Dave the Renegade:
Trev_H:
I used to park a Big J on the Sunset every night and I haven’t got a photo of that one either, got payed a night out there and walked across the road to my house !
What engine did it have Trev,was it one of those 240 eight cylinder gardners
.
Cheers Dave.
No Dave they were to econominal for the BRS, It had a 290 ■■■■■■■ pulling about 8 ton of car spares 
, we only had fuel burners, Rolls , ■■■■■■■ and Perkins V8’s
Trev_H:
I used to park a Big J on the Sunset every night and I haven’t got a photo of that one either, got payed a night out there and walked across the road to my house !
If you were unfortunate to have to run to Millom and have a few nights out there you were sure entitled to a dodgy or two at home to compensate for the un-doubted trauma you suffered as a result !! Did you go into the Millom Workies clubfor a pint or two when you stayed in Millom? Dennis.
Bewick:
Trev_H:
I used to park a Big J on the Sunset every night and I haven’t got a photo of that one either, got payed a night out there and walked across the road to my house !If you were unfortunate to have to run to Millom and have a few nights out there you were sure entitled to a dodgy or two at home to compensate for the un-doubted trauma you suffered as a result !! Did you go into the Millom Workies clubfor a pint or two when you stayed in Millom? Dennis.
Yes Dennis, I did go in that club but it used to go quiet when a big brummie walked in there , I also used to stop at a mates in Swarfmoor when I was doing loads of metal for Ashley rock at Ulverston and Cleator moor, would sometimes load from Alcan Workington, even used to go past the Bewick base now and again by the test station so I got to see the smart red fleet quite often !
Trev_H:
Bewick:
Trev_H:
I used to park a Big J on the Sunset every night and I haven’t got a photo of that one either, got payed a night out there and walked across the road to my house !If you were unfortunate to have to run to Millom and have a few nights out there you were sure entitled to a dodgy or two at home to compensate for the un-doubted trauma you suffered as a result !! Did you go into the Millom Workies clubfor a pint or two when you stayed in Millom? Dennis.
Yes Dennis, I did go in that club but it used to go quiet when a big brummie walked in there
Hiya Trev well those nice quiet God fearing people who live in Millom would go “shtum” when a big Brummie came in the club and demanded a pint of M & B ! Your mate lives in Swarthmoor not in the Swarf drum at the end of the lathe !! Iv’e also remembered the name of the place at Millom where they cut up the old ships it was Borwick Rails I think !!
Bewick:
5thwheel:
ND888 BIGJ:
hi folks been trying to register on here for months now i can bring you all the good news , my dad Tommy Doyle worked for smith of maddiston in the 60s and 70s and he drove a big j with a 8LXB fleet number ND888 and reg number NWS 657 M the radiator grill dtuck out and was made from mesh and not slatts like the other big js he tells me it stuck out the back as well the cab sat a good 6 inches higher than a standard big j he recons this waggon done 74mph on the flat and nowt could catch it on his nightly runs down to st albans and back to london rd the next night if anyone wants any more info please let me know im not sure if he has any pictures of ND888 but will ask next time im over for a visitWell done ND,I also drove a 240 Guy for SoM ,Manchester Depot,however there are some on this site,No names ,no pack drill Bewick]thought I was away with the fairies,I might be anyway,but thanks for yet another confirmation that they DID exist!!!
Rgds,
Actually there was a shirt lifter @ SoM Manchester used like being ■■■■■■■ in the warehouse,but I suppose large organisations with a big personel headcount all had their suspect employees!!!
Take it easy
David
David
Whose brought the Fairies on to the site ? I bet there was none of them driving 8LXBs at SOM ( maybe an odd one or two in the traffic offices !! ) I hope you are not riding on the wrong bus 5th wheel !!! cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
Trev_H:
Bewick:
Trev_H:
I used to park a Big J on the Sunset every night and I haven’t got a photo of that one either, got payed a night out there and walked across the road to my house !If you were unfortunate to have to run to Millom and have a few nights out there you were sure entitled to a dodgy or two at home to compensate for the un-doubted trauma you suffered as a result !! Did you go into the Millom Workies clubfor a pint or two when you stayed in Millom? Dennis.
