what a beautiful foden peter ! the first proper lorry i drove in the early 60s . has it got a working speedo ? mine was just the clock face without the works , i kept my ■■■■ in there so they didn’t fall on the floor . the brakes were good for the day as long as you kept the revs up . go to the top of the class for a job well done , i would love to see it if it is on the show circuit , regards , dave
Hi Carl & Peter and all…Still kicking, not been to hospital yet so have retired to the static in ■■■■■■■■ reception for laptop not very good so bear with me, have had no word at all from hospital what a disgrace our NHS have got into, suppose if I was a ■■■■■■■ I would be at the front of the que…anyway Peter that Foden looks great, is it the one we had at Marmaduke street for a short while, if so we had furniture etc stored on its back, you have done a good job on it, knew you would make a great brain surgeon, take care everyone will check in next week.
Eddie
edworth:
Hi Carl & Peter and all…Still kicking, not been to hospital yet so have retired to the static in ■■■■■■■■ reception for laptop not very good so bear with me, have had no word at all from hospital what a disgrace our NHS have got into, suppose if I was a [zb] I would be at the front of the que…anyway Peter that Foden looks great, is it the one we had at Marmaduke street for a short while, if so we had furniture etc stored on its back, you have done a good job on it, knew you would make a great brain surgeon, take care everyone will check in next week.
Eddie
Hi Eddie
Surely it cant be long now.
It seems to me if you are a ‘minority group’ you get priority. Different nationaity or ■■■■■■■■■ seem to be favorites. My mother has a hairdresser who is gay, and appart from his ‘affliction’ seems perfectly healthy. Yet he is never away from the doctors, and seems to me to be getting money somehow. I know they give alcoholics extra money, so anything is possible. Yet someone like you, who has worked hard al teir life and paid a fortune in taxes is kept waiting so long.
Just as well you are enjoying ■■■■■■■■
Peter has done an excellent job with the Foden, hasn’t he. Perhaps he might not be so bad for surgery if they keep you waiting too much longer. Worth the thought?
Carl
pbsummers:
Thank you for letting me put pic of Foden on your thread Carl. Originally owned by William Beardmore and Sons of Glasgow who sold it to Jimmy Irvin, a showman in Glasgow from whom we purchased it in 1981 as a chassis cab. We drove it back from Glasgow and after a few months started to strip it down. Up until he died suddenly in 1991 dad helped Barry and I to refurbish many parts. It was then decided to use a professional vehicle restorer (big mistake) to finish the vehicle. He did do some work on it but was taking him a long time. We then found out that he was working on another vehicle at the opposite end of the country whilst he was saying that he was working on ours so we asked for the vehicle to be returned. On inspection we were very disappointed at the fitment of the windscreens and doors. On us fitting the windscreens we found the appertures were 2" too big and the door appertures were 2 1/2" too big. This left us very disheartened and felt we couldn’t do anything for years. It wasn’t until 2008 I decided that we would have to do something and worked out where the previous coach builder had gone wrong and most of the cab was stripped down, rebuilt and re-pannelled by ourselves. The engine only needed a service (oil and filters)and all the brakes were overhauled. The chassis was shotblasted and repainted. Lots of other work was done but I don’t want to bore you. We asked Steve Sugden from Merrington to do the paintwork and Gardiners of Spennymoor built the body. It was then painted and signwritten in memory of our dad.It’s a Foden FG6/12, S18 cab, powered by a Gardner 6LW through a 4 speed gearbox and a single drive axle. It has only done 37500 miles from new.
Take care everyone Peter
Hi Peter, great photo of the Foden. You must have put a lot of time and work into getting it to look so good. I see the livery is in Raymond Summers name, is that your father? If so, was he a hairdresser (barber) in Spennymoor? I think he may have cut my hair on several occasions. Regards, Ronnie.
Hi rigsby
Thanks for compliments. Very resourceful use of speedo. Yes, we will be taking the Foden on the local rally circuit this year starting with the Tyne Tees Run from Stockton to South Shields, on 3rd of June. If you can make it you will be quite welcome to get in and have a short drive if you want to.
Peter
Hi Mysterron
Yes my dad was Ray the hairdresser in Spennymoor. He had nothing to do with transport in his working life but he enjoyed going to rallys with us and getting his hands dirty so it’ was only fitting we put his name on the Foden in his memory
Peter
pbsummers:
Hi rigsby
Thanks for compliments. Very resourceful use of speedo. Yes, we will be taking the Foden on the local rally circuit this year starting with the Tyne Tees Run from Stockton to South Shields, on 3rd of June. If you can make it you will be quite welcome to get in and have a short drive if you want to.
