Fantastic photo - and nice to see one of Dougie’s trucks survives in preservation… though most of them were old enough to be rallied when he was still making them earn their keep!
alexsaville:
Taken at the Low Green, Ayr, in July. The Atki was there for the Ayrshire Road Run.
I took the photo so you can copy it if you wish.
Alex
Hello all.
A brief message for mil996…
I remember your uncle Jim, I was London Manager based down at Tilbury in Essex, until Douglas shut the
London end of the business.
I worked out of the Southampton Way depot as a long distance driver in the late Sixties until early Seventies,
I left and returned years later to work in the office,the Manager was Fred Sorrel at that time. Jim and Fred
did have some heated discussions on various subjects, especially on union matters…
I Live in Forfar now, and 4 years have past since your request, so I must ask, how is your Uncle Jimmy?
I am aware that quite a few of the old drivers and staff are no longer with us, and I am now 67 years of age.
I still have fond memories of D.M.Smiths staff and drivers, and should anyone wish to get in touch, please
feel free.
Kind Regards,
Peter Woolsey.
looking for any pictures of them for my uncle who worked there from about 1963 to 89 he doesnt have any hes not been keeping to well recently just trying to find sum to cheer him up thanks guys
Sorry pal no pics of D.M.Smith but you can tell your uncle that I remember seeing them about in those green 4-wheeled ERFs. 
I can’t remember if they had any artics.
thanks mate finding it difficult to get any all the smith family are long gone aswell and they did have artics thats what he used to drive his name was jimmy paterson his nickname big ned thanks
hi ya i remember d m smith, used to do work out of anderson boyes mining machine’s motherwell they did the wales and kent coalmines had erf and atki’s, also had depot at strathaven, will have look for pic;s bumper
Taken at the Low Green, Ayr, in July. The Atki was there for the Ayrshire Road Run.
I took the photo so you can copy it if you wish.
Alex
alexsaville:
Taken at the Low Green, Ayr, in July. The Atki was there for the Ayrshire Road Run.
I took the photo so you can copy it if you wish.
Alex
And the badge says it all - it really was built in Scotland! It’s actually a Mk.2-cabbed ‘Black Knight’ and not a ‘Raider’,
but it was assembled by Atkinson Vehicles (Scotland) at Airdrie.
I dont know one model from the other, however, according to the list of entrants, it is an Atkinson Raider.
It goes on to say ‘Originally intended for export to Africa and built from a CKD kit of parts at Central Motor’s, Airdrie, for D.M.Smith, Wishaw’.
Alex
So come on 240, let us into the secret, I know you’re right - but why? 
I’m with Alex on this, to me they were all Mk.1s or Borderers. 
Nice pic btw, Alex.
The Mk II ‘names’ only came into being after this particular wagon was built - (Borderer, Raider, Searcher, Defender, Venturer & Leader). Incidentally, the Raider was never a factory name, but then again, neither was the Buccaneer and there was at least one of those…
This wagon is a Mk II Black Night - that being the name given to rigid freight chassis at that time.
I’ll leave the specifics for 240 to explain, but the simplest way to tell is that if it’s a Mk II-cabbed Atkinson with a low roof (insets in the illuminated sign for the wipers) and is a J-registration or earlier, its not a ‘name’ motor, it’s a Mk II ‘Knight’ (Silver Black, etc.) Even that isn’t totally foolproof, because there were some K-registration motors of that ilk.
Being a Wishaw lad myself , were did they run from , i don’t remember them at all 
gerry they were in stewarton street mate if you were coming from waterloo youd pass dimsdale on left barrs old ginger work on the right then the hub pub on the left just past that there was a corner shop then smiths yard but surprize surprize its now turned into flats cheers mate
LOL thanks mil996 
And to think i lived not far from there, sort of behind the polis station.
Must be losing my memory more than i thought
Haven’t got many
brilliant pics guys thanks theres probably loads more out there keep them coming thanks again colin 
Heres the only pic I’ve got of the firm
Cheers Marc.
marky:
The Mk II ‘names’ only came into being after this particular wagon was built - (Borderer, Raider, Searcher, Defender, Venturer & Leader). Incidentally, the Raider was never a factory name, but then again, neither was the Buccaneer and there was at least one of those…This wagon is a Mk II Black Night - that being the name given to rigid freight chassis at that time.
I’ll leave the specifics for 240 to explain, but the simplest way to tell is that if it’s a Mk II-cabbed Atkinson with a low roof (insets in the illuminated sign for the wipers) and is a J-registration or earlier, its not a ‘name’ motor, it’s a Mk II ‘Knight’ (Silver Black, etc.) Even that isn’t totally foolproof, because there were some K-registration motors of that ilk.
Come on, Mark - is there a button missing off your anorak? Don’t worry, I’ve plenty of spare ones
‘Raider’ was a factory-coined name (by Frank Whalley, who came up with the whole list of names) but it was never applied
by the factory or used in literature, and no badges were made. I’m not quite sure why the application of the name has become
so popular 30 years later!
The named range was announced and exhibited at the 1970 Earls Court Show and, although the vehicles had the same cabs
as before, there are distinct differences and the Borderer especially has a completely new chassis frame when compared with
the outgoing Mk.2-cabbed “Silver Knight”.
New mechanical units were also introduced to the standard range, most notably Fuller gearboxes and 8LXB engines.
ZF gearboxes were dropped.
The 4-wheeler continued to be available until the end of Atkinson production but, seemingly, only on customer demand rather than
actually being catalogued! I’ve found a picture of a new D M Smith 4-wheeler (quite possibly the one now preserved) and will try to
post that later - as you will see, its caption indicates a distinct lack of interest in 4-wheel rigids on the part of the factory!
As promised…
I’m guessing that this is the one now preserved, although it doesn’t carry a fleet number now. This photo came from ‘The Atkinson’,
Summer 1970 edition.
And some more, from obvious sources…