Yes Dennis, I did go in that club but it used to go quiet when a big brummie walked in there
Hiya Trev well those nice quiet God fearing people who live in Millom would go “shtum” when a big Brummie came in the club and demanded a pint of M & B ! Your mate lives in Swarthmoor not in the Swarf drum at the end of the lathe !! Iv’e also remembered the name of the place at Millom where they cut up the old ships it was Borwick Rails I think !!
Hiya Trev Just a bit more useless info I think they called the area where the ships were broken up was Borwick Rails !! Dennis
Bewick:
Bewick:
Trev_H:
Bewick:
Trev_H:
I used to park a Big J on the Sunset every night and I haven’t got a photo of that one either, got payed a night out there and walked across the road to my house !If you were unfortunate to have to run to Millom and have a few nights out there you were sure entitled to a dodgy or two at home to compensate for the un-doubted trauma you suffered as a result !! Did you go into the Millom Workies clubfor a pint or two when you stayed in Millom? Dennis.
Yes Dennis, I did go in that club but it used to go quiet when a big brummie walked in there
Hiya Trev well those nice quiet God fearing people who live in Millom would go “shtum” when a big Brummie came in the club and demanded a pint of M & B ! Your mate lives in Swarthmoor not in the Swarf drum at the end of the lathe !! Iv’e also remembered the name of the place at Millom where they cut up the old ships it was Borwick Rails I think !!
Hiya Trev Just a bit more useless info I think they called the area where the ships were broken up was Borwick Rails !! Dennis
This motor used to be a Guy Big J but we took the cab off and re-fitted it with a Borderer
er cab !! Bewick.
Bewick:
Bewick:
Bewick:
Trev_H:
Bewick:
Trev_H:
I used to park a Big J on the Sunset every night and I haven’t got a photo of that one either, got payed a night out there and walked across the road to my house !If you were unfortunate to have to run to Millom and have a few nights out there you were sure entitled to a dodgy or two at home to compensate for the un-doubted trauma you suffered as a result !! Did you go into the Millom Workies clubfor a pint or two when you stayed in Millom? Dennis.
Yes Dennis, I did go in that club but it used to go quiet when a big brummie walked in there
Hiya Trev well those nice quiet God fearing people who live in Millom would go “shtum” when a big Brummie came in the club and demanded a pint of M & B ! Your mate lives in Swarthmoor not in the Swarf drum at the end of the lathe !! Iv’e also remembered the name of the place at Millom where they cut up the old ships it was Borwick Rails I think !!
Hiya Trev Just a bit more useless info I think they called the area where the ships were broken up was Borwick Rails !! Dennis
This motor used to be a Guy Big J but we took the cab off and re-fitted it with a Borderer
Very obvious that Dennis,quite plain too see that it wasn’t a proper Atkinson.
Cheers Dave.
Classic shot of the 3 Guys Dennis, I remember these coming through to Barrow. Any stand alone pics of one? Makes you realise what we have lost now everything is a supermarket white scania or merc.
Dave the Renegade:
Bewick:
Bewick:
Bewick:
Trev_H:
Bewick:
Trev_H:
I used to park a Big J on the Sunset every night and I haven’t got a photo of that one either, got payed a night out there and walked across the road to my house !If you were unfortunate to have to run to Millom and have a few nights out there you were sure entitled to a dodgy or two at home to compensate for the un-doubted trauma you suffered as a result !! Did you go into the Millom Workies clubfor a pint or two when you stayed in Millom? Dennis.
