,
Sorry to here about Ray, what was Ray’s second name I,ll let my Mum know.
You would’nt happen to be in contact with Dereck Birch bt any chance, Steve Baddeley reckons he was always taking photos, wondered if Dereck could be contacted and would be so kind as to allow his photo’s to be posted ■■
regards
Ant
hello ant, ray;s second name was pointon, he also had a nick-name ploughy. don;t know where that came from, but i have known him for 50 years and most people called him ploughy. i don;t know where derek birch is at the moment, but i will make some enquiries. he was always taking photos as you say. so if i can find him ,i will try to get some pics from him, fingers crossed, cheers regards terry
This has been a fantastic thread and I have enjoyed it. Thanks to Ant for all the photos and to say the least it has been quite sad at times. I drove for MAT at the time your dad was with Comart and I know the pitfalls of driving during that period and also the good times. I am retired now and have loads of memories.
Cliff
Willie Roadstar:
part-time-trucker:
Hi Willie Roadstar.I was with Comart from 1975 to 1978. I was one of the bad guys though. The only trip I ever did was frozen peas to Paris then empty to Cesena for peaches back to London. And Petal did all the driving.
I’ll add what information I can, but the only photos I have are in the brochure, most of which you have posted.
Keep them coming!
PTT
No probs,
I’ll do what I can, you’ll remember this then !!
Regards
Ant
Hi there,this was the first truck i drove on European work,a guy called Mick Ward from Oldham bought this unit off Comart in 1977 his company was called Red Rose International,he had another 2800 Daf which he drove himself ,we got all our work off Cadwallader or Mcphersons from County Durham,we did Germany France Italy and Poland,i met petal a couple of times while Comart was going ,when i saw this pic it brought back some great memories,i drove it for about two years.cheers ,take care ,tony smith
Carlc:
This has been a fantastic thread and I have enjoyed it. Thanks to Ant for all the photos and to say the least it has been quite sad at times. I drove for MAT at the time your dad was with Comart and I know the pitfalls of driving during that period and also the good times. I am retired now and have loads of memories.
Cliff
Cliff,
Glad you like the thread , its all about the memories - good and bad more the better keep em comin 
regards
Ant
Hi Ant
Ive just gone through this thread and read every post well done mate
It just goes to show how important it is to take take pictures to record history & memories
you obviously spent a lot of time with your dad in the truck and loved every minute, Me also,
all the best
Mike… : )
Hello Ant, SVT finally retired in 1988 she was then 14 years old only a baby really but the cab was dropping to pieces and as we used to say in the army, beyond economic repair. We took the engine,gearbox and anything else worth salvaging off her and she went under the knife. As to total mileage no one knows we changed the tacho umpteen times and as these were cable driven lots of miles were missing because the cable was off. Regards CROW. Also Ant if you look at the Dow Freight thread at the pic of the trailer having the tanks repaired at Aksaray Turkey the tractor shown is again Svt although the paint scheme is different to the later pics on the ME thread she also went to Saudi and Jordan.
geoffthecrowtaylor:
Hello Ant, SVT finally retired in 1988 she was then 14 years old only a baby really but the cab was dropping to pieces and as we used to say in the army, beyond economic repair. We took the engine,gearbox and anything else worth salvaging off her and she went under the knife. As to total mileage no one knows we changed the tacho umpteen times and as these were cable driven lots of miles were missing because the cable was off. Regards CROW.
Sounds like she gave good service through her life then 
- Do you hve any more photos ?
Regards
Ant
Willie Roadstar:
russ2825:
Hi Ant the last place he worked was Halcyon Haulage.
Wish he was still able to work though but unfortunately he’s terminally ill, has alzheimer’s, and unable to walk without the aid of crutches.Having said all that he’ll be 81 in Januarystill a lot of fight in him yet.Russ,
Sorry mate didn’t realise I had’nt replied to your post - How rude of me, sorry to here about your Dad, has he seen this thread, mite help to jog some memories.
Sorry also to be the bearer of sad news, some may already know, my Mum told me at the weekend that she had been to John Meredeths funeral last monday who had died the week before.
Apparently a number of ex comart drivers where there as would be expected, she mentioned that Terry Lewis, Phil Darlow, Jake and Bill Smith and Phil Bunch attended and few others that she did not remember the names ofAnother good driver joining the Truckstop in the sky
R.I.P John MeredethRegards
Ant
russ2825:
Willie Roadstar:
russ2825:
Hi Ant the last place he worked was Halcyon Haulage.
Wish he was still able to work though but unfortunately he’s terminally ill, has alzheimer’s, and unable to walk without the aid of crutches.Having said all that he’ll be 81 in Januarystill a lot of fight in him yet.Russ,
Sorry mate didn’t realise I had’nt replied to your post - How rude of me
Sorry also to be the bearer of sad news, some may already know, my Mum told me at the weekend that she had been to John Meredeths funeral last monday who had died the week before.
