Hi,
I am trying to trace the current wherabouts of the below wagon. I have tried REVS, and am waiting a comeback. In the meantime, if there is anyone out there who may have a positive lead that I could chase up, please, please respond.
Thank you.
wasnt this owned by a guy in bradford did it have sid wood on the doors i know it used to be parked above thornton village if that is the one
Its last tax disc ran out 31-10-09. What is revs?
The Register of ERF Vehicle Society
Thanks to all for your interest. The wagon was indeed owned by a man from Bradford.
Through some intense investigating, I have managed to locate the current owner, and had contact from him. As suspected, the vehicle is Holland based at the moment…here’s hoping a deal can be reached!!! 
plenty around,why this one may i ask ?
Plenty around indeed, but not like this one…it was driven by my dad when he worked for Towmaster Transport in the 80s.
I spent many a school holiday in this wagon.
hilltop4:
Plenty around indeed, but not like this one…it was driven by my dad when he worked for Towmaster Transport in the 80s.
I spent many a school holiday in this wagon.
ahh,nuff said !!!
I second that too!
I would love to find some of the ERF’s I used to ride around in when on school holidays but so far have reached a dead end.
DVLA says they have long gone, but that only means not taxed but could still be out there some where being preserved.
Where about’s did you do your investigative work??
Cheers
Matt
I guess I was just plain lucky really…
By pure chance, I bumped into the chap who owned her at a truck show. After he sold her, I managed to get the details of the buyer in Holland…unfortunatley, I then mislaid them and it wasn’t until after some serious trawling though my sent items on my old system that I managed to dig out his e-mail address.
Spooky though, how when you ralise that some 30 years later, not only is yer dads old wagon still around, but it is in perfect restoration, and based (at the time) just 40 miles up the road from yer house. and then to just bump into the (then current keeper) at a truck show…god moves in mysterious ways!!! and I certainly would not have made any bets on those odds too!!!
Below is an image of what BWF 74T would have looked like in her original guise when I was about 13 years old.
I am sure you will agree, a very striking image they made on our roads at the time.
Below are a few image’s of a model I recently constructed of BWF 74T. Note the fuel tank on the off side, as opposed to the near side like the one above. (this was because depending on which depot the wagons were based, determined which side they had their tanks…according to the layout of their yards fuel pumps). Also note the slight variation of lettering on the trailer bulkhead, and the upper case lettering on the grill…again dependant on which depot the tractor was from.
The below one carries concerete tunnel sections for sewer upgrades in London
Legs up, number plate on, suzzied up, and ready for the road on a crisp autumnal morning…sorry, but i could not replicate the huge couds of billowing blue diesel fumes that regulalry engulfed us in the yard. 
I can almost here that distinctive ‘crack’ that the engine had…lovely!! 
oh to hear her again plodding the steets of Doncaster!
Thanks for the interest.
Shaun.
hilltop4:
Plenty around indeed, but not like this one…it was driven by my dad when he worked for Towmaster Transport in the 80s.
I spent many a school holiday in this wagon.
Which depot did he work at? Towmaster were a regular sight passing the bottom of our street in Conisbrough when I was a kid!
You’re kidding!!!
He worked at the Denaby depot. As you may be aware, the yard is still there, despite the onslaught of commercial and domestic development in the area. The only thing the yard has suffered over the last 3 decades or so was a corner snipped off to make room for the new link road a few years back.
The chances are that I was sat in the passenger seat as we trundle past your street. We lived in Wombwell at the time, but I now live in Doncaster.
On many occassion, I unknowingly passed by my future home, and the home of my future wife, who was a little girl fast asleep in the early hours of the morning as we snaked our way up to junction 36 of the A1.
hilltop4:
You’re kidding!!!
He worked at the Denaby depot. As you may be aware, the yard is still there, despite the onslaught of commercial and domestic development in the area. The only thing the yard has suffered over the last 3 decades or so was a corner snipped off to make room for the new link road a few years back.The chances are that I was sat in the passenger seat as we trundle past your street. We lived in Wombwell at