Yes Dennis, I did go in that club but it used to go quiet when a big brummie walked in there
Hiya Trev well those nice quiet God fearing people who live in Millom would go “shtum” when a big Brummie came in the club and demanded a pint of M & B ! Your mate lives in Swarthmoor not in the Swarf drum at the end of the lathe !! Iv’e also remembered the name of the place at Millom where they cut up the old ships it was Borwick Rails I think !!
Hiya Trev Just a bit more useless info I think they called the area where the ships were broken up was Borwick Rails !! Dennis
This motor used to be a Guy Big J but we took the cab off and re-fitted it with a Borderer
Very obvious that Dennis,quite plain too see that it wasn’t a proper Atkinson.
Cheers Dave.
Its a pitty we hav’nt got sound on this site. I’ll have to wait untill 1st of May to hear Rocky,s 240 Foden at Llandudno.
John
gardner180:
Classic shot of the 3 Guys Dennis, I remember these coming through to Barrow. Any stand alone pics of one? Makes you realise what we have lost now everything is a supermarket white scania or merc.
Here’s one Stevie a B/W shot taken at the depot we had for a while on the A5 north of Dunstable I think it would have been loaded for Bowy’s with core board from Reeds. We ran a trunk for a while from Milnthorpe to Dunstable and back it was at the extreme range of the driving hours if I re-call ! I will look and see if there are anymore shots of the Guy’s but obviously they were always the poor relations to the other motors we ran ! But it is a pleasure to hear that there are other Guy enthusiasts although no-body has come up with a photo of an 8LXB Big J as yet .Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
gardner180:
Classic shot of the 3 Guys Dennis, I remember these coming through to Barrow. Any stand alone pics of one? Makes you realise what we have lost now everything is a supermarket white scania or merc.Here’s one Stevie a B/W shot taken at the depot we had for a while on the A5 north of Dunstable I think it would have been loaded for Bowy’s with core board from Reeds. We ran a trunk for a while from Milnthorpe to Dunstable and back it was at the extreme range of the driving hours if I re-call ! I will look and see if there are anymore shots of the Guy’s but obviously they were always the poor relations to the other motors we ran ! But it is a pleasure to hear that there are other Guy enthusiasts although no-body has come up with a photo of an 8LXB Big J as yet .Cheers Dennis.
This is a fron’t shot of PAW480M which we bought along with OHA they were 18mths/2y.o. respectively when we got them in 75’ and were good reliable motors ! Cheers Dennis.
Hello,Hmmm…has this one got an 8LXB in it?
Cheers Bubbs. 
Bubbleman… I see he’s got an extra mirror on that Guy maybe he just had to have a quick look behind now and then
for jo law.Or maybe a Scania overtaking him(110 tractor unit) that is running down into Tebay.
John
bubbleman:
Hello,Hmmm…has this one got an 8LXB in it?
Cheers Bubbs.
Hi Bubbs,
Those old Guys were in Manchester Depot,prob late 80’s,OD 922 used to have a striaght 6 gear box,bloody aweful thing,but if you managed to keep the revs up and get it into 6th,it used to purr along the motorway all night!!,but it couldnt keep up with any of 240’s!!!
Take it easy
David
5thwheel:
bubbleman:
Hello,Hmmm…has this one got an 8LXB in it?
Cheers Bubbs.
Hi Bubbs,
Those old Guys were in Manchester Depot,prob late 80’s,OD 922 used to have a striaght 6 gear box,bloody aweful thing,but if you managed to keep the revs up and get it into 6th,it used to purr along the motorway all night!!,but it couldnt keep up with any of 240’s!!!
Take it easy
David
Was this shot taken in the Manchester depot David? Bewick.
