Simon Daymond Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 How do I work out what number(s) to paint on my militant's bridge plate? I've searched around and I'm a little confused, some vehicles show a single number, others show two numbers, one on top of the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Blackpowder44 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Single No. unladen weight, greater no. weight of vehicle plus load. Jeep would be 1 over2 for example. John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 25 pounder Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 other possibility is vehicle , 1 number on the shield , or vehicle with trailer what results at 2 numbers on the yellow disc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 woa2 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 How do I work out what number(s) to paint on my militant's bridge plate? I've searched around and I'm a little confused, some vehicles show a single number, others show two numbers, one on top of the other. Single number is weight of Vehicle plus carried Load. Double number is weight of vehicle plus load (Lower Number) and weight of vehicle plus load and trailed load (Higher number). Weight is always rounded up to the next Ton. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Simon Daymond Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 so which is for the vehicle? - the lower or upper number? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 woa2 Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 so which is for the vehicle? - the lower or upper number? If the vehicle normally tows a load, such as a Morris FAT, then the lower weight is the vehicle plus the load it carries, and the higher weight is the vehicle, its load plus the towed weight. If the vehicle does not normally tow a trailer, then you only have a single number. If the vehicle only tows a trailer occasionally, then only one number is OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Ivor Ramsden Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 so which is for the vehicle? - the lower or upper number? The vehicle's weight classification is the bottom one. Vehicle & towed load is the top one. Dunno what they should be for a Militant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Simon Daymond Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 thanks for that. I've searched on the internet, and found a picture of an in-service militant, the bridge plate on which shows 24 over 16 which is what I think I'll go with. ( you have to scroll down to the bottom of the page) http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://petersewell.co.uk/__oneclick_uploads/2008/12/pic1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://petersewell.co.uk/2008/12/&usg=__jGvsePLZ-yFXs3KUuORYQSjTNrg=&h=412&w=600&sz=29&hl=en&start=9&um=1&tbnid=LYr0XkbVyeJX4M:&tbnh=93&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daec%2Bmilitant%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 antarmike Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 (edited) Although there are plenty of in service photos, were loaded vehicle is top figure, and loaded vehicle plus loaded trailer is the bootom figure on the plate. As is so often the case whatever is laid down on paper is seldom what actually gets painted on by the units, or what actually appears on the vehicle itself. Edited August 20, 2009 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 fv1609 Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 As is so often the case whatever is laid down on paper is seldom what actually gets painted on by the units, or what actually appears on the vehicle itself. But I think you will find that it is correctly marked, it is just complying with later regulations. By the early 1960s the fractional display of tow vehicle over trailer changed. The tow vehicle displayed the combined bridge class of vehicle & trailer denoted by a large "C" eg This was to conform to a NATO standardisation (STANAG 2010). The bridge classification no longer referred to the weight of the vehicle. It was calculated from a method laid down in DEF STAN 23-2 that took into account a wide range of the vehicle's characteristics, not on weight alone. In a similar way bridges were to be classed according to the way loads were to be distributed on them. The complexities of allocation of a vehicle bridge class can be seen below: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 AndyFowler Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Nice one Clive ! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Simon Daymond Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 so to represent a mid 60's livery, my militant would be correct with a 'c' over a 24? Or to depict an earlier livery, 24 over 16? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 fv1609 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 so to represent a mid 60's livery, my militant would be correct with a 'c' over a 24? Or to depict an earlier livery, 24 over 16? Simon broadly speaking yes. The last document I can find that uses the fractional system is dated 1954. The earliest using the "C" is 1959. Note that "C" is for use in combining the classification of trailer as well. If there is no trailer normally used there is no "C". It is just the classification of the vehicle. Marked large enough to be read at 50ft by day. I have a 1963 publication giving the bridge classifications of vehicles, there are a significant number of vehicles which had not at that time been allocated a classification. Of the AEC 0859 & 0860 four variants are described but only one has been allocated a classification at that stage. 384115.72.604 bridge classification 20 That asset code is the old system which changed to a 4 digit + 4 digit system in 1967. Somewhere (!) I have a later catalogue of bridge classifications, but I can't find it at present. The other point to consider for what theatre are you depicting your vehicle? If it was the UK it was not normal practice to mark the class on the vehicle. The class of bridges themselves were only to be marked in time of war, therefore it was pointless for normal UK vehicles to display a bridge class if there was no indication of the classification on the bridge itself. So problem solved if you want to restore it as UK only vehicle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Simon Daymond Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 cheers Clive, your last paragraph answers my question - I don't need to put a number on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 fv1609 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 cheers Clive, your last paragraph answers my question - I don't need to put a number on! Yes much safer that way! Although if you are depicting after 1977 it shouldn't be yellow should be grey, although I don't know when your vehicle would have gone out of service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 antarmike Posted October 4, 2009 Share Posted October 4, 2009 The vehicle's weight classification is the bottom one. Vehicle & towed load is the top one. Dunno what they should be for a Militant. But not always!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 HubbyHumber Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 I know that it's a long time since there was anything on this post, so it just goes to show the value of info on the Forum whenever someone needs to do some research - thanks to all. Something that I've just come across in a WO publication (dated April 1956) that I have recently acquired that perhaps adds (only a very little) to Clive's post of 24 Aug 2009 … is a reference to the use of the "C" in the 'Standard bridge classification signs for vehicles', as it falls between the 1954 and 1959 dates that he makes reference to. The publication is "Road Movement 1956", The War Office, April 1956. WO Code No 8872. Page 66, para 11 (b) (ii) - Standard bridge classification signs for vehicles; Inscription on signs; Front signs: "On towing vehicles the front sign will indicate the combined load class of the train. Above this number, the letter 'C' will be written to distinguish the vehicle as a towing vehicle." The image below is exactly the same as Clive has previously posted: "C" over "80" Sub paras (i) and (iii) refer to 'solo vehicles' and 'tank transporters and similar types of vehicles', respectively. If anyone wants to know the full content of the section I could scan it and post it if someone can tell me that that would be legal, or otherwise I could have a go at typing it! Adrian Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Simon Daymond
How do I work out what number(s) to paint on my militant's bridge plate? I've searched around and I'm a little confused, some vehicles show a single number, others show two numbers, one on top of the other.
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