oiltreader:
Old timers, credit to Clive G’ for the photo.
Oily
Have a care sir with wild comments like that, the Mercury is not an ‘old timer’, it is a very handsome young thing. 
Buzzer:
Not a car or motorcycle in sight, but the door step is clean, Buzzer
Is that Les Dawson ?
Suedehead:
Buzzer:
Not a car or motorcycle in sight, but the door step is clean, BuzzerIs that Les Dawson ?
Buzzer:
Monday’s memories
I seem to remember reading about Slater transport in the early 70s in the Foden magazine. Was the boss the yachtsman Arthur Slater who manged with one leg?
essexpete:
Buzzer:
Monday’s memoriesI seem to remember reading about Slater transport in the early 70s in the Foden magazine. Was the boss the yachtsman Arthur Slater who manged with one leg?
That’s the man, he was quite a sporting chap and lost the leg following an accident in the Monte Carlo rally. He ran Ensign Tankers as well, they became part of the Thomas Tilling Group of companies but Slaters left the group in the 1970’s just after I did my training there. The pic is from when he was skippering the British yachting team in Australia in December 73.
Pete.
Buzzer:
Saw this and liked it, but right on the money, Buzzer
Thanks for that Buzzer, I always wondered what ever happened to ‘Pans People’ when they retired from ‘Top Of The Pops’.
Now can any of you ‘Super Geeks’ explain to me why, when I post something from my computer on to this site that sometime that Slider Bar appears and sometimes it doesn’t. 
Perhaps these young ladies might know the answer.
And already the excitement for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is gaining momentum in our street. 
Spardo:
DIG:
Thats an interesting unit Buzzer its owner company Theiss brothers had ventured into the pastoral industry with the purchase of 2 stations Mt Hart and Ellendale in the West Kimberly and the truck an Autocar complete with 3 single deck dog trailers and all yellow livery was purchased for cartage of cattle across the top of Oz.
The truck had a regular driver and a young fella as an offsider learning the ropes.The young man an excellent operator came to work for us and he and I are still great mates.I have forwarded this picture on to him and am waiting a reply.
Also this truck would possibly have been running around in Spardos time with Buntines .
Cheers DigAn interesting story Dig, but certainly I have never seen it, or even heard the name till the picture was published the other day.
Another interesting thing to me is your use of the word ‘offsider’ I seem to have used that term all of my life although it may date from my time in Oz. But it has always puzzled me, a word which describes a co-driver, trailer mate or helper, but always the bloke who sits in the passenger seat…that is, on the nearside, rather than the offside.
And coincidentally, it was only last night that my wife and I had this very conversation, as I struggled to explain the term, which I had just used, to her.
Back to Thiess, I look forward to your mate’s comments on the company and his time with them.
A bit about Theiss they were a family concern and made there money mainly in the earth moving game branching out into other fields as there tax bill looked like getting higher.
I heard from Bungie and he said he didnt drive that unit but one similar he reckons Theiss had the Oz dealership for White/Autocar and Toyota cars and utes so it sounds like they had a few of them.
Bungies truck which he inherited when his mentor got sacked had a 671Detriot and a 5 speed main box with a 4 speed joey another interesting thing Bungie told me had to take his unit into Mt Isa to have air assisted power steering fitted never personally come across one of those, so you would give the gearboxs a fair workout pulling 3 loaded trailers even top gear would only be wind or down hill assisted.
It was a practice in those days to have some weight on the drive and Theiss put a concrete pad weighing a couple of tons on the floor of the crate we used to put a front end loader bucket of dirt in our crates which being just normal type trailers with a crate on but for general freight with the crate and off with the dirt with a shovel.Usually off siders were hard to find when those type of jobs turned up and we usually threw it off on the off and near sides.
Dig
And electric buses and trams as well as other vehicles, I’ve said it times, we went backwards and only now are we starting to wake up to 60 year old technology.
Kempston:
0And electric buses and trams as well as other vehicles, I’ve said it times, we went backwards and only now are we starting to wake up to 60 year old technology.
