Richard Peskett

I have only ever seen one original copy of this very rare book. Originally published in 1918 it has now been reprinted and is available on ABE Books for about £7 through your letterbox. It is an account of being an ASC officer in the Mechanical Transport Supply Column of an Indian Cavalry Division during two and a half years at the front. The reprint is good quality and is a good first hand account of the use of mechanical transport in WW 1. Richard Peskett.

This advertisement is from a magazine called 'Fording' 1919, at 5/- ( 25p ) it seems a good deal to refinish your model T, both 'Service Grey and 'Service Green' get a mention. Richard Peskett.

Some information herewith about dating your Pierce-Arrow, published many years ago in Old Motor magazine and from reliable sources. If in fact this is a R9 these were introduced from July 1919 with serial numbers 15xxx. Have restored an R7 and R8, they are well built and good runners. Many gave good service to Union Cartage out of the London Docks and in the sand and gravel business in west London for many years after WW1. Richard Peskett.

With reference to Lacre serial numbers the following from Motor Transport 16.1.1922 may shed some light on them. A full page advertisement for Lacre vehicles includes testimonials from owners - "chassis 1209 ,engine no. 505 into service as a charabanc in Cornwall 28.7.1912. Chassis no. 1019 , 30 hp. 3 ton laundry van 'supplied 10 years ago' ". To stamp chassis numbers in totally inaccessible places is not uncommon, early De Dion motor cars have the number on top of a cross member which virtually always becomes covered by bodywork timbers. Richard Peskett.

The following vehicle is certainly a Daimler CB, one of a few released to civilian owners on essential war work. The leading is somewhat more difficult !, bonnet /radiator look Thornycroft but the wood wheels ,bonnet lifts are not. Chassis at front seems to lack dumb irons as such, more like a Dennis. Appears shaft drive rather than chain drive. Richard Peskett.

When embarking on the restoration of your Thornycroft 'J' type this may be of interest !!. From 'General Routing Orders Mechanical Transport' - December 1915. Richard Peskett.

Further to the mention of war surplus Liberty trucks herewith a couple of early 1920s advertisements for same. Many found their way into showland use as they were powerful and rugged. I bought the remains of one from Jack Hardwick in the early 1980s which had been used to travel Elias Harris 's 'Wall of Death' motorcycle stunt show where a lioness rode in the sidecar. Richard Peskett.

Herewith some more information for the mechanically minded of how the Renard trailer system works. Front and rear axles steer and the centre one drives. Richard Peskett.

Looks to be a version of the Renard road train which appeared in various countries in different guises, built here by Daimler. The general idea was that the tractor unit drove all the centre axles of the trailers. I have much information on same in my library, will do more delving !. Richard Peskett.

Illustration of Daimler tank engine with final drive from original WW1 Daimler publication. Richard Peskett.

'U.S. Military Wheeled Vehicles' by Fred. W. Crismon has illustrations and info. on the 'Militor' on page 273. Richard Peskett.

Further to previous , herewith the illustration of what then was probably the sole surviving 'twin shaft' in running order. Austin's Longbridge works, November 1938. Richard Peskett.

Herewith illustrations of the Austin 'twin shaft' engine, somewhat antiquated insofar as it had individual 'T' head cylinders, dry sump with external oil tank etc. With the radiator at the back the fan was driven from the rear end of one of the two camshafts. The other illustration shows the radiator, controls and gearbox. Early models had dual ignition with coil and magneto with distributor., later magneto only as illustrated but the other picture shows the coil upper right on dash panel. An 'Autovac' is fitted as the tank was under slung at the rear of the chassis.Early models I believe had a pressure system fitted and easily identified by the large circular disc to centre of front wheels. I only ever had one of these chassis. The Automobile Engineer for November 1917 has much more info. on these very interesting vehicles. Richard Peskett.

Quite a jig-saw of parts. I actually bought all of these various chassis frames and parts back in the 1970s. The first and most complete came from a farm at Four Marks , Hants missing engine and radiator, another chassis (early type) came from Bordon,. Hants. Another gearbox ( the one mentioned in Old Motor ) came from Kent, other various chassis frames ,wheels etc. turned up. The stumbling block was no engine until one turned up in a Leeds scrapyard which I eventually bought. Other than a radiator there was now a complete set of parts. I sold this in the early 1990s to a friend in Essex who has subsequently restored the vehicle and still owns it . That is the only complete one with all correct engine etc. , I believe he supplied some of the parts for the NZ one which I think has a later Austin engine fitted. The one featured in this thread, I was told has a Sherpa engine ? I stand to be corrected on this. Also of interest I recently acquired a copy of a brochure issued by Austins, possibly in 1918, of one fitted with a forward mounted radiator ( not to be confused with the chassis produced soon after of more conventional design). Austin also retained one of the twin shaft lorries which made a public appearance at the launch of the new truck range in the late 1930s, sadly no doubt it was later broken up during WW2. Richard Peskett.

