A Wynns Diamond T seen in preservation at Tredegar house show, Newport. Note the coachbuilt cab replacing the shorter, narrower standard cab.
Walls truck services of Newports Diamond T and AEC Militant at rest.
Hi Andrew top man,cracking photoâs once again,and thanks to your mate for shareing them 
mechanic77:
Almost certainly not a Welsh truck originally but one that looks like its spent a lot of time in its resting place near Barry dock.
Can anyone shed some light on how this old Scania came to be rotting away in an overgrown yard?
hi neil,
thanks for the pm mate.i was told that a showman bought the ride this scania towed across europe.they used the ride,but parked the truck in the yard where you still see it now and just left it there.itâs been there over 10 years that i am aware of.
regards andrew
Paul John:
Andrew, thanks for taking the time to post Dai.s pics. Those B series were certainly worked hard and a regular site on the heads of the valleyâs road.
I can not remember seeing the E series, but they looked the business in that light blue and red livery. I was not a fan of those Ivecos, does anyone know how they performed?
Regards Paul
hi paul,
dai rang me today and confirmed what i already thought,the ivecoâs couldnât cope with the intensive treble shifting and didn,t last very long in service. illtyd thomas had a driver living in bridgend,he used to drive the only twin steer erf b series thomasâ had,registered mcy 301x.apparantley he used to leave the truck in sarn services,his name was mike? and dai seems to think that he went to drive tippers for m.j. sargent or tondu based david a. davies.i didnât even know they had a driver in bridgend.they also had 1 based in chepstow,1 in kidderminster,2 in stratford-on-avon,1 in taffs wells,5 in rainford st. helens,5 in hull,2 in mansfield and over 30 in braunston leics.i was suprised to hear how big a firm they once were.
regards andrew
i think that illtyd thomas used to run regularly down to the pool area of dorset i think and they used to use the a350 through shaftsbury a very hard load when fully loaded
ianto:
i think that illtyd thomas used to run regularly down to the pool area of dorset i think and they used to use the a350 through shaftsbury a very hard load when fully loaded
hi ianto,
yes they ran to metal box pool every day of the week,thatâs why they had those short double bulkhead trailers because the drop in pool was very small and a 40 footer couldnât get in.so dai tells me.
regards andrew
A couple more from the past.
Who was this new to.
Numbum:
A couple more from the past.
Who was this new to.
hi numbum,
youâve triumphed again mate,re:white crusader well my guess and it is a guess is that the crusader was ex-armed forces and registered when it was sold into civvy street,those retained dvla registrations are usually welsh area codes.i canât think of a welsh haulier who had a new y registered crusader in that spec.though i could be wrong.thanks again.
regards andrew
hi lads,
prails were i think? a hereford based company.they were atkinson dealers and dai bootsy took this photo of prails diamond t wrecker at their yard on carmarthen road,swansea.i remember seeing this motor around during the 80âs and i am sure the original hercules had been removed and a leyland or aec engine had been shoehorned in.
this detroit powered crusader was new to scotts construction in port talbot,now owned by scammell enthusiasts robert and lorrain wilson from goytre near pontypool.she sounds real sweet
robbins of swansea keep some of the trucks they have owned for years.
pete 359:
hi lads,
prails were i think? a hereford based company.they were atkinson dealers and dai bootsy took this photo of prails diamond t wrecker at their yard on carmarthen road,swansea.i remember seeing this motor around during the 80âs and i am sure the original hercules had been removed and a leyland or aec engine had been shoehorned in.
Hi Andrew,
Spot on. Praills were Hereford based also Atki dealers and did all sorts of commercial repairs.
Cheers Dave.
thanks dave,when my father drove for joints in the 60âs he has told me that some of the atkiâs they had came from them,hereâs another of robbinsâ .
Another good old Diamond T, so many of them found second lives in the 60âs and 70âs as wreckers after military service. Not bad for a truck from the 1940âs.
As Andrew mentioned many were re engined [the army even did some themselves whilst in service].
A lot of them were converted by fitting a TFL T20 crane into the ballast box, some had Holmes twin booms and many had homemade cranes added [ I suspect the Prialls one is homemade]
South Wales fire service still have one that used to be their tow truck and was modelled by Corgi.
hi neil,
i can vaguely recall going out in the diamond t my father drove for joint motorways,he was given a broom handle with a glove attached to it to turn right,it was left hand drive and my father had complained to derryl jones (joints boss) that it had no indicators,so derryl gave him that ,joints t had the original engine in her and would pull a house down.
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pete 359:
this was an e16 erf.she had a 16 litre ly gardner in here.
I donât sâpose you took a pic of the Pandoro lorry next door??
240 Gardner:
pete 359:
this was an e16 erf.she had a 16 litre ly gardner in here.I donât sâpose you took a pic of the Pandoro lorry next door??
hi 240 gardner,
to honest with you sir, i didnât even take that photo,though i have some pandoro photos taken at sarn park services 20 odd years ago.
regards andrew
pete 359:
hi 240 gardner,
to honest with you sir, i didnât even take that photo,though i have some pandoro photos taken at sarn park services 20 odd years ago.
regards andrew
Perhaps if I ask nicelyâŚ? For such a large fleet, it seems to have been very âunder photographedâ!
Oh, and there is a South Wales connection, because there was one motor based in Hillâs yard in Cardiff in the late 70s, and driven by a chap called Johnny Long!
cheers
Chris
Heres one of pandoroâs, i cant take any credit for the photo it was given to me by a friend and i think he bought it from a truck rallyâŚ