The Ministry of Defence specified a basic fire appliance for 'domestic' fire fighting duties at locations such as military hospitals. HCB-Angus responded with its 'Midi' body on a lightweight Bedford TK chassis. They were fitted with a 500 gallon pump, 250 gallon per minute Coventry Climax pump and a single hose reel, mounted above the pump at the rear. Note how the bodybuilder has incorporated the standard TK cab without compromising on headroom. The ladder in this pre-delivery photograph would have been more at home on a full-size appliance; many later received smaller ladders. Thanks to Ron Henderson for the original monochrome photograph from his extensive archives (26-Dec-16).
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Tags: digitally-coloured Bedford TK HCB Angus fire appliance RAF Royal Air Force
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Recovery vehicles have not always been elaborate affairs. Many smaller bus companies made do with ex-military vehicles ‘as purchased’. Burwell & District used an Austin K9, which did at least receive a repaint in the company’s colours. Originally a radio van, it was rebuilt with a simple steel body - smaller than that depicted here - and the original van body found further use as a paint store. Lack of weight made it difficult to tow with, so a small crane with hand winch was fitted, which also enabled it to be used legally on trade plates. It was replaced by an AEC Mammoth Minor in 1975. Thanks to Jim Neale for the background information (12-Feb-18).
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Tags: Austin K9 recovery vehicle Burwell & district Motor Service
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This is the first of two images from the days before widespread use of refrigerated transport. The Kinlochbervie Fish Selling Company did - and may still do - exactly what its name proclaims. Kinlochbervie is a small fishing port on the northern tip of Scotland. The principal Scottish market for its products is Glasgow - around 260 miles to the south - with much going considerably further south over the English border. It would have required very hard driving in trucks such as this 1950s Austin Loadstar on the poor roads of the day. In reality, the load would usually be stacked higher but was constrained here by the height of the headboard. Much larger vehicles were used in later days, including state-of-the-art Volvos and Mercedes-Benz units with refrigerated trailers. Please note that I am rather short of historic information for this company - the correct period telephone number would be particularly appreciated (14-Feb-17).
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Tags: Austin Loadstar Austin K4 flatbed truck Kinlochbervie Fish Selling Company
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This image was suggested by Jan Barnier who provided the base image. Jan wrote: “De Snelle Visser was a delivery company (just like Van Gend & Loos), which existed from 1912 until 1982. Based in Haarlem, it grew all over the Randstad area (Amsterdam, Hilversum, Utrecht, Rotterdam and Den Haag). It had a lot of different trucks from Ford, Bedford, DAF, Dodge, Autocar and many pre-war types; and vans from Renault, Saviem, Mercedes (several types), Opel Blitz and more. The trucks were used for transport between cities, and the vans for transport inside the cities. A DAF Truck (Snelle Visser car number 62) survives in the DAF Museum at Eindhoven" (14-Nov-15).
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Tags: Commer Walk-Thu Van De Snelle Visser
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I've selected this livery largely because of its classic combination of green, red and cream, which is not unlike the well-known Ken Thomas fleet (the tractor is actually modified from my previously-published Ken Thomas version). Nijdam Expeditiebedrijf (Nijdam Forwarding) is a long-established transport, storage and logistics company based at Groningen in the Netherlands. This image is loosely based on the DAF 3300s previously operated by the company, although it is not intended to represent a specific vehicle. Thanks again to Martin Vonk for the base image (22-Apr-16).
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Tags: tractor unit DAF 3300 Nijdam Expeditiebedrijf
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