Peter
Peter, the Foden looks great!! Can you fit my name on its dancecard for the Tyne Tees?? 
regards Kev.
Carl, I remember going with Uncle Jim in JUP 945C to British Paints in Newcastle to deliver a load of 45 gallon drums. JUP had already been loaded, with the drums laid horizontally on top of one another. As you can appreciate, the more drums went on top pushed the lower drums outward so, as they settled during the journey, the van sides were bowing. At our destination Uncle Jim found where the drums had to be delivered to and I started to offload them. Â I had great difficulty as they were stacked high in the van and had locked together under their own weight. I eventually off-loaded the whole van by myself as Uncle Jim seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth only to return, typically, when I was taking the last drum off. His response was “That’s a good job done!” I never did find out where he’d gone to - lazy or just plain intelligent!
Kevmac47. Your name is on the dance card. You know you are welcome anytime just need to know if it’s a waltz or a foxtrot.
Peter
Loveley old Foden, well done lads with its restoration top marks all round, Please put my name on the card to, for a slow foxtrot, Regards Larry
The first owner of the Foden W.Beardmore, would that be the Beardmores at Park Head Cross Glasgow ?, I used to load out of there in the 50,60s, with gear for Charlie Parsons Heaton Works Newcastle, Regards Larry
hi Lawrence
Yes you are correct about Beardmores, from the Fodens build sheet thats where it was delivered to when it was new. Who knows you may have seen it there in the 50s we only know it was no2 in the fleet
Peter
pbsummers:
hi Lawrence
Yes you are correct about Beardmores, from the Fodens build sheet thats where it was delivered to when it was new. Who knows you may have seen it there in the 50s we only know it was no2 in the fleet
Peter
Peter, will the rest of “your fleet” also be at the Tyne Tees ? Regards Kev.
pbsummers:
Carl, I remember going with Uncle Jim in JUP 945C to British Paints in Newcastle to deliver a load of 45 gallon drums. JUP had already been loaded, with the drums laid horizontally on top of one another. As you can appreciate, the more drums went on top pushed the lower drums outward so, as they settled during the journey, the van sides were bowing. At our destination Uncle Jim found where the drums had to be delivered to and I started to offload them. Â I had great difficulty as they were stacked high in the van and had locked together under their own weight. I eventually off-loaded the whole van by myself as Uncle Jim seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth only to return, typically, when I was taking the last drum off. His response was “That’s a good job done!” I never did find out where he’d gone to - lazy or just plain intelligent!Kevmac47. Your name is on the dance card. You know you are welcome anytime just need to know if it’s a waltz or a foxtrot.
Peter
Hi Peter,
The paint drums will have been from Aycliffe Drums & Kegs and we always loaded them vertically. Most vans in those days had ring marks on the floor when they had stood. He probably had gone missing when the van was loading at Aycliffe, and their staff probably had to load and never realised the load would have settled and bellied the sides out.
I went many times, with dad to British Paints, International Paints, Armstrong Cork at Team Valley, and a company called Wales Dove at I think Hendon, with drums from Aycliffe Drums and Kegs and paint tins from Tin Boxes also from Aycliffe.
They were all ‘bad’ deliveries, but Armstrong Cork was worst, as they took hours to unload. After I passed my test I went several times to British Paint, with DPT100B, with paint tins (It wasn’t big enough to take loads of drums, and if my memory serves me right we had to park on the street to unload, and that’s why it took so long.
I always remember my grandfather telling the tale of an official visit he had with Mr Murray, the MP to Winterton the lunatic asylum at Sedgefield. He said that there was a bloke pushing a wheel barrow round upside down. He said to Granda ‘They think I’m mad, but if I pushed this the right way up they would give me some work to do’. I think that’s why Uncle Jim went missing.
I took my two Grandsons to Bobby Roberts Circus last night, it was very good. There were lots of Fodens there. I get sick of hearing how good Scanias are, but show people and Circuses always know what is reliable and good.
Finally Peter, have you got your plies and pinches soaking in Petrol to sterilise, as I suspect if the hospital doesn’t operate on Eddie soon, he might be asking you to remove those stones.
Carl
Just found this Ebro taillift brochure.
Trailer was 40 ft single axle Brockhouse trailer Fibreglass body by Marsden Warrington
Tractor which collected from Marsden (in photo) was brand new at the time
Ford D800 RUP799K. supplied by Elliott Motors Bishop Auckland main Ford dealers.