The original match for this paint came from us. When we restored the 1916 Thornycroft J type mobile anti aircraft gun for the IWM ( now on show at Duxford ) in 1987 we found various amounts of original paint under brackets , fittings etc. This was match by ICI at the time and we have retained this ever since. It has always been supplied to us in gloss and we have added matting agent, usually about 5 parts gloss 3 parts matting agent to give the desired finish. Our latest job finished in this is the 'B' type bus for London Transport museum. The Thornycroft at Duxford has stood the test of time for over 25 years now. The matting agent destroys the varnish in the gloss so beware do not make the finish too matt or it will not have any durability or weather protection. The paint is now supplied to us by Breakwells Paints ,Walsall. Richard Peskett.

Full details of when and where the bus will be in the next couple of weeks can be found on the London Transport Museum web site. We are this week refinishing it into its wartime livery etc. at Covent Garden and it will be on display on Covent Garden Piazza on Friday this week. On Saturday and Sunday it will be on display at the Museum Depot , Acton. Images here of it today arriving at Covent Garden and now in its undercoat. The bus has been totally restored in our workshops and has now covered about 200 miles in central London in its original guise as it worked 100 years ago on route 9. Richard Peskett. Contractor to LTM.

The said vehicle resides at a small hotel /b & b complex near to the entrance of Monets Garden, Giverney, near Paris. Richard Peskett.

If it had a fine metric thread inside it almost certainly a valve cover/dust cap. Looks very much what you would find on a RR or similar. Screws onto the valve stem protruding through the wheel rim. Richard Peskett.

Well, I hope this is what you all have been waiting for. We have today handed over to London's Transport Museum the 'B' type bus having completed phase 1 of the restoration. My thanks to Roy Larkin for putting right some of the facts and figures previously mentioned. The restoration is based on the chassis of B 2737, this spent its last working days with the National Omnibus Co. Chelmsford and its remains found on a small holding at nearby Cock Clarks. The body used in this restoration had been sold to East Surrey Traction Co., Reigate in the early 1920s and survived as a garden shed at Horley. Engine, gearbox and other mechanical parts have come back from Australia where some 40 of these vehicles were sold second hand in the early 1920s with B 237 surviving to be traded in by an outback farmer in 1971 to a Melbourne commercial vehicle dealer. The whole has been restored at my workshop and completed two months ahead of schedule. B 2737 entered service from Mortlake garage in March /April 1914 replacing aging De Dions which were put into store by the LGOC only to re-enter service some 4 months later !. B 2737 was taken along with all its sister vehicles by the WD in September 1914, ,some of this last order still at the Walthamstow works under construction were immediately bodied as general service lorries. Phase 2 will come in September this year when almost 100 years to the day the vehicle will be refinished as a troop carrier and hopefully return to France and Belgium during September and October this year. [ATTACH=CONFIG]92232[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]92233[/ATTACH] Richard Peskett.

Here is another one !, residing on a West Sussex farm where it has been since 1930 with a living van body fitted. Possibly American, worm drive rear axle, a plate I have not seen before with reverse arrows/anchor as a symbol but no makers name ,this also appears on all four hub caps. Rolled steel channel chassis frame, both brakes operating on rear drums. Equal size wheels back and front on 751mm rims ( may be a later alteration as if American would be on imperial size tyres.) 751mm was a less commons size anyway but equal size on a heavy vehicle is quite unusual. Right hand drive. Worm and probably worm wheel are missing. About 5.8 m overall with a 3.8m wheel base. Nearest I have found is this Seabrook ( Standard ,Detroit ) , but there are many minor differences. Richard Peskett.

The vehicle is a 40 h.p. Fiat new to the North Eastern Railway Co. in April 1907, fitted 34 seat charabanc body. The N.E. Railway were quick to extend the tourist market by running charabanc trips in connection with their railway services. The Great Western railway also did this but to a much greater extent. Richard Peskett.

The Austin 'twin shaft' only appeared as a 2 ton lorry, not the chassis used for armoured cars. The 'twin shaft' was a financial disaster for Austin, a cancelled order for Russia being the basic cause, two variations were built although in late 1913 a larger 4/5 version was built experimentally as was a forward radiator version in 1917. Other than a brief excursion into lorry building in 1919 Austin left the commercial vehicle market until the late 1930s. One 'twin shaft' of original specification survives in an Essex collection. Richard Peskett.

The Automobile Engineer, volume 10, 1920 pages 466 to 477 has a full report of the German vehicles bought back to Aldershot. Richard Peskett.

The following are all terms of reference in the form of contemporary official publications , as with most statistics there are of course contradictions !. In various other contemporary publications there are also figures published regarding the number of vehicles in the subsidy scheme and available at August 1914, these vary considerably. Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire 1914 - 1920. America's Munitions 1917 - 1918, Motor Transport. Supply of Munitions 1914 - 1918 Mechanical; Transport. A.S.C. Units Second Army 1917. Pt. 3. Mechanical Transport. Richard Perskett.

Further to the Exide claim that the electric starter was introduced in 1916 I think they were about much before this, Herewith extract from the 1913 Olympia show listings and Brolt were offering what today we think of as a normal type of electric starter with ring gear and motor rather than a friction drive arrangement.. Richard Peskett.