Apparently a number of ex comart drivers where there as would be expected, she mentioned that Terry Lewis, Phil Darlow, Jake and Bill Smith and Phil Bunch attended and few others that she did not remember the names ofAnother good driver joining the Truckstop in the sky
R.I.P John MeredethRegards
Ant
russ2825:
russ2825:
Willie Roadstar:
russ2825:
Hi Ant the last place he worked was Halcyon Haulage.
Wish he was still able to work though but unfortunately he’s terminally ill, has alzheimer’s, and unable to walk without the aid of crutches.Having said all that he’ll be 81 in Januarystill a lot of fight in him yet.Russ,
Sorry mate didn’t realise I had’nt replied to your post - How rude of me
Sorry also to be the bearer of sad news, some may already know, my Mum told me at the weekend that she had been to John Meredeths funeral last monday who had died the week before.
Apparently a number of ex comart drivers where there as would be expected, she mentioned that Terry Lewis, Phil Darlow, Jake and Bill Smith and Phil Bunch attended and few others that she did not remember the names ofAnother good driver joining the Truckstop in the sky
R.I.P John MeredethRegards
Ant
russ2825:
russ2825:
russ2825:
Willie Roadstar:
russ2825:
Hi Ant the last place he worked was Halcyon Haulage.
Wish he was still able to work though but unfortunately he’s terminally ill, has alzheimer’s, and unable to walk without the aid of crutches.Having said all that he’ll be 81 in Januarystill a lot of fight in him yet.Russ,
Sorry mate didn’t realise I had’nt replied to your post - How rude of me
Sorry also to be the bearer of sad news, some may already know, my Mum told me at the weekend that she had been to John Meredeths funeral last monday who had died the week before.
Apparently a number of ex comart drivers where there as would be expected, she mentioned that Terry Lewis, Phil Darlow, Jake and Bill Smith and Phil Bunch attended and few others that she did not remember the names ofAnother good driver joining the Truckstop in the sky
R.I.P John MeredethRegards
Ant
Hi Russ,
great photos, thanks for posting them, how’s your Dad keepin ■■
Love the one going under the bridge, that isn’t in Vienna by any chance - near the place they used to tip the Mars stuff for Fullers ■■
I think the guy in the 1st photo with your Mum & Dad is Roy Buxton, pointed out in an earlier photo on page 7 I think.
Thanks again for posting and keeping this thread going
Regards
Ant
top cat leek:
sorry to be the bearer of bad news. but an ex comart driver from leek has died. he was 79 , so only the earlier members of the comart crew will remember him. very nice chap and a real character R I P ray regards terry
I remember Ray Pointon, he used to drive a long wheel base Land Rover station wagon and often took Mrs. Pointon with him on his trips in LEA 73P.
He once peeled back the roof of his trailer in Southern Germany. When he was filling in the incident form for Alf Banks back in Longton, Ray claimed that there was enough room for him to get under the bridge but that just as he approached it, a train went over the top and that was enough to cause the bridge to flex and take the trailer roof off. Maybe so. RIP Ray; another nice bloke.
PTT
Willie Roadstar:
Hi Russ,
great photos, thanks for posting them, how’s your Dad keepin ■■Love the one going under the bridge, that isn’t in Vienna by any chance - near the place they used to tip the Mars stuff for Fullers ■■
I think the guy in the 1st photo with your Mum & Dad is Roy Buxton, pointed out in an earlier photo on page 7 I think.
Thanks again for posting and keeping this thread going
Regards
Ant
Hi Ant,
It’s a long time ago, but I think the guy in the picture with Mr. & Mrs Baggley is Alan Holmes. I could be wrong though.
Regards,
PTT
part-time-trucker:
Willie Roadstar:
Hi Russ,
great photos, thanks for posting them, how’s your Dad keepin ■■Love the one going under the bridge, that isn’t in Vienna by any chance - near the place they used to tip the Mars stuff for Fullers ■■
I think the guy in the 1st photo with your Mum & Dad is Roy Buxton, pointed out in an earlier photo on page 7 I think.
Thanks again for posting and keeping this thread going
Regards
AntHi Ant,
It’s a long time ago, but I think the guy in the picture with Mr. & Mrs Baggley is Alan Holmes. I could be wrong though.
Regards,
PTT
PTT,
You could be right, was’nt sure which one it was
How you keepin in sunny France, hope life is treating you well, I’m back selling trucks again, joined Scania (West Pennine Trucks) in Stoke a few weeks ago now, going fairly well for the climate.
Put this photo up in the office, so my oldman can keep an eye on me
Regards
Ant