The photo above shows inside the trailer to demonstrate the Jo-loader system taking the load onto the tailift.
In truth the trailer was too long with the single axle right at rear making it very difficult to manouver.
The Jo-Loader system was not as easy to use as would be implied with the photo. About 4 people would have to push like hell to get a pallet from the front of the trailer onto the taillift.
![edbrobakgavellyft3b1975[1].jpg](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/trucknetuk/original/3X/f/3/f36d16e0d2df61016b747badcb1dee13e32faae6.jpeg)
When Marsden built the body on that trailer, it presented new problems for them.
They were approached by Edbro who were just entering the tail-lift market, and promised publicity if they fitted their tail lift, including large photos on their stand at the Commercial Motor show previously all our tail lifts had been Radcliffe, with the occasional Burtonwood.
Marsden explained that Edbro were using a chain like system with easily replaced segments, whereas Radcliffe had a metal cord system that had to be replaced when it failed (and they did).The main problem was the length of the cord depended on the height of the vehicle and were all different lengths and could not easily be obtained. Edbro links were all identical and one or two could be carried by the driver so if one broke they could easily be replaced.
That was the theory, but they broke regularly and also the trailer was used with a multitude of tractor units and never had the links in the right tractor unit.
For Edbro the size of the tail lift was much bigger than they had fitted before and Marsden had to ensure that the back frame didn’t simply pull away from the rest of the body, particularly if the weight was put on the front of the long tailboard giving a levelling effect.
The other problem that Marsden noticed was that the usual shutter left a reduction in the rear aperture when it was opened and so recommended a shutter that slid along under the roof.
As usual Arthur Rathbone, Marsden’s designer come foreman, was greatly involved making sure that adequate strengtheners were fitted to the back frame to ensure it stood the strain, and the trailer was perfect in design and build.
Peter
As i mentioned in the F & F and on this site the Foden looks great with colours to match i bet you feel proud to have put so much work into it & for other drivers on the road & shows to admire it i know when i drove Carl’s old truck to Wigan Rolls Royce & other posh cars slowed next to me to have a closer look i felt great them thinking i was the owner ha ha.
Eddie
Hope the hospital calls you in soon.
Gordon.
Carl Williams:
When Marsden built the body on that trailer, it presented new problems for them.
They were approached by Edbro who were just entering the tail-lift market, and promised publicity if they fitted their tail lift, including large photos on their stand at the Commercial Motor show previously all our tail lifts had been Radcliffe, with the occasional Burtonwood.
Marsden explained that Edbro were using a chain like system with easily replaced segments, whereas Radcliffe had a metal cord system that had to be replaced when it failed (and they did).The main problem was the length of the cord depended on the height of the vehicle and were all different lengths and could not easily be obtained. Edbro links were all identical and one or two could be carried by the driver so if one broke they could easily be replaced.
That was the theory, but they broke regularly and also the trailer was used with a multitude of tractor units and never had the links in the right tractor unit.
For Edbro the size of the tail lift was much bigger than they had fitted before and Marsden had to ensure that the back frame didn’t simply pull away from the rest of the body, particularly if the weight was put on the front of the long tailboard giving a levelling effect.
The other problem that Marsden noticed was that the usual shutter left a reduction in the rear aperture when it was opened and so recommended a shutter that slid along under the roof.
As usual Arthur Rathbone, Marsden’s designer come foreman, was greatly involved making sure that adequate strengtheners were fitted to the back frame to ensure it stood the strain, and the trailer was perfect in design and build.
Just been with my son to Wards at Bishop Auckland, who supply car parts and while we waited to have some paint mixed someone came in and said Stan Harper had died last week. I explained who I was and he said that he was related to Dave Brannon, who had apparently recommended Stan for a job with us.
Stan started as an apprentice mechanic, and worked for us seventies early eighties as a mechanic. I remember most of the female office staff used to swoon when he came into the office for any reason. While he worked for us, in his spare time he used to buy the odd Mini and do it up and sell it, and he left us to open a garage in Willington, which eventually became an Austin-Morris agency.
Stan was a hard worker and a very good mechanic and seemed to be doing very well till he was struck by the luck of British Leyland, with their cancerous problems that seemed to spread to all who unfortunately had dealings with them and unfortunately Stan’s business venture failed.
Recently, I was told Stan had been carrying on business as a driving instructor, until last week on feeling unwell had gone to the doctors and died suddenly.
