i am building a model of an Adams Butter A E C mandator MK 5 from around 1966. i cannot for the life of me remember if the trailers of them days had marker boards of some description. is there anyone whose memory is better than mine. thanks terry.
i’m pretty sure marker boards came in in the early 70s terry . they certainly weren’t in use in 1966 , cheers , dave
top cat leek:
i am building a model of an Adams Butter A E C mandator MK 5 from around 1966. i cannot for the life of me remember if the trailers of them days had marker boards of some description. is there anyone whose memory is better than mine. thanks terry.
Alot of trailers had white 6" x 6" triangles with round red reflectors fitted along all 3 sides,thought this info might be of interest?
David 
thanks for the info lads, it just looks bare at the back without them. but, i didn;t think they were in in 1966. cheers again regards terry.
And I expect one of the experts will remind me of when rear under-run bars became mandatory?
Especially when coupled to an AEC (Mandator/mandatory. Geddit? Oh dear 
)
even earlier,I think trailers had to display a large “T” on the rear,again with red reflecting “dots”
David
Mixing up my threads here, but I was just thinking about changing an inner tyre on a four-in-line fitted with an under-run bar 
Hiya… hi terry the white triangle with 3 red dots on each side was for draw bar trailers. just a reflector on the light cluster or a round 2 inch reflector was all you needed.
that was the reason Fred Adams come up with the idea of the Adams name in Blue reflective self adesive paper and Butter in red reflective letters so you could see the back
of trailers… or should i say vehicles. as it happens it was Fred who tried to patent the marked boards. he made them out of red and yellow reflective strips.
it was the ministry of transport come up with red reflective and yellow day glow strips so Fred never got the patent.even though the ministry never thought of any idea
in the first place.
John
The 3M Group marketed reflective self-adhesive plastic tape in a range of colours as early as the 60s . I believe it was called Scotchlite but it was so expensive that very few people used it. I think the first “Long Vehicle” plates were made from the same material.
5thwheel:
even earlier,I think trailers had to display a large “T” on the rear,again with red reflecting “dots”David
They did David,I remember that and when the night trunkers were going to stop they used to turn the lights on and off 'cos there were no brake lights in those days,and I’m only going back as far as 1960/61,not the dark ages.I had an AEC MK5 Mammoth Major in early 1971 and I remember the reflective markers being fitted then,across the back end,and artics had the “Long Vehicle” boards fitted,artics over a certain length though. I say that because years later in the 80s when I was on drawbar work the markers were reversible - “Long Vehicle” when running as a full rig but turned round to a normal marker when a tractor unit was pulling the trailer as it was not over the required length. Daft I know,but one of our Altrincham lads was pulled by an over-zealous copper early one morning who pointed out that “Long Vehicle” didn’t apply,after he had measured the artic. 
Well there you go,no bugger was safe. 
Rear marker boards became law on Ist November 1971, although you could fit these to vehicles effected by the law before this date. Which vehicles! vehicles not exceeding 13m long(metric had come in also by now) and combinations not exceeding 11m had to fit the striped boards, either one long one or two rectangular one each side. If the two rectangular boards couldn’t be fitted horizontally they could be fitted vertically. If more than 11m but not exceeding 13m you could fit the above boards aswell as the same size boards but with the LONG VEHICLE lettering. Over 13m then only the Long Vehicle lettered boards could be used.
Many companies before this date did paint the rear of the trailer including the under run bar (if fitted it wasn’t law then) in either Red and White or Black and White diagonal stripes, this would later transfer to the bumpers too although some heavy haulage firms had been doing this for a while. It may well have been this self applied safety feature that convinced the MoT that marker boards should be used on all HGV’s and trailers. Under run bars became law in (surprisingly)1983, along with sideguards and catwalks on units. Trailer red triangles as we know them now (without white outline), must also have came into use with rear markers, red T’s had been used for many years with the white outline for drawbars, similarly the red triangle and white outline should only be used for draw bar trailers. In short the only rear safety items on pre 71 trailers were Indicators and Tail and Stop Lights, no fog or reverse lights then required and no separate red reflector if the tail lens had reflective qualities. Hope this helps with the model. Franky.
thanks everyone for the info, great help. the memory gets misty regards terry
Frankydobo:
Rear marker boards became law on Ist November 1971, although you could fit these to vehicles effected by the law before this date. Which vehicles! vehicles not exceeding 13m long(metric had come in also by now) and combinations not exceeding 11m had to fit the striped boards, either one long one or two rectangular one each side. If the two rectangular boards couldn’t be fitted horizontally they could be fitted vertically. If more than 11m but not exceeding 13m you could fit the above boards aswell as the same size boards but with the LONG VEHICLE lettering. Over 13m then only the Long Vehicle lettered boards could be used.Many companies before this date did paint the rear of the trailer including the under run bar (if fitted it wasn’t law then) in either Red and White or Black and White diagonal stripes, this would later transfer to the bumpers too although some heavy haulage firms had been doing this for a while. It may well have been this self applied safety feature that convinced the MoT that marker boards should be used on all HGV’s and trailers. Under run bars became law in (surprisingly)1983, along with sideguards and catwalks on units. Trailer red triangles as we know them now (without white outline), must also have came into use with rear markers, red T’s had been used for many years with the white outline for drawbars, similarly the red triangle and white outline should only be used for draw bar trailers. In short the only rear safety items on pre 71 trailers were Indicators and Tail and Stop Lights, no fog or reverse lights then required and no separate red reflector if the tail lens had reflective qualities. Hope this helps with the model. Franky.
1971 would be spot-on. You know how whenever a new law comes into force, there’s always a clever copper trying to catch you out? I was pulled in my 1938 Albion in Sussex in 1972 on the way to a rally, by a traffic division car, I was doing all of 35mph when he screamed by using the full blues and twos and flagged me down. “Where’s your marker boards?” He was very disappointed when I pointed out it didn’t need them due to it’s age and weight, so proceeded to carry out a full inspection of lights, tyres and paperwork, followed by a grudging “all OK, on your way sir”. I refrained from saying what I thought, smiled sweetly and went.
Bernard
Chris Webb:
5thwheel:
even earlier,I think trailers had to display a large “T” on the rear,again with red reflecting “dots”David
They did David,I remember that and when the night trunkers were going to stop they used to turn the lights on and off 'cos there were no brake lights in those days,and I’m only going back as far as 1960/61,not the dark ages.I had an AEC MK5 Mammoth Major in early 1971 and I remember the reflective markers being fitted then,across the back end,and artics had the “Long Vehicle” boards fitted,artics over a certain length though. I say that because years later in the 80s when I was on drawbar work the markers were reversible - “Long Vehicle” when running as a full rig but turned round to a normal marker when a tractor unit was pulling the trailer as it was not over the required length. Daft I know,but one of our Altrincham lads was pulled by an over-zealous copper early one morning who pointed out that “Long Vehicle” didn’t apply,after he had measured the artic.
Well there you go,no bugger was safe.
Chris,
I was also pulled in Altrincham,A56 no lights on the trailer,managed to get away with it though!!
David 