IAC60 - Re Rushden: I also have some good memories of Rushden before they moved the transport head office to Slough. Ian Ogley, Ken Moore, Bob Turner, Jim Stevenson, Don Johnson, Ted Moksa and the pain in my rrrs was Arthur Brook
Where there many of the American road tanks 5th dragon? As far as I know Belfast had one but it was rated for butane only and carried a 16ton payload.
There were twelve, believe it or not the T1 steel was a by product of world war 2 technology with attempts to create a lighter armoured plate for tanks. These ran behind AEC mandators, and had a narrow track, and a good number were involved with rollovers, but any creases came out with hydraulic pressure testing. Nearly all of these operated out of Millbrook or Eston (Teesside). There fleet numbers were 97016 to 97120. The first number 9 was gas tank semi trailer, the next two numbers 97 identifies trailer type (ie Mississippi) the next three/four numbers identify the numbers in the range (ie 01 or 02 up to 12)(9701 - 9712) the last digit gives the vehicle a unique personal number. Easier to explain by word of mouth than by print. The tanker that caused mayhem in the Spanish caravan park that burst open was of T1 steel and the reason for failure was stress corrosion cracking, due to seasonal changes in its use, going from propane to anhydrous ammonia service. It was decided to limit their use after this.(Added later) If you go into wikipedia (Los Alfaques Disaster) there is a full page on the incident.
5thDragoon:
Thats an interesting couple of photos, do you have any details about them?
Not wanting to steel Sniffy’s thunder but both photos are of the vehicle disposal park at Calor Stoney Stanton. The first one I would say was taken in 1999/2000. The little Volvo FL6 on the far end is a Budget Gas mini bulk vehicle as Calor acquired this business in around 1999. The other non Calor vehicles are Eurogas mini bulkers and this business was acquired by Calor in 1998.
The second photo I think was taken after in around 2001/2002. The ERF artic in the foreground was a G reg E series with a ■■■■■■■ 250. The tanker coupled to it I think was the rollover training tanker.
5thDragoon:
IAC60 - Re Rushden: I also have some good memories of Rushden before they moved the transport head office to Slough. Ian Ogley, Ken Moore, Bob Turner, Jim Stevenson, Don Johnson, Ted Moksa and the pain in my rrrs was Arthur Brook
5th Dragoon – Now there’s some names from the past. Didn’t Ian end up in Immingham? Jim And Bob i believe went to Slough. Ted was the workshop manager at Rushden when I was there (a good bloke) and Ken was the overall manager (never really sure what he did apart from walk around with his hands in his pockets). Don was in the stores (he had done 25 years when I was there). I never new Arthur although I heard about him as the old boy electrician who I worked with talked about him and he had the same opinion as you did.
Calor Transport used to run Vinyl Chloride Monomer into Vinatex, on the Staveley Chemicals site, from BP Baglan Bay in the 70s,any photos of those vehicles?
Cheers,
Chris.
5thDragoon:
There were twelve, believe it or not the T1 steel was a by product of world war 2 technology with attempts to create a lighter armoured plate for tanks. These ran behind AEC mandators, and had a narrow track, and a good number were involved with rollovers, but any creases came out with hydraulic pressure testing. Nearly all of these operated out of Millbrook or Eston (Teesside). There fleet numbers were 97016 to 97120. The first number 9 was gas tank semi trailer, the next two numbers 97 identifies trailer type (ie Mississippi) the next three/four numbers identify the numbers in the range (ie 01 or 02 up to 12)(9701 - 9712) the last digit gives the vehicle a unique personal number. Easier to explain by word of mouth than by print. The tanker that caused mayhem in the Spanish caravan park that burst open was of T1 steel and the reason for failure was stress corrosion cracking, due to seasonal changes in its use, going from propane to anhydrous ammonia service. It was decided to limit their use after this.(Added later) If you go into wikipedia (Los Alfaques Disaster) there is a full page on the incident.
I remember the Mississippi’s, we had 97114 and 97120 at Ellesmere Port when I was there. I particularly remember 97114 as it caught fire on the M56 Runcorn bridge. It was 6am on a very cold foggy winter morning (around 1993) and Tommy the driver was en-route back from Immingham loaded with Butane and a puncture caused a tyre fire. Fortunately the fire was put out and although the tanker was well blackened the RV did not lift and everything was fine (apart from the running gear).
The old grey matter is working overtime just recently. Mind you I can’t remember what I did yesterday!!
Calor took seven of these semi automatic Trunker 2s, they proved very unsatisfactory, so much that they were all transferred to Teesside, where a fitter was constantly overhauling the gearboxes, there were nine boxes, seven in the vehicles and two either under warranty or repair. The fleet engineer started to change them to manual by fitting transmission items from the octopus range with units from vehicle dismantlers. None of them did the full seven years vehicle life before being sold on.
Chris Webb:
I remember LPG Transport from Morley very well but I never knew they ran tippers at one time.
I remember those tippers on the Chukie Chickens job to Langefni, feed delivered through a screw using high pressure hydraulics - A nightmare !
5thDragoon:
More for the Oops collection 3210
The first picture with the artic on it’s side appears to be on the old A66 running through Hartburn in Stockton on Teesside, the grass bank in line with the trailer is where the old brick railway bridge crossed the road. An old mate of mine was a fitter for Calor at P.C, and the last I heard he had gone back there, (have’nt seen him since he worked for us at Imperial) his name is Graham Court, AKA ‘big Sid’, great thread by the way, Regards, Mizzo.
5thDragoon:
Some odds and ends - IAC60 you must have some photos !! 3210
I’ll see what I can find of interest. Mind you they will not be as old and interesting as your photos.
The Scammell Trunkers were well sought after their end with Calor, I know of a least six that went into the fun fair scene and two that went to Malta. This sale to dismantlers at £600 would represent what price today. I also note the VAT was a different rates for some disposals but do not know why.
Did you ever hear of the kosangas depot fire 5th dragon? This was in lisburn before it became calor kosangas and a subsequent move to Belfast. Apparently the 25lb cylinders were going off like fireworks! All started with a fitter smoking during the changing of a filter in a 10ton road tank.
Although I knew of many lpg incidents, I never witnessed many first hand, and never saw any cylinder explosions, although the aftermath photos are frightening, the press however always headlined such events with sensationalism.
Couple more newspaper articles of the Stockton on Tees incident, the lower showing the vehicle nearly back upright.
Something attracts these vehicles to deep ditches on narrow tracks, three photos of the same vehicle, three different drivers and three different locations.
The ones I drove for calor were bouncy buggers and when a bump in the road caused them to bounce they didn’t know when to stop!