Stan was just 62 years old
Hey Peter,
Have you not got a photo to put on here of your Bedford with the side stipped showing what you are doing? I am sue a lot of readers would be interested in seeing it and it would also be good to see a photo before that awful name, that is so unpopular goes back on again.
Hi Carl.Must say how much I enjoy this thread.Your comments re the old days painting trucks by hand reminds me of when I was training to be a signwriter.I started straight from school.Reading of your experiences reminded me of a job that we got around 1966…There was a local Mineral Water company called HUNTS.They bought an old furniture van which they had converted in to a hospitality unit.they had the side of the van cut out and fitted a lift up top and had sides and steps up into the van which was furnished out as a bar area and seating area.They used it for exhibitions ,shows ect…
I do so remember this job.I cannot recall the make of the vehicle but i am sure it was an integral like a marsdon…We had to prepare it up so…It required 2 primers,2 undercoats and 2 gloss finishes…colour white.All with the required wet and dry rub down between coats,all the panitwork done by hand.The whole job was done in a building with just a roof,No sides in the winter…freezing or what…my hands were blue and numb for ages…
The sing work however was stunning…they had as thier logo a hunting scene with the dogs and horses,the main horse and rider was jumping a fence which was a capital H (Hunts)…the sign paiter was given as a reference a label of a bottle…he then had to resize this to cover the side of the van…fantastic job when finished.
I did not have much involvment in the sign work cos I was learning the trade as such,I was 16 at the time but how i do remember singwriting in the winter time on the norfolk coastal areas…brrrr
Nice restoration on the loverly old Foden,nice simple plain signwork.
Glad your get together went well.
Keep up the exellent thread.
regards mickthebrush
mickthebrush:
Hi Carl.Must say how much I enjoy this thread.Your comments re the old days painting trucks by hand reminds me of when I was training to be a signwriter.I started straight from school.Reading of your experiences reminded me of a job that we got around 1966…There was a local Mineral Water company called HUNTS.They bought an old furniture van which they had converted in to a hospitality unit.they had the side of the van cut out and fitted a lift up top and had sides and steps up into the van which was furnished out as a bar area and seating area.They used it for exhibitions ,shows ect…
I do so remember this job.I cannot recall the make of the vehicle but i am sure it was an integral like a marsdon…We had to prepare it up so…It required 2 primers,2 undercoats and 2 gloss finishes…colour white.All with the required wet and dry rub down between coats,all the panitwork done by hand.The whole job was done in a building with just a roof,No sides in the winter…freezing or what…my hands were blue and numb for ages…
The sing work however was stunning…they had as thier logo a hunting scene with the dogs and horses,the main horse and rider was jumping a fence which was a capital H (Hunts)…the sign paiter was given as a reference a label of a bottle…he then had to resize this to cover the side of the van…fantastic job when finished.
I did not have much involvment in the sign work cos I was learning the trade as such,I was 16 at the time but how i do remember singwriting in the winter time on the norfolk coastal areas…brrrr
Nice restoration on the loverly old Foden,nice simple plain signwork.
Glad your get together went well.
Keep up the exellent thread.
regards mickthebrush
Hi Mickthebrush,
Thank you so much for writing. I wish many more readers would add their thoughts and comments as not only does diversity in views and thoughts add to the interest of the thread but also it triggers thoughts and memories in the mind from the likes of myself that enables me to bring back memories of the past.
So come on everyone, let’s have your comments and views.
Rubbing down by hand with wet and dry, brings back what are happy memories today, but certainly not as happy whilst doing it because it was hard work, and as Eddie Worthington reminded me a week or two before, everyone got roped in when they came back from a journey that had any time left. Dad believed in brush painting as opposed to spraying, and rubbing down by hand.
I suppose that is something that is well in the past and as Peter’s Foden illustrates an excellent job can be achieved with spraying. But in my mind nothing can better a good professional brush painted vehicle rubbed down between each coat, because of the sheer volume of paint that is applied by brush, without the use of thinners, but again it is very tiring work because of the amount of physical brushing needed to eliminate any brush marks.
Also as you rightly point out that a sign writer has to adapt what he is writing to the right size for the vehicle he is painting, and that is an artistic achievement. A good sign written vehicle is a piece of art. No two can be the same. They can be similar but not the same.
In these days of stick on vinyl lettering, no doubt a good job is achieved, but they are computer generated. Give me a hand painted professionally sign written vehicle any day.
Once again Mickthebrush, so good to hear from you and please keep the comments coming
Carl