radiomike7

You are confusing trailer and second tractor, Adrian is 100% correct if towing a trailer but a second tractor would not respond in the same way. The brakes on a disconnected trailer would only stay applied until the air leaked out, which is why a non spring braked trailer should always be parked with the mechanical handbrake applied. According to your diagram, the top left coupling is the service line from the towing vehicle. This applies air pressure via the 2 way check valve to the front brakes and trailer service coupling, and via the relay valve to the rear brakes.

Are you sure? Perhaps the American system is different from ours but in the UK with a double headed train, the leading vehicle can control the brakes of the train via the service line.

Go back even further to 1941 and the Russians were capable of mass producing the T-34 with 500bhp @ 1800rpm from a V12 diesel. I gather it was quite a success, even driven by girlies: "Arguably no tank in the history of warfare has come as a greater shock to the enemy, nor inflicted more terror, than did the T-34 when it appeared on the Russian front in the summer of 1941" Going by L60 and K60 in Chieftain/432, being smokey was a Ministry requirement, although I will concede that they were intended for multi-fuel use.

The Tirpitz finally sunk. Tirpitz was the second Bismarck class battleship of the German Kriegsmarine, sister ship of Bismarck and named after Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. She never fired against an enemy ship but spent most of WW2 in various bases in German occupied Norway, where her mere presence was a great threat to the Allies, tying up huge naval and air forces to make sure she could be dealt with if she ever made an offensive sortie and causing a major convoy to scatter and be destroyed piecemeal by other ships. After very many efforts by the royal navy and air force, 617 squadron led by Wing Commander 'Willie' Tait were tasked with destroying the seemingly unsinkable Tirpitz, using Tallboys dropped from 14,000 feet to penetrate the ship's deck armour and explode once inside. Ably assisted by 9 squadron, the first of three raids was a failure as the target was obscured by smoke generators, although one of 9 squadron's bombs did hit the bow and cause substantial damage. A similar problem occurred on the second raid when within 30 seconds of releasing the first bomb the target was shrouded by sea clouds and only one near miss was recorded. However at the third attempt, the target was clearly visible and 30 Lancasters successfully dropped their Tallboys, Tait being credited with the first hit on the bow. The second hit glanced off a heavily armoured turret but the third penetrated the deck armour and set off a series of explosions which ripped a 200ft gash in the side of the ship, which quickly rolled over and settled on the bottom with the loss of over 1000 men. From that moment on, Tait was always known as 'Tirpitz Tait'

Fire risk, fuel evaporation and vapour locks when hot, danger when re-fuelling, poor economy, ignition system fails when damp, radio interference from HT, torque curve unsuited for heavy vehicle use, generally less reliable than a good diesel, just to mention a few, and probably why we finally saw sense and opted for diesel as the standard fuel.

Mike, I don't think there is much in it, although I would be the first to admit that the Conk always seems to be a lumbering giant when displayed. Cent MBT 650bhp/51tons = 12.74bhp/ton Conk MBT 810bhp/65tons = 12.46bhp/ton Cent ARV 650bhp/45tons =14.44bhp/ton Conk ARV 810bhp/57tons =14.21bhp/ton I have averaged the weight/power from several sources.

Another good example.

As an ARV, Conqueror with its 45 ton directly driven winch was probably the best available, Cent having to make do with a Bedford powered 18 ton winch (mk1) or a Rolls B81 powered 30 ton petrol/electric winch (mk2). In many cases this would enable a Conq to use a staight pull where a Cent would be wasting time setting up a 2:1 pull. However it was large and heavy, making it difficult to transport and heavy on fuel. Quite why we were designing FVs powered by petrol engines in the '50s after the lessons learned in WW2 is totally beyond me.

Is there anything left of the famous FERODO advert on the brick bridge, I went to school just up the road from the Ace and it was badly faded back in 1966?

I read that as the car driver having drowned:confused:

Tom, if you mean the ex-Pickfords trailer TM 413 it is rated at 200 tons.

I think you may be right Andy, going by Mike's description we would have lost the battle before we had unloaded the first tank:shocked:

Good description Mike, I was thinking along those lines. Do the tracks have to be chained up to prevent them sagging, and was that trailer ever issued/used by a unit?

:-d:-d:-d:-d:-d

Hi Will, welcome to the madhouse, the three worst offenders have already introduced themselves:-D If you didn't know, the BL suggests an in-service date of 1952/3.

On a similar theme, some years ago a lorry driver caused panic in Stony Stratford when he chose to park up overnight in the town centre. His load? A (replica?) full sized V2 rocket:shocked:

Mike..

As far as I know it was the only one and originally used as an artic tractor.

No, it is 298 FUW, an ex RAF Scammell Mountaineer which is basically a 4x4 version of the Constructor.

Actually no, but similar:). Let's see if the others know.

But who can identify the towing vehicle for the twin bogie timber trailer?:-D

Let me know if there is anything specific you need translating.

Wondered when you would spot that:cool2: Is the Mammoth box a different ratio or is it a recirculating ball type with less friction?

Absolutely correct, rumour has it that the petrol heads were designed on the back of a fag packet down the local pub one Friday lunchtime.:shake: The one in the Highwayman is a 6DC630, there were many variations in ancillaries depending on the vehicle they were destined for, many ending up in Guy chassis which were built just down the road in Wolverhampton. http://www.geocities.com/britishtrucks/Meadows6DC630pic.jpg

But see what was added to the pumphouse just 10 years after these dinosaurs were comissioned: http://www.kemptonsteam.org/turbines.html Same capacity and at 25 tons less than half the weight of the flywheels alone.