And the electric buses could go off route for some way if there was an obstruction such as Bernard Cribbens coming along and digging a bloody hole. The trams would be stuck for the day.
Dig:
It was a practice in those days to have some weight on the drive and Theiss put a concrete pad weighing a couple of tons on the floor of the crate we used to put a front end loader bucket of dirt in our crates which being just normal type trailers with a crate on but for general freight with the crate and off with the dirt with a shovel.Usually off siders were hard to find when those type of jobs turned up and we usually threw it off on the off and near sides.
At Buntines we stopped at the first giant anthills and set about them with axes and shovels to get a grip in the rivers.
I dont think this was the mail but you never know ,this was crossing the Fitzroy River in the West Kimberly West Oz, there was an old wooden bridge but big floods meant it was under the water so some guidance was needed.
Dig
Kempston:
0And electric buses and trams as well as other vehicles, I’ve said it times, we went backwards and only now are we starting to wake up to 60 year old technology.
I think we had to burn a lot of coal to power those trolleybuses and trams, as well as charging up the milk vans
ERF-NGC-European:
Kempston:
0And electric buses and trams as well as other vehicles, I’ve said it times, we went backwards and only now are we starting to wake up to 60 year old technology.
I think we had to burn a lot of coal to power those trolleybuses and trams, as well as charging up the milk vans
Don’t forget the coal for the gas works (you younger fellas won’t remember the gas works in the time before the natural gas that we have now). When I started as a young fella at Fred Chappells if we had a couple of hours ish at the end of the day Fred would say “just do one to Harrogate Gas”. Weighbridge man would have gone home by the time I got there, just tip it in the stock yard and put the delivery note in the letter box. We had an open coal fire at home…I never actually bought any coal. 
Coal was king back in the day.
Now can any of you ‘Super Geeks’ explain to me why, when I post something from my computer on to this site that sometime that Slider Bar appears and sometimes it doesn’t. from Mushroomman
It will be due to the size of your pics, I think it explains somewhere on the site. The ones appearing with the slider may be slightly larger than the others hence the slider, sometimes members put on really large photo’s and the picture is almost lost on one side. Franky.
Hi Buzzer Thanks for the latest posting, especially the ones of AR “Dickie” Scott from Hexham.
Dickie was a good friend of my Dad’s but died quite a while ago. The picture with the entire fleet was proably taken next the the old Mart at Hexham. Dickie’s yard, house and the mart were all next door to one another and the mart eventually extended over that entire area. (It is now situated out of town on Tyne Green next the A69) IIRC when he got rid of the wagons he was Mart Foreman until age got the better of him.
Roy Coe, one of his long serving drivers kept two or three wagons running for a few years but then he packed in as well and was Mart Foreman until retirement (bit of a theme going here!!)
Scotts used to a lot of bacon pigs from the NE down to Tipton and Albert (Dickies brother) and a Polish lad that also worked for Dickie kept one wagon and relocated to Doncaster. One would drive up to the NE empty, have about 5 / 6 pick ups to make the load up drive back to Donny and the other one would then deliver down to Tipton late evening and then back to Donny ready for the next day.
Tyneside
just after moving to canada 2005 this the best truck to date american spec western star 550bhp caterpillar 18 spd eaton fuller no limiter .did all 48 usa states in 6mths sad thing was company sold out in 2006
Buzzer:
Tuesday’s tipples, Buzzer
Pre '64 with the Foden on the docks. The liner Oronsay in her original Orient Line colour. The Oz Foden looked smart with the sleeper.
windrush:
essexpete:
Buzzer:
Monday’s memoriesI seem to remember reading about Slater transport in the early 70s in the Foden magazine. Was the boss the yachtsman Arthur Slater who manged with one leg?
That’s the man, he was quite a sporting chap and lost the leg following an accident in the Monte Carlo rally. He ran Ensign Tankers as well, they became part of the Thomas Tilling Group of companies but Slaters left the group in the 1970’s just after I did my training there. The pic is from when he was skippering the British yachting team in Australia in December 73.
0
Pete.
Thanks Pete!
