lynx42 Rick Cove

I have one of these Brockhouse Straussler trailers and I am missing the ID plate. Does anyony have one or know of one which is available. See photo below. Thanks Rick.

My trailer is missing the ID plate. Does anyone have one out there? See photo. Regards Rick.

I have been watching this thread with interest. It seems that there are quite a few WW1 trucks out there , so I thought I had better add mine. Albion Chassis number 361A was laid down on the 6th December 1915. It was a 3 ton General Service truck, built to the Companies War Department specifications, for delivery in February 1916. After service in France and Belgium, it was returned to England in 1919 and sold through the disposals company C.H & L.O. Smith of Slough. It was purchased by the original manufacturer, Albion, and along with some other 930+ vehicles, rebuilt by the Company. It is believed to have been sent to Australia as part of a repatriation thank-you package to the Australian people by the British Goverment in about 1922/23. Two Albions from that package were known to be at the H.M.A.S. Cerberus shore depot proir to WW11, and it is thought that my Albion is one of these. (A large ships winch was fitted at some stage as well). I found it in 1972, burnt and half buried behind a sawmill in a Victorian country town. Some 5,000 hours went into the restoration. Whilst it is normally on display at the Bandiana Military Museum, where I have it on semi-permanent display, the attached photos were taken this March 2011, at the Corowa Swim-In, the largest Military Vehicle gathering in the Southern Hemisphere. Regards Rick.

Best of luck. In importing to the UK, your doing the right thing by asking first. I wanted to export a firearm from the UK to Australia almost two years ago. I am still waiting and the only reason that it will still go ahead is that I tried to do it through the right channels when we were over there in 2009. I had applied through the SPIRE system for the export permit, but because I was not a UK resident, they would not issue the export permit. The fact that I had brought it into the UK without an import permit saw me in real trouble with the law. The saving grace was that I had applied for the SPIRE permit which showed that I was at least being honest and not a criminal. The moral to this story is "Ignorance is no excuse". I should have declared it at the border as I came through Customs. I'm really glad that I at least tried through SPIRE to export it. It will arrive in Australia shortly as the export permit has now been issued and it will be on it's way soon. Regards Rick

A very real question to me. I restored my 1916 Albion 3 tonner back in the 70's and early 80's. More than 5000 hours went into restoring a very, very rare WW1 vehicle.In Feburary 2002 I was asked by the Australian War Memorial to loan my Albion to them for a few years. It turned out to be 3 1/2 years. During that time I took it out for one outing. At the end of that loan period, my Albion was then taken to the Bandiana Military Museum near Wodonga. It is on extended loan there at the moment. Whilst it has been at Bandiana, I have taken it out twice. The last time was this past March for the Corowa Swim-In. I really enjoy knowing that there are many, many people looking at my truck whilst it is in the museum. BUT, Boy do I miss the old girl not being at home! Two weeks ago, the Bandiana Museum rang and asked me to sell them my Albion. Good money is on offer. I have two sons, both are interested in my vehicles and I have always said the the Albion is to go to me second son. (The first born gets a different vehicle.) My answer to the museum is that the Albion will go to my son as promised, but if he needs or wants to sell it, then the Bandiana Military Museum has to have first offer. Bandiana do take their vehicles out into the public arena so I'm sure that it will get the occassional outing. Until then. It is still my pride and joy. Regards Rick.

Tony, I know that there are matting agents comercially available, but a quick and cheap way is to add talcun powder to the gloss paint. How much? Well that depends on what level of matt you need. It does talk a lot of powder to matt it down. i have used this method on many of my paint jobs. It sprays well as well. Try it by using a small tin of paint first. regards Rick.

Tim and crew, you should have restored an Albion A10 instead. The Albion has a decompressor which is activated by pulling a T handle whick protrudes from the left of the bottom of the radiator. You pull it out and turn it 90%. This moves the whole camshaft back a knotch and engages a seperate set of camshaft lobes. These hold the exhaust valves open for a longer period. Upon firing, you just reach down and with a quite flick, the T handle and camshaft resume their running position. Simple Hey! Congratulations on a successful first outing. Well Done.

Doug, Whilst I don't want to hijack such a terrific thread. A tan canvas was what was recomended by the Australian War Memorial in the early 1980's. This canopy is a new one and hasn't faded as yet. The first one was torn in five places after going under a lowbridge with incorrect height signage on it. This one is the replacement paid for by the Indigo Shire who acknowledged their mistake in the bridge height signage. Tim and crew, I wish I was there this year to see the Dennis in action. I hope that it all goes well for the London to Brighton. Regards Rick.

Tim and crew, Well Done!!:clap::clap: I remember well the first start-up and drive of my Albion 33 years ago. I still get a great thrill every time I drive her. We had her out in March for the Corowa Swim-In. Regards Rick.

G & J Weir are still in business. They are a Scottich company who today build pumps and are famous for their steam pumps. I have a G & J Weir 25 pdr. No 204. The Australian War Memorial has number 504. My gun 266 was supplied to the Australian 2nd/5th Field Regt. and was one of the very first 25pdrs. supplied to the Australians at Salisbury Plains in July 1940. Look them up on Google. regards Rick.

Just had a look... It's still there. No photo though.(The very bottom advert.)

