restoration Albion BY5 F.B.E

[Old Git]

How did the lifting gear on the rear frame work, was it powered or hand-operated? If powered did all four work simultaneously? Did the Pontoon frame differ in any marked way from the FBE frame?

[PB1954RNS]

Hi.

The lifting beams are operated by a team of 4 men and each tower had a hand winch with steel cable and they had to wind/unwind at the same time or run the risk of getting the beam jammed.

Pontoon Albion.

They had a different body as they only carried two pontoons. They still had the 4 towers with hand winches but no lifting beams as they had hooks ,also the towers were open faced where the FBE had enclosed faces with a slot to  guide the beams up/down.

On the pontoon body the tie downs were different to the BY5, no overhead locker and a flat cab back again on the BY5 it had a vee in the back of the cab for the nose of the boats to go into. It was about 12" above the cab roof  which was canvas.

I will sort out a photo of the Pontoon Carrier and you can see the difference between the BY5 and the Pontoon lorry.

P Burns.

[Old Git]

I had a feeling that this would be the case, but wanted to be sure.  Any  photos of the mechanism of the Pontoon winch towers would be brilliant. I've got a 'To-Do' on my list to contact the RLC museum to see if they have any extant paperwork on the Pontoon frames and mechanisms, just haven't gotten around to it yet!

 

[Oh Five]

Have just been going back through this thread to refresh my memory of it and I noticed that you mentioned a the price of getting pins made.  Then someone suggested a pin priced in $CDN.

Your local agricultural engineers might be able to help with top or bottom pin for attaching implements on the three point linkage.  They come in a great range of sizes.  This page is from a Vapormatic catalogue.

Dan

[PB1954RNS]

Hi.

As promised photo of a Albion Pontoon Carrier via IWM. The winches are the same as fitted to the BY5 - with a fold up handle. If you can expand the photo on your computer you can see the hooks underneath a cross bracing on the towers.

All it was a hand operated winch with the cable going over a pulley down to the hook, over another pulley with the wire fixed to the tower.

The body is more open than on the BY5 as it has side walkways with raised side pieces where on the Pontoon Carrier there are none.

As for records, my Albion cost for chassis - £1080, Cab £68 and Free Issues £62.12.10. Weymanns of Surrey in 1942, had a contract to build 329 bodies and fit BY5.   Also they did also have a contract to build 225 Pontoon bodies and fit on the Albion chassis but this was cancelled, I can only think that another motor body builder got the contract to build them.

Pontoons were made out of a strong wood frame and covered by 'CONSUTA' plywood  on bottom, sides and deck with special couplings to join two pontoons into one pier. Length was about 22 foot and weigh 1,400lbs.

Cheers.

Paul Burns.

[PB1954RNS]

Hi Dan.

Many thanks for the info, I have now made the pegs out of wood but always useful for other pins on the Albion.

Many Thanks.

Paul Burns.

[Old Git]

Thanks for all that Paul, I've got all I need on the Pontoons and even the Leyland Retriever. I've even got a drawing for the Pontoon frame, it's just the detail on the towers that I was missing.

 

[PB1954RNS]

Hi.

The height of the tower from the bottom of the angle iron to the top of the tower is 88-3/8". It is a real nightmare to measure up the tower as it changes on the taper front and back.

You are welcome to measure them as long as you don't fall off the lorry.

Cheers.

Paul Burns.

[Old Git]

Thanks for that Paul, I presume the towers are the same height for Pontoon and FBE?

[PB1954RNS]

Hi.

Sorry I have no idea as the lorry beds are totally different. You would have to measure a pontoon and then stack another one on top to get the required height for the towers.   Looking at the photos of both lorry's the Pontoon could be higher as it is carrying a more bulky parts of the bridge. Also the beds are very much different, there is much more steel work on mine compared to the Pontoon Carrier. 

As for drawings, could be difficult as most companies who did war work burnt them when the war ended. Try Royal Eng's, Museum Chatham they might be able to help. They did send me line drawings from a manual of early bridging units - not great detail but might help.  I'm sure a model making company did a 1:72 white metal kit of a Pontoon Carrier - not sure who - if you can find out who they are they might be able to help you with a drawing or tell you where they got it from.

Is it a model or rebuilding a lorry.

Cheers.

Paul Burns.

   

[Old Git]

Thanks for all that, I do know that Mk V and Mk VI Pontoons were 20’ long x 6’ wide and 2’ 8.5” deep. Centre Pontoon for Bailey was the same, only square at both ends.  So two Pontoons stacked on top of each other comes out at 65" and well inside the height of the towers. 

From a Pontoon perspective the lift towers only needed to lift it high enough for the lower pontoon to slide out and the upper pontoon was lowered and it too slid out. Have to assume that the towers are pretty much the same height. It would make sense to have as much commonality as possible.

And to answer your questions, neither! I'm writing a book on Bailey Bridging and I am just beginning to look at Pontoon manufacture during the war, so wanted to also understand the logistics of transportation. Incidentally, we made something in the region of 49,000 Mk V & Mk VI Pontoons in this country (1939 - 45) and another 21,000 Centre Pontoons. (1942-45)

[MatchFuzee]

Albion BY3 FBE Mk II as mastered by Dave Rhodes and cast by Friendship Models. 

http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/1-76-albion-by3-folding-boat-equipment-fbe-mk-ii.92298/