TrevorLarkum Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 (edited) Hiya everyone. I've been a member of this forum for a year or so and decided it was time I got posting. I know quite a lot of people here, like Hanno (mcspool) for a couple of decades, plus Adrian (tankbarrell), Tichenor, PzKpfw-e and others from the AFV News forum, plus I recently met Iain (sharky) at Armourgeddon and he prompted me to get more active here. I've been compiling data on preserved tanks since the 1970s. In my teens and at university I travelled around Europe and the USA visiting collections large and small. After university I joined the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, training on Chieftains at Bovington and BATUS and serving on Challengers in Germany (plus 6 months as infantry in South Tyrone just as the first Gulf War kicked off). The first picture shows my squadron at Deilinghofen in 1989. While in the Army and for ten years afterwards I continued to track down preserved tanks. I was lucky enough to be one of the first western visitors to Kubinka and wrote up the collection for a series in Military Modelling in the early 1990s. Meanwhile I had started writing a series of books and published them under the banner of Armour Archive, they were Preserved German Tanks 1: A7V to Panzer IV, PGT2: Panzer V Panther to Leopard 2, Preserved Tanks in France and Preserved Tanks in Russia. At that point kids came along and things went on hold. Then in 2007, once they got a bit bigger, I picked up the reins again, and now spend my time developing the PreservedTanks.com website. I continue to travel and visit collections, and through my work (I'm a company director of a very small software house) I am able to get to some fairly exotic locations. For example, I recently wrote Preserved Tanks in Brazil. The second picture is of me on an M3A3 at Sao Goncalo, near Rio de Janeiro. That's me in a nutshell. I hope you'll have patience if I start asking people for information and photographs for the database! It works both ways, of course. PTC does not yet have very good options for searching, but I'm working on that, starting with the ability to search via location. That's not yet public, but I'm happy to provide links here, given below. BTW, for each tank I track the locations it has visited in its life. That always starts with where it was built, of course, so there's quite a lot of information on the site about tank factories. Preserved Tanks by Location Tanks Factories and Facilities All Tank Related Locations Edited November 12, 2011 by TrevorLarkum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Welcome along, your knowledge will be in great demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 hi a warm welcome to the forum . :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankysteve Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Welcome Trevor; Great to know there`s another `one of us` on the Forum. Me - i served in 2 (you know the ones who absorbed 3 !). Initial look at the web links- very interesting, will peruse later. Happy Cambria Fear Naught Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorLarkum Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Cheers, guys - the warm welcome is much appreciated! Welcome Trevor; Great to know there`s another `one of us` on the Forum. Me - i served in 2 (you know the ones who absorbed 3 !). Fear Naught Steve Yep - the merger took place not long after I left. I'm sure there must be other ex-Tanks on the forum, just hiding in the woodwork! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy8men Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 my kinda guy :bow: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharky Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 nice to meet you the other day Trevor hope my very rushed tour was helpful anyway feel free to visit any time, doors are always open and welcome to hmvf on the whole a good bunch of folk . Iain AKA sharky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorLarkum Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 nice to meet you the other day Trevor hope my very rushed tour was helpful anyway feel free to visit any time, doors are always open I am very grateful for your time and the info you passed on - I fully appreciate the visit was a bit sprung on you, and you went out of your way to help. Nice jeep ride, too! welcome to hmvf on the whole a good bunch of folk . Looking good so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Dear Trevor, Congratulations on making the move from "passive" to "active" on the forum by posting. Also worth noting is the fact that your forum name is your actual name and not "exbatusRTRtankieguy".:kissoncheek: I am very interested in your site and your passion, even though it strays in directions that are not my interest but does interest many others. Living in Canada as an ex pat Brit I welcome any questions about what is preserved out here and would gladly help in obtaining images for you. Just dont expect them overnight. What years were you in 3 RTR? You must have piles of photos from in service days, we all want to see them, honest, we do:yay: Look forward to your contributions to the fray Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorLarkum Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Living in Canada as an ex pat Brit I welcome any questions about what is preserved out here and would gladly help in obtaining images for you. Just dont expect them overnight. Robin, I visited Borden in 2008 and took hundreds of pictures that I haven't yet put online. Any pictures of the tanks at the Ottawa museum, however, would be much appreciated. What years were you in 3 RTR? I was on a short-service commission: I was at Sandhurst and then Bovington through 1988, Deilinghofen/Hemer/Iserlohn 1989 - June 1990 as Troop Leader (including Hohne, BATUS, etc.), South Tyrone July-November 1990, finishing as a Second Captain at Bessbrook December 1990. We returned to Germany in 1991, and I was back out by August that year. You must have piles of photos from in service days, we all want to see them, honest, we do:yay: I have some but like most ex-servicemen, I suspect, I regret now not taking more. I will endeavour to post what I have as soon as I can find them and the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Trevor, Great to see you here! Regards, Hanno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Welcome aboard!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redherring Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Hi Trevor Impressed by your research. The photo attached shows my truck and some scrap-iron I acquired from a quarry! Regards Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorLarkum Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Very nice! Looks a bit like a Sherman chassis but smaller, Stuart or HST -based maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redherring Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Found another photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmac Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 WOw! Part of a Sentinel by the looks of things. Isn't there supposed to be three bogies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorLarkum Posted November 18, 2011 Author Share Posted November 18, 2011 WOw! Part of a Sentinel by the looks of things. Isn't there supposed to be three bogies? True: But what a rarity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redherring Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Indeed. This is the remains of an AC1 so-called; (approximately 65 built, your photo shows the only factory-built AC3). This AC1 was converted to a crane in the 50's. We know it was used to shift large blocks of concrete being the substructure of the breakwater in Portland (Australia that is) harbour. It ended its working life in a quarry north of Colac. The conversion involved cutting a trianglular shaped section including the third bogie from the hull. The rear of the hull with idlers was retained, 'rotated', and welded back onto the hull so that the rear idlers sit on the ground. This format supports the crane and its load. The original gearbox is retained. The AC1-crane was driven by a small International motor (deceased) through a vintage Thornycroft truck reduction gearbox. The winch was driven by a parallel drive train via chain drive through another Thornycroft box. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 Have you got a photo of the Thornycroft box? Thanks Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrevorLarkum Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 Indeed. This is the remains of an AC1 so-called; (approximately 65 built, your photo shows the only factory-built AC3). This AC1 was converted to a crane in the 50's. We know it was used to shift large blocks of concrete being the substructure of the breakwater in Portland (Australia that is) harbour. It ended its working life in a quarry north of Colac. The conversion involved cutting a trianglular shaped section including the third bogie from the hull. The rear of the hull with idlers was retained, 'rotated', and welded back onto the hull so that the rear idlers sit on the ground. This format supports the crane and its load. The original gearbox is retained. The AC1-crane was driven by a small International motor (deceased) through a vintage Thornycroft truck reduction gearbox. The winch was driven by a parallel drive train via chain drive through another Thornycroft box. Robert Thanks, Robert - I'll add it to my to-do list and get back to you when I can write it up, if that's ok. I currently have a bit of a backlog. It's certainly a very interesting vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redherring Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Tim, Thornycroft boxes currently covered and difficult to get at. Will photograph when have marginally more than a spare moment. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redherring Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Ahh! I got it wrong. They are AEC boxes. Difficult to read the plate but it appears the smaller top box was built 10-11-17 could be part number B3778... Series D?? Humble appologies to you Thornycroft enthusiasts. Hello AEC enthusiasts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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