That is certainly an Albion A10, but I think it was built prior to WW1. Why? Because the hubcaps are seem to be pararell not tapered. If you look at the photo of the A10 above you will see that the hubcaps are tapered. Great spares if the rest is not available. I didn't start with much more although I did have a radiator, engine and gearbox of sorts. It would be interesting to see which company supplied the steel for the chassis rails. I have seen two different companies so far. One here in Australia has a chassis by Frodingham Iron and Steel Co.Ltd England and mine is ***** I'll let you know in a few weeks, as I can't remember, and the truck is on loan to a museum. We are taking it onto the Corowa Swim-In on the 12th March so I'll let you know afterwards. The A10 type BB 3 tonner had 36 teeth on the driven cog and 18 on the pinion at the gearbox. (2 to 1 reduction) The bus chassis ran 22 to 36 and the 4 tonner 12 or 14 to 36. A cheap way to produce different chassis for different jobs. This chassis seems to have the 36 teeth driven cog. A great photo Richard , I've not seen that one before. Any more? Here is a photo if Jill and I out on a 657km run in 2006 over 3 weeks at 25km hour. Thanks Rick.

Definately an Albion from WW1. The squarish box near the rear of the engine is the dry sump lubricator. The propeller shaft goes from the clutch to the 3 speed gearboxand diff assembly set back from the engine. Wouldn't mind it for spares for my 1916 Albion A10 3 tonner.

Take your photo using the flash at dusk after wetting the bonnet and the white pigment might just show up more clearly. I have done this with varying success quite a few times. Regards Rick.

Is the rear armour original or reproduced? Seems to have flat head bolts holding it together instead of dome heads. Still it is a nice example Hope it find a good home.

Monty, Australia had some 28 APC versions of the Saracen. I have listed below the British Registration Numbers, Hull Numbers and Australian Registration Numbers for future reference. There were also a couple of Fitters variants as well which are on your list.. Two numbers are on the list on the you have supplied. 82BA07 and 82BA08. Mine is 81BA97, Hull number 524, ARN. 115378, and is the actual Saracen which I drove during 1969 to 1971. It was a complete fluke that I ended up with MY Saracen. Fortunately I have a photo of me driving it taken in March 1969. BRITISH REG NO HULL No AUST REG NO 81BA02.................. 366............... 115366 81BA11 ..................538 ...............115367 81BA78 ..................--- .................115375 81BA80 ..................--- .................115388 81BA81 ..................--- .................115385 81BA83 ..................--- .................115379 81BA84 ..................--- .................115380 81BA85 .................512 ................115364 81BA86 ..................--- .................115381 81BA87 ..................--- .................115382 81BA89 ..................--- .................115383 81BA90.................. --- .................115384 81BA94 .................521 ................115369 81BA95 .................522 ................115365 81BA97 .................524 ................115378 ....................Rick Cove 81BA98 .................525 ................115363 81BA99 .................526................ 115362 82BA01 .................528 ................115361 82BA03 .................530 ................115373 82BA05 .................532 ................115377 82BA07 .................534 ................115368 82BA08 .................535 ................115389 82BA10 .................537 ................115376 82BA12 .................539 ................115387 82BA17 .................544 ................115374 82BA18 .................545 ................115372 82BA19 .................546 ................115390 82BA23 .................561 ................115386 88BA09 .................536 ................115370 88BA13 .................540 ................115371 Regards Rick.

Twelve months ago, Jill and I went to Hill 60. Yesterday we went to the movies and watched an Australian movie called "Beneath Hill 60". Two hours went quite fast. A very good movie with the inevitable love story entwined. Thebattle sceenes and rain were pretty realistic I recon. Not sure about the truck they used. We'll have to get Tim to watch it and see what it was. The story was based on the 1st Australian Tunneling Co. who were brought to Hill 60 to finish the job. 1,000,000lbs of explosives were blown up on 7th June 1917 in 21 mines and the sound and tremours were heard in London and Dublin. Rick.

Why can't I see the album? Any clues?

Whilst it is hard to find good photos of mechanized transport from WW1, I beleive there were more than 100,00 3 ton trucks (lorrys for you lot over there) supplied during WW1. 6,000 were A10 Albions. I need 2 for the front of my Albion thanks. I really do!

Hope it has been saved. The radiator is not 1915. It looks too tall and the motif is wrong. The wheels seem to be a bit taller and more narrow than mine. Do you have any other photos? Regards Rick

I would like to see that photo. Any chance of uplaoding it or sending it to me? thanks Rick.

I forgot to mention that it was on the 28th August 2009 when we spotted the Humber and T34. Rick

Not spotted today, but during our trip to the UK last August. We were travelling along the A37 near MidSomer Naughton when at a roundabout, this Humber FV1600 went past. Almost too fast to take a photo as I was driving the motorhome but I did get 2 shots of it. One does show the Reg.Number if you can decifer it. We then went to Haynes Motor Museum and after leaving and driving onto the main road, I spotted this T34 in a transport yard only about 300metres from Haynes. Any clues on the Humber? Regards Rick

I have been using citric acid for years. We have a large lemon tree which bears fruit 11 months of the year. Far too many for our normal use. So I just peel them and squash the rest into a drum, juice, pith seeds and all. Then I just add the necessary bit and watch the rust disolve away. Rusted bolts and nuts will just undo after a couple of days in the citric acid. I don't know about aluminium, I haven't tried that. Copper and brass does turn pink until you polish it. I always wire brush then rinse with clean water and spray a dewatering spray on straight away. If you don't, any steel or cast-iron bit will start rusting imediately. Regards Rick

Have you concidered turning your new centre bin into a carfridge? Here in OZ in 1968, we were camped in an area known as the Little Desert in Northern Victoria. My crews and I always had cold beer, even when it was 38-40 degrees outside in the shade. How? We converted our centre bins into an esky or car fridge. Can't remember how many cans fitted in the bin, but with ice added we were sweet. We made it for about 3 weeks before we were tumbled. I actually got credit for being smart instead of being placed on a fizzer. So, maybe you could do some mods to the new bins. Regards Rick