hi all , if any body has a thames trader for sale could they Pm me got a mate on the look out. thanks Charlie’
very apt registration on that trader , worth a lot of money nowadays
greek:
John Jempson Rye always had a tidy Fleet are they still going? I used to do a lot along the south coast think i backloaded off them a few times.
greek:
John Jempson Rye always had a tidy Fleet are they still going? I used to do a lot along the south coast think i backloaded off them a few times.
Jempsons are still about. Used to always see them working out of the Gypsum quarry near Battle/John’s Cross and they were also in one of the pallet networks.
Great old Commer- looks better than it would have done when new. Does anyone know if that cab was offered by the factory or was it from a proprietory coachbuilder?
Bewick:
midgeteler:
Is it possible that a Trader was made under 3 ton?Yes! I knew of a number that were “stripped out” and “weighed in” at just a fraction under the 3 ton ULW so as to enable 17 to 20 year olds to drive them.I have friends up in north ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ did run a couple of Traders in the late 50’s which were under the 3ton limit.
When weighing for unladen tare we towed a few over the weigh bridge with no water or fuel and minus passenger seat ,starter and sometimes we would just remove inner wheels to drop them just below 3 tons
Petrol-engine Bedford S-types would also weigh in at the magic 2T- 19C-3Q, if you took it to the bridge with water drained, side & tailboards removed and with no passenger seat.
There once was a haulier in Milnthorpe in the 50’s/early 60’s who actually towed motors onto the bridge for ULW, occaisionally,without the engine I kid you not,they weren’t Traders but 6 and 8 wheelers.He sold all his firm and all his “A” licence and Contract licence motors in 1964,bar one 4 wheeler, to Davy&Co (K. Fell &Co) who in turn I bought out in '76.Cheers Bewick.
Hi all, just found this old photo of the Thames Trader car carrier(which by this stage was Perkins powered) and with a load of Hillman Hunters. Remember them? They won the original London to Sydney Marathon with Andrew Cowan as lead driver. Paddy Hopkirk should have won in an Austin 1800 but he stopped to help another French team who had been leading but had been injured with their car on fire as a result of being involved in a head-on collision on the last stage of the trip, just 150 kilometers from Sydney. Cowan took first prize and the heady sum of ten thousand pounds in a car that even the factory didn’t want to enter because they didn’t believe it would make it.
You might note the exhaust pipe coming out the front. This reduced the number of times the exhaust manifold bolts broke because of the shorter exhaust pipe, but going slowly up a steep hill with the wind blowing in the wrong direction filled the cab up with smoke.
The other thing I’ve noticed is that all the old UK photos show the small rear vision mirrors that were the original ones as fitted by Ford, or sometimes smaller. Our trucks had the West Coast (USA) mirrors fitted as the original ones you couldn’t see anything because of vibration. This photo was probably taken around 1968 (?) and yet we were still required to have the mechanical arm for indicating turns even though the truck was fitted with blinkers (turn indicators). Was there ever an equivalent requirement in the UK?
Truck was also fitted with stone guard, fog and spot lights, and two long distance fuel tanks, as in those days servo’s weren’t open 24 hours a day like nowadays. Tyres were 900’s up front and 825 on the trailer.
Looks like the driver had placed a bit of old tarp in front of his side grille, maybe in an attempt to keep his feet a bit warmer. I can remember driving the truck in winter with a blanket wrapped around my legs.
Tunnels.
You might note the exhaust pipe coming out the front. This reduced the number of times the exhaust manifold bolts broke because of the shorter exhaust pipe, but going slowly up a steep hill with the wind blowing in the wrong direction filled the cab up with smoke.
The other thing I’ve noticed is that all the old UK photos show the small rear vision mirrors that were the original ones as fitted by Ford, or sometimes smaller. Our trucks had the West Coast (USA) mirrors fitted as the original ones you couldn’t see anything because of vibration. This photo was probably taken around 1968 (?) and yet we were still required to have the mechanical arm for indicating turns even though the truck was fitted with blinkers (turn indicators). Was there ever an equivalent requirement in the UK?
Truck was also fitted with stone guard, fog and spot lights, and two long distance fuel tanks, as in those days servo’s weren’t open 24 hours a day like nowadays. Tyres were 900’s up front and 825 on the trailer.
Looks like the driver had placed a bit of old tarp in front of his side grille, maybe in an attempt to keep his feet a bit warmer. I can remember driving the truck in winter with a blanket wrapped around my legs.
Tunnels.
Retired Old ■■■■:
Petrol-engine Bedford S-types would also weigh in at the magic 2T- 19C-3Q, if you took it to the bridge with water drained, side & tailboards removed and with no passenger seat.
We managed to get Stypes with R6 Perkins under 3 ton, with flimsy alloy tipping bodies ,no front bumpers or brackets, no batteries, passenger seat, spare wheel & carrier off,& anything else that would detach.with hardly any fuel in, then off to weighbridge,with fingers & everything else crossed.
Those were the days! We had no chance of our R6 getting under 3 tons- it was a 6-wheeler.
Thames Trader 4X4
Blimey you would have to be fit to get in to that cab. 
I can just feel the grazes on my shins as the muddy boots slipped off those step rings! 
Retired Old ■■■■:
I can just feel the grazes on my shins as the muddy boots slipped off those step rings!
never thought any thing of getting in and out cab all day , but agree with retired about the shins.
That 4x4 must have been done by someone doing a few of them as a similar photo appears on page 1 of this Forum, only it’s a right hand drive version in less than pristine condition. The new lower step, front axle set-up etc all look the same though.
Tunnels
There was a firm called County did the coversions to Double drive on Traders maybe they would have done that one I think some of the electricity boards had 4wh drive traders as I remember seeing the front wing conversion in photos. I take it that would be the same COUNTY that did the 4wh drive FORDSON MAJORS.
Get the thinking caps on then. Eddie.
I can confirm that County Tractors, owned largely or entirely by Ford Motor Co and based outside Southampton, were responsible for converting several Ford & Fordson products.
As well as double drive six-wheelers there were 4X4 Traders and 4X4 Transit vans as well as the more familiar 4X4 tractors.
The official name of the company was County Commercial Cars, started way back in about 1930 by two brothers. I believe it was at the end of the 1940s that the firm produced a Fordson major with tracks instead of rear wheels. I think they were closed down sometime in the 1980s due at least in part to tractor makers offering increasing numbers of four-wheel drive models as standard.
Thanks ROF I was sure it was County thanks for that. Eddie.