Lawrence Dunbar:
Another haulier comes to mid, Drummonds of Armadale, Still going I think ■■?, Plus Smith Ferguson from Bathgate, Dodgeys Geazers mind, Long gone now I think, Regards Larry.
Aye Drummonds of Armadale are still in business, they have a plain white livery now.
gunnerheskey:
I first started using the A74 from the late 80s and what i always remembered was how tight it was when overtaking another artic, as i’d only just started driving !
I remember the bad winds in 96 where i counted 15 artics on their side, from metal bridge to lesmahagow ! 3 0f them where Leggetts !
Parked up one night in the shell cafe opposite the quarry in my merc 1729, jumped out for a wee in the middle of the night and the snow came up to my knees… Happy days
great to find the post on the a74. Came off distance in the 70s just for a change and went on nights for wh malcolm preston depot. preston to johnstone and return.Hard going with atkis with first 180 gardeners then 220 ■■■■■■■■ you are right about the wind it was like hitting a brick wall as you changed direction, its not true north or south going up there.A high load was really bad i swear we changed down going down hills.We did it non stop to johnstone and stopped at the moss on return. we had a spell stopping at kirtlebridge(ecclefechan)when it opened at night for a while, but rough lorry parks and 2 pallets high of bottles dont mix. when it was windy we prayed for a load of steel angles or plates.They where widening big parts of the 74 putting a foot or more to the wdth and maybe 2 or 3 stretches at a time meant crossing over to north or south bound, believe me it was a bit dodgy , not a lot of road to play with especially if another truck was hammering towards you, the camber when crossing was not nice.Knew the archbold trunker, big bloke ,many tatoos, very funny , excellent company in the moss.,bowaters from barrow(2 drivers)flew past us uphill (toilet rolls)but we didnt half blast them when we caught them on a down hill. we always got there and back(very late sometimes)But great memories, summer was great could see every one loads of flashing lights, could recognise many in winter by cab roof lights and signs,really good times.
