64kj90 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 At long last my RS was delivered yesterday. It has been offered on eBay but didn't sell, so a deal was done, and after being messed around by several hauliers it finally made it home. It it has been converted to a timber tractor, with jib and a garwood winch, chain driven off the transfer box. Sadly both the contract and chassis plates are missing, but there are some clues to a military past, layers of deep bronze green paint, a painted bridge plate on the cab, and fire extinguisher bracket on the drivers seat base. It has a civilian type cab, and a Perkins 6 cyl Diesel engine The cab is really bad, so will probably be replaced, but the rest looks good. Any hints, tips or clues on its history would be most welcome! sorry the photos are upside down, sending this from my phone... Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David I Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Sorry, but I'd never heard of an RS. Found the link below which describes the spec. http://www.baor.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=29 Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Sorry, but I'd never heard of an RS. Found the link below which describes the spec. http://www.baor.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=29 Dave. It's more simple than that, S and L are the two wheelbase variants of the R series, not the body type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I've a feeling the Bedford RS was a disiel wagon to start with. At DERA Aquila there was one with a box body on with a Ministry of Supply plate, that had a six cylinder disiel. The engine had been specified as it was originally a test bed for SONAR , the site had a special 100 foot deep borehole to lower the probes into, and a petrol engine would have produced electrical interference for the instruments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean N Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 (edited) Mike has it right, the S just denotes the short wheelbase chassis; but Dave's spec is also relevant in that most of the RSs supplied to the military were tippers, powered by the 300 petrol engine. Bedford did offer a diesel option for the R type, which was originally the Perkins R6 (when Bedford didn't have their own diesel) but later the Bedford 300 and then 330 diesel. No doubt some vehicles may well have been supplied for special purposes with a diesel, like Tony's example, (or perhaps converted) but I'm sure the vast majority were petrol. Odd that this one has a civvy cab but signs of Government (if not military) use. Wonder if it's ex-Home Office or MoS supplied to some outfit like MVEE or RAE? Which Perkins is in it? If it's a P6, 6.354 or a four cylinder, it will certainly be a later fitment. Edited April 5, 2016 by Sean N insert missing letters in words Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 I note it is not a military type cab as it does not have the large removable panel to access the FV type air cleaner. The Royal Navy had some RS wreckers, seem to think they were Holmes type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 Sean, the old box truck was disiel from the start. There was some old paper, much worse for wear in the cab including a brochure, Bedford RS, truck of the year 1952:D From Richard's comment, could have been a civillian type special unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 8 stud rear axle suggesting it had 9.00x20 twins at some point. Cannot make out the front hubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean N Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 The Royal Navy had some RS wreckers, seem to think they were Holmes type. They did, though although they were Holmes style, I think they were built by Reynolds-Boughton. There is at least one in preservation, but I haven't seen it for a long time. I must admit I've always wanted one, but never seen one for sale. I note it is not a military type cab as it does not have the large removable panel to access the FV type air cleaner. Yes, Richard did comment it was a civvy cab. That's what made me wonder whether it was Home Office, MoS or similar rather than military. Of course, that assumes it's the original cab. 8 stud rear axle suggesting it had 9.00x20 twins at some point. Cannot make out the front hubs. The RS tippers ran 9.00 x 20 twins. Sean, the old box truck was disiel from the start. Yes, sorry Tony, I wasn't clear - I was meaning that other trucks or this timber tractor may have been converted later, not the one you were talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 (edited) No prob Sean. Though if it does have a civvy cab, that well may have been Ministry of Supply, they provided vehicles for the use of Goverment Departments. They were plated, and if I rember had their own registration series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Supply The Aquila site was an offshoot of Fort Halstead, that explains why the RS was there. Found out something I ddn't know! Edited April 5, 2016 by Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 The RS tippers ran 9.00 x 20 twins. Yes I realise that but Pikey Pete's spec listed 11.00x20 twins. Should the fronts not have been 9.00x20 as well like the recoveries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David I Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Found a link with a Bedford Tipper. http://www.panzerbaer.de/helper/uk_fv13100_bedford_rl-a.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64kj90 Posted April 7, 2016 Author Share Posted April 7, 2016 Interesting.... The tipper has a roof without cupola or horns, and the wrecker has a chrome radiator surround! Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 (edited) Interesting.... The tipper has a roof without cupola or horns, and the wrecker has a chrome radiator surround! Richard There's something decidedly fishy about that tipper but the recovery is an AFS one which were almost identical to the army ones including the cupola. The chrome grill came in around 1959, 377 ALC was registered in August 1962 and was allocated to the Scottish Home Office. Edited April 7, 2016 by radiomike7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Interesting.... The tipper has a roof without cupola or horns, and the wrecker has a chrome radiator surround! Richard The military RS tippers did not have cupolas, so that photo is correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean N Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 (edited) Yes I realise that but Pikey Pete's spec listed 11.00x20 twins. Should the fronts not have been 9.00x20 as well like the recoveries? Others might not have known though. Yes, they should be 9.00 x 20 all round just like the recoveries. Edited April 8, 2016 by Sean N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeePig Posted April 8, 2016 Share Posted April 8, 2016 The military RS tippers did not have cupolas, so that photo is correct Presumably to avoid braining people standing in the cupola when the tipper body came down? trevor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
64kj90 Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Presumably to avoid braining people standing in the cupola when the tipper body came down? trevor You our would hope so! Looks like my RS was an ex tipper with replacement civy rear axle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David I Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Hi. Don't know if this is still an ongoing project, but found this pic. Various machines, Bedford RL, followed by several RS tippers (first one seems to be towing a piece of plant), Aveling Barford/AEC/Scammell dump trucks, and possibly a Leyland Martian in the background. http://openiso.org/bedford-rl.html Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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