mcspool

Visited a friend last weekend who owns a Land Rover 110 (and a Discovery). I was surprised by the lack of legroom in the 110. I am 6'6" and long in the leg, and operating the clutch was not easy. I was amazed by the lack of room between steering wheel and door, as this is normally where my knee goes! Anyway, I do like Land Rovers as they seem a big Meccano set on wheels. Q: Can anyone tell me if the Lightweight has more legroom than a 110? Which Land Rover is best for leg/headroom? Thanks, Hanno

Joris, The English language has a nice word for this behaviour: "procrastination" Hanno

Jack! See this Milweb ad for your once in a lifetime chance to become a real man http://milweb.net/classifieds/large_image.php?ad=49605&cat=4 Hanno

I used to buy CMV when it came out initially. The quality of the content varied too much for my liking to take out a subscription. The cost on the newsstand here in Holland was quite high too. CMV and the other magazine have now vanished from the shops here. I last picked up the september 2009 issue when I was in the UK and I must say it was quite entertaining. The best thing to see was that David Fletcher is still publishing articles in CMV. David was the only(!) regular contributor to Wheels & Tracks, and the most deserved winner of the Bart Vanderveen Award. Granted, if you are fairly new to the hobby, the current mags can be educational and entertaining. But I agree, buy as many as back issues of W&T as you can find (some years back they went for GBP 1 each at Beltring), they will last you for decades of education. Hanno

Tap water in countries like Holland is actually of better quality than most mineral waters sold in bottles. And we use it to flush the toilet, wash the car and water the garden. How´s that for prosperity!?!?!? H.

Brilliant! Reminds me of a night many years ago. I was waiting in the car with a couple of friends to drive on the ferry. We had visited the UK for a tank hunting trip. In the dark we saw a shape which very much looked like a tank. We were all getting excited, but after have a close look it turned out to be a skip with a piece of tube sticking over the side . . H..

Mike, Does it look anything like this? I´m asking because I know the movie industry converted a Marmon-Herrington tractor in the 1940s and converted it to look like a tank. I have pictures (which I will dig up later) of the actual vehicle, which survives to this day. Hanno

Marcel, Sadly, no. Apart from those two Vickers Shervicks you mention (one is on my website) I have not heard of / seen any others. There must be some left somewhere! Hanno

Which by the way, is a great day out for the family! Very educational, and where does one see a steam locomotive up on an elevated rail section so one can walk under it? Hanno

All, Thanks for the replies. I am amazed by what the train enthusiasts are able to realise (also in scale). I sometimes see HMV's being transported across the globe for preservation, but that is nothing compared to shipping a steam locomotive and getting it running again. Hats off! Hanno

Hi Simon, welcome here. Seriously, there is a host of civilian vehicles which were acquired by the armed forces. They were mostly militarised to some extent, but often no more than olive drab paint, some rifle and first aid kit. Volkswagens are still supplied in large numbers to the military, in fact, ever since the VW factory supplied the majority of it´s early post war production of Beetles to the occupation forces. If I were you - interest in trucks and living in the UK - I would go for one of those 1950s British trucks. I see them popping up here in various conditions, but those ex-war reserve stock trucks look like very good value for money. Regards, Hanno

Steve, Well then please point out what all the levers and gauges are for! Hanno

Richard, Steve, Longmoor, correct. Who has a more extensive history on her? Attached is a pic of the "memorial" name plate. Note the mention of it being the 1000th British built freight locomotive ferried to Europe since "D" Day. Was this plate fitted already during the war? I was baffled by that fact, even though I know well of the huge industrial effort needed to win the war. Thanks, Hanno

Who knows which locomotive this is?

Hi Marcel, Yes, like Richard says, this looks like a Vickers Carden Loyd Utility Tractor converted for agricultural use. The superstructure has been cut down to the level just above the tracks, and the driver's position reversed. VCL Utility Tractors were used by the British, Belgian (pic attached) and Netherlands East Indies Armies. Those for the latter two were built under license by S.A Ateliers de Construction de Familleureux in Belgium. There was quite a variety of these tractors built, in the so-called infantry and cavalry versions. There were different superstructures and different track types and different track widths (as in distance from track center left to track center right). The Dutch and Belgian versions built in Belgium were captured in sizeable numers and used by the German Army as Artillerie Schlepper VA 601(b). I am not sure if and how many of these tractors were left behind by the BEF as I think they were no longer in front line use by the British Army in 1940. The one in your pictures looks like a recent find. Where did it come from and where did it go to? Thanks, Hanno

Indeed, although the diesel engine upgrade was copied from the Dutch Army conversion. Hanno

Hi Steve, Long time no "see", hope all is well with you. Re. Churchills, see the following links for a couple of rare types on a German range: http://www.hartziel.de/index.htm?/_typen/churchark.htm http://www.hartziel.de/index.htm?/_typen/churchavlb.htm http://www.hartziel.de/index.htm?/_typen/churcharv.htm Regards, Hanno

Some more info: this photo was taken in 1980 when this V-C-L Utility Tractor was located around Staines in the premises of Electron Beam Processes Ltd and/or E.D.Thomas Ltd. Does this help in identifying this survivor as a separate one, or the same one of which Richard posted a picture? Thanks, Hanno

Alan, thanks for sharing these pictures. Fascinating! Picture below shows the version of the Vickers Carden Loyd Tractor that was delivered to the Netherlands East Indies Army. Regards, Hanno

Here is another picture of a surviving Vickers Carden Loyd Utility Tractor. Is it the same one? H.

Here's another picture of a surviving Queen Mary trailer: http://marksmiltaryvehicles.fotopic.net/p58607366.html Not sure what those wings are, but they sure must suffer from being outside. The trailer as well, come to think of it. Hanno

Chris, Congrats on your truck, I like the closed cab CCKW best. Are you going to restore it as a British truck? Hint http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?t=204 http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?t=12452 Hanno

Almost ten years old, in fact: http://www.mil.hiiumaa.ee/2000_09_14_kurtna_T-34-36/ . .

It´s the first version of the T34 with 76mm gun, later versions had a larger turret with 85mm gun, known as T34/85. H.

This story is many years old (google around a bit), and although this T34 was remarkably complete and well preserved, it required a full restoration to get it running again! H.