Richard Farrant

Pearson’s of Liverpool crated a lot of motorcycles for the War Office, photos were in the book about their operations.  Littlewoods  could have been doing likewise. They also made barrage balloons.

2 hours ago, andy1960 said:

Aparrently Littlewoods Ltd of Liverpool ( now the retail and pools people) where quite involved in WW2 activities.

Anyone know and more detailed information especially  relating to Triumph. It appears that during 1943 & 1944 a lot of Triumphs were supplied to Littlewoods Ltd, Liverpool....any ideas who they for and where they went to????

They could have been dispatched to Littlewoods to be knocked down and packed for shipping. It is amazing to find firms who you do not associate with engineering were doing war work I believe Cadburys were making jerricans.

If this is the programme that depicted the time of the Dunkirk evacuation, then the QL was not built in 1940, so another error.

No problem, glad to help!

regards, Richard

1 hour ago, mark m uk said:

Thank you Citroman, I will start some research based on that.

All I know for sure is that this wS built in Italy.

like many Italian Army vehicles, there is a good chance it was commandeered by the Germans, and entirely possible it found its way to France, as it has original ‘Normandy 3 colour Camo’ paint. 

The only other thing I know is that it was sold at auction in the early 70’s, and came to the U.K. 

So, a good chance it is French.

Hi Mark,

If the registration is French civilian, then the 14 means it was registered in the Calvados region, Caen, Normandy

Easy way to check the camshaft is to take the valve chest cover off and see if all the cam followers are moving when the engine is spun over.

2 hours ago, philb said:

My pal's Ferret will readily engage 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th gears but having selected 3rd gear and pressed the pedal the pedal stays down, as if in neutral. After a few attempts the pedal usually springs up with a bang and 3rd is engaged but that makes driving tricky. Is this a common problem and what is the likely cause please?

Cheers,

Phil

Phil,

First thing I would check is the linkage from the gear slector to the selector lever on the side of the box,. As 3rd gear position on the quadrant is at the end of the gate, it may be there is a bit of wear or slack and the lever on the box is not quite in the correct position. Also you say that when 3rd does engage it comes up with a bang, is it then hard to push the pedal down again? Just trying to ascertain the problem.

regards, Richard

1 hour ago, rowehillmaster said:

..... does anyone know anything about this one ? - it is the one that my mates dad had when I was growing up, it was used for clearing hedges and pulling stumps and was shown at vintage events in SE Cornwall in the late 70s and early 80s - I found out today that is at the Cornwall at War museum on the old Davidstow airfield in NE Cornwall - found this and a few more pics searching for Davidstow Museum on a Google images search - looks like a non standard crane ?

It looks like a tank transporter tractor by its wheelbase and extended cab.

13 hours ago, IanW said:

Anyone out there know if the Cole Cranes used any engines that had SL5 type starter motors and, if so, what engine was it?  I have a starter that is supposed to have been for a Cole Crane but can't find anything on the net to confirm.

Ian,

Just noticed the writing on the flange "23/25 crane". This could relate to the Coles 23/25 Hydra Husky crane. The army had Hydra Husky cranes at on time, but I don't think they were 23/25 models and they were fitted with an AEC 505 engine.

Richard

29 minutes ago, IanW said:

Think you could be right. This image from a Perkins SL5 on an Ebay listing, has the nose piece fitted 90 degrees round but also has a different number of teeth. Apart from that it does look identical. Presumably just affects access to the cable terminals

I think the Perkins in the AEC/Coles Mk4 bridging cranes was a P4, that starter looks familiar.

Not sure what an SL5 engine was ........

3 hours ago, IanW said:

Anyone out there know if the Cole Cranes used any engines that had SL5 type starter motors and, if so, what engine was it?  I have a starter that is supposed to have been for a Cole Crane but can't find anything on the net to confirm.

Could be for the Perkins engine fitted to the post war AEC/Coles cranes

All I can find on the engine for the Q type is that it is 96 horsepower

Just now, rowehillmaster said:

Correct - my full scale model is to be used to make a 3D printed kit, like the old Scalecraft kit !

