Hi Harry, enjoy your retirement having gone through “the good old days” I think we have earned it. I am just on the verge of packing in having worked an extra couple of years to try to keep my missus in the lavish style she has become accustomed to. 
I remember the old in cab trailer brake, we had one truck still in service, but the system wasn’t used having been overtaken by air brakes, and we all know how efficient they were in the early days.
On the subject of reversing etc. I remember a lot of the old wagon and drag drivers having difficulties when changing over to Artics, which were taking over as the main vehicles. As I said I spent a lot of time learning the job from the bottom up as a trailer mate/driver. I remember once going to one of the local mills at Marsden nr. Huddersfield. Like most of the mills it was only designed for horse and carts. We had to reverse onto a loading bay blind side with an artic, many of the early models did not have a good lock or power steering in those days. The driver was one of two brothers(Ronnie and Arthur Stansfield) both were exceptional W & D drivers but not fans of the new fangled artics. On the way up Manchester road we were talking about a TV programme, Cannonball, from the night before. For those who can’t remember it was a glamorised American show, (surprise surprise) It was a boiling hot day and Arthur was sweating like a P, No I’ll rephrase that he was perspiring slightly from his exertions. After about four shunts I strolled round to the drivers side and casually remarked, “You know Arthur, Cannonball on the telly never has this trouble” There was an immediate explosion, both Brothers were noted for their tempers,I ran like hell down the Mill yard and out of the gate, accompanied by serious comments about my Parentage and the likelihood of my imminent demise.
Still I did manage to cadge a lift back home when he calmed down, so it can’t have been too bad.
hiya,
Wish i could abbreviate your handle it’s difficult calling you The Yorkshireman, but my incursion into 8 legger and drag driving was eased by my old trailer boy who i have mentioned in an earlier post he learned me a lot although his vision was’nt good enough for the road he taught me a lot when i got the outfit to a delivery/loading point he really showed me the ropes and after a couple of weeks he said i was equal to him and he’d been doing W&Ds for thirty odd years but as well as being a bit bad on the eyesight he told porkies as well, but he made me feel good and he was always there to straighten me out if i got myself into a knot, but to be honest my changeover to becomeing articulated took me no more than a couple of hours i taught myself shunting about in a factory yard under the supervision of the regular guy actually set off with an artic for Enfield the same day, of course i could’nt call myself an artic driver right then but it was pre HGV lincenceing times and i never had an accident so i must have been doing something right, the first half a dozen years of my driving career was mixed bag W&Ds and artics i genuinely missed the old days when there was nowt else but artics to drive.
thanks harry long retired.
Hmm, I see your problem with the name Harry. I used to have the name on the CB and on a sun-visor plastered on the screen, but I’ve been called other names. 
I should imagine there are a lot of Yorkies around so that might be difficult, how about YM or John?
The Yorkshireman:
Hmm, I see your problem with the name Harry. I used to have the name on the CB and on a sun-visor plastered on the screen, but I’ve been called other names. I should imagine there are a lot of Yorkies around so that might be difficult, how about YM or John?
Nothing wrong with John, it’s a fine name!
hiya,
What about JohnTY for a handle you know it makes sense.
thanks harry long retired.
Wheel Nut:
harry_gill:
hiya,
What about JohnTY for a handle you know it makes sense.
thanks harry long retired.
Can we call him THE?
hiya,
Owt’ll do.
thanks harry long retired
Just reminded me seeing the suggestions Jonty was what one of the lads always called me at S&R. Johnie Hodges he was called. Ex Coldstream Guards , sadly no longer with us. Brilliant guy never downbeat, proud to have known him.
hiya,
JohnTY, one of the strangest jobs i did with a W&D was a load of television tubes a rare pallet load in the form of multi-packs two high all the way through, when i arrived i was told to follow a van with a gang round to a private tip where every box was emptied on the edge of the tip to be smashed up so that the copper coil could be retrieved for it’s scrap value, the metal was at an all time high at the time, a penny was seemingly worth more as scrap than over the counter, anyway after the boxes was emptied the multi-packs returned to the motor and sent back to where they had come from a round trip of about 200 miles two days work in those times without the loading/unloading time my old guvnor was rubbing his hands at that one there was quite a few more loads went down there but only on four wheelers i believe,seemingly i’d overfaced them.
thanks harry long retired
used to drive one for peter gilder started with a scana 112 reg was a616 wok then advanced to a 142 4 wheel lorry and 6 wheel drag fantastic bit of kit then things went down hill with a 143 pod sleeper g98 xad close coupled mid axle drag prefered the old a frames once yu mastered em could put em anywhere
just remembered a story from way back. At Hanson Haulage Huddersfield,( now part of fairy land called Kirklees.) We used to run two eight wheelers and drawbars plus about 6 or 7 Artics every night down to London. The two W&D day shunters were two brothers Arthur and Ronnie Stansfield, both brilliant at handling W&D. We had a few night drivers who because they could drive in a straight line forwards at night thought they were the top men. On one occasion the night trunk came back in late and it was wanted backed onto the loading bays straight away. Most of the trunkers hung the trailer on the nose bar and pushed the trailers back onto the dock. This guy decided to show off by reversing the whole rig like proper shunters do. He wouldn’t listen to his mate who was watching one side for him, to the extent that the mate eventually gave up and went home to bed. This guy must have persisted in trying to reverse shunting up and down for about 30 minutes as the crowd of watchers on the dock grew ever more impatient.they were waiting to strip it out.
I was stood with Arthur and said to him “aren’t you going to do it for him Arthur” “Am I hell” he replied “he likes to think he’s top man” Eventually one of the Lads on the dock called out to him, “Leave it there ******* We’ll shift the Dock.” He then admitted defeat, put it on the nose bar and pushed it onto the dock to loud cheers. As I said Arthur and Ronnie were both top men. Both were hard as nails had fiery tempers and not to be crossed. Ronnie in particular used to get a lot of shocked stares from people who didn’t know him, he was only a little stocky guy and only had one eye, When he jumped down from the cab many people did a double take.