Hi Bewick,
Yes,if you look through the side window of OD 922,you can just glimpse George Stockton’s garage[he was the Garage Foreman ]
the pictures shows the Guys outside one of the large storage sheds,they all have an piece of A4 paper on the dash,I would suspect this was after my time,and perhaps the fleet was up for sale,with the brief vehicle history etc printed on the A4/just a guess,as it was very rare to see any Smith’s vehicles stood for long,being a 24 hour operation,they were in,oiled,fueled,watered and aired and back out again,with the Manager Harold Gilmore tyre kicking the trailers as they left the front gate on North Street!By the way,OD stood for Manchester Depot,as the prefix letter was the following letter if the M[in this case]was already in use,as it was in Maddiston,although Grangemouth was GD—,which should have meant Glasgow was HD ,but it wasnt,Glasgow was ND,Southampton was SD,which made Stockton TD!!
Take it easy
David
5thwheel:
Hi Bewick,Yes,if you look through the side window of OD 922,you can just glimpse George Stockton’s garage[he was the Garage Foreman ]
the pictures shows the Guys outside one of the large storage sheds,they all have an piece of A4 paper on the dash,I would suspect this was after my time,and perhaps the fleet was up for sale,with the brief vehicle history etc printed on the A4/just a guess,as it was very rare to see any Smith’s vehicles stood for long,being a 24 hour operation,they were in,oiled,fueled,watered and aired and back out again,with the Manager Harold Gilmore tyre kicking the trailers as they left the front gate on North Street!By the way,OD stood for Manchester Depot,as the prefix letter was the following letter if the M[in this case]was already in use,as it was in Maddiston,although Grangemouth was GD—,which should have meant Glasgow was HD ,but it wasnt,Glasgow was ND,Southampton was SD,which made Stockton TD!!Take it easy
David
Hiya David! I now understand why no one has come up with a shot of an SOM 8LXB big J if the logic used by some “brainsurgeon” to design the fleet numbering system is anything to go by !!! Did you ever run trunks empty in the opposite direction ! its a wonder SOM didn’t (Robsons of Carlisle did!!).Keep taking the tablets Regards Dennis.
Hi Dennis,
We had a contract with Boots the Chemists,where everything had to be in a 36ft box van,this came down loaded,very light from Airdrie,and had to be loaded with empty stillages/trolleys IIRC,that the only time that I can remember in 8 years of running empty or at least very light,we also had contract with ICI Grangemouth,like you, sometimes we empty drums from Blackley ICI going up,but not that often,boy did they catch the wind.
We also did new ali cans from Alcan Liverpool,usually in tautliners,they were another great light load,but you usually paid for it on the return with a good 22/25 tons of rubber to Market Drayton!!!
Just remembered,we also had the Kodak contract to Wythenshawe,Manchester that was very light also,mainly empty plastic containers up,pictures down!another flying load! the day man was Teddy Hurst on Kodak and Boots.
Take it easy Dennis,I’ve run out of the tablets,
Rgds,
David
5thwheel:
Hi Dennis,We had a contract with Boots the Chemists,where everything had to be in a 36ft box van,this came down loaded,very light from Airdrie,and had to be loaded with empty stillages/trolleys IIRC,that the only time that I can remember in 8 years of running empty or at least very light,we also had contract with ICI Grangemouth,like you, sometimes we empty drums from Blackley ICI going up,but not that often,boy did they catch the wind.
We also did new ali cans from Alcan Liverpool,usually in tautliners,they were another great light load,but you usually paid for it on the return with a good 22/25 tons of rubber to Market Drayton!!!
Just remembered,we also had the Kodak contract to Wythenshawe,Manchester that was very light also,mainly empty plastic containers up,pictures down!another flying load! the day man was Teddy Hurst on Kodak and Boots.Take it easy Dennis,I’ve run out of the tablets,
Rgds,
David
We can’t let the Big J thread die! I want to be on the site when someone finally puts an SOM Big J 8LXB pic up ! Don’t worry I’ll not be offened in the least by all the abuse that will be hurled at me from England. Scotland, Wales (possibly) and ,of course, France if Fergie is still being observant !!In the meantime you will have to put up with the Bewick/Mcguffie 8LXBs !!! Dennis.