Good one, yes that was the kit. Think the system came to nothing in the end, the (real) trailers would have been expensive to build

2 hours ago, rowehillmaster said:

 (small hobby of mine, see attached all scaled from photos and basic dimensions) 

Regards Andy

 

Andy,

A Roadrailer trailer? Think that was the name. I recall building a model kit of one about 50 years ago, with an AEC tractor unit.

Sorry to hijack the thread, I take great interest in this Dennis restoration, well done Ben.

regards, Richard

Possibly drain plugs for an amphibious vehicle? The inspectors mark on the one close up looks like it could be Canadian (?).

9 minutes ago, Mick Norton said:

Richard,

Thanks for your effort and the data sent.  Amazing that this material is still accessible.

Was the archived material under the auspices of HMVF or do you have alternative source?

Once again thanks, I am a newcomer to this site and mightily impressed, thus far.

Mick

 

hi Mick,

Thanks.!  Military vehicles have been my interest and my work for nearly 50 years and you tend to accumulate a lot of reference material over time 😉. The photos in my last post are of an official wartime War Office publication listing details of all vehicles and trailers in use by the British military. It is a reprint version produced by the HM Stationary Office some years ago.

Glad to hear it was helpful to you.

regards, Richard

8 minutes ago, radiomike7 said:

It is a technical impossibility not to have 'wind up' even if all 6 tyres are the same size and pressure, as soon as you take a corner all six wheels are describing different radius circles.  The differential takes care of side to side differences but the wheels on each side are geared together directly with no compensation for differing speeds other than tyre slip.

You could claim that you had no adverse or damaging effects from 'wind up' but it was certainly there.

 

Ask any REME VM who served in that time, they will have had plenty of experience of wheel station and bevel box damage on Stalwarts, and all the other Alvis 6x6 vehicles.

48 minutes ago, Mick Norton said:

Richard,

Do you have any information on who might have built the SMT trailer?

Mick

Hi Mick,

I have found details of the trailer in a copy of the War Office Date Book of Wheeled Vehicles (a late war edition). See the two photos of related pages. The trailer was a Multiwheeler design but some were made by S.M.T., who as I mentioned before, were Scottish Motor Traction. They were also mentioned in Bart Vanderveen's Fighting Vehicles Directory WW2 as co-producers of the semi-trailers coupled to the Bedford QLC trucks.

4 minutes ago, No Signals said:

I acknowledge your far greater knowledge of such things Richard.  I do think though that it is more likely that they are just a re-sale site.  I am guessing that some of the vehicles possibly have RN on the side?  What are your thoughts?

I wouldn't say 'greater knowledge', just a bit of lateral thinking. The top right hand corner of the yard does appear to have a lorry with large letters on the side, which could be RN.

6 minutes ago, No Signals said:

Just to clarify gents, the vehicles are stored,, along with other ex-military vehicles, on a post-war site.  So sorry there are no clues here as to the usage.  Quite a variety of things there including a couple of Queen Marys, three Bedfords, a Matador, a Bedford MW and others I havent i.d. yet.

OK, thanks. The Queen Mary tractor units appear to be Crossleys. My thoughts are that this is a civilian contractor's repair workshops doing work for the Air Ministry .

There might be a clue in the location of the photo. It looks to be next to a domestic garden with a small greenhouse. Not a setting you would expect to see airfield crash tenders. On the other hand  barrage balloon units often were set up near residential areas.

41 minutes ago, Mick Norton said:

Richard/Wally,

These are the trailers I referred to.

Used by the RAF's Airfield Construction Branch (ACB) in the 1950s.

Mick

 

 

Hi Mick,

Found a trailer in RAF casting policy dated 1972, that meets  your description and photos.

Code 3470 1845 Trailer, low platform, 20 ton, 8 twin wheels, SMT Mk1

Scottish Motor Traction made some heavy trailers for the military

WOT1 for sure

Scottish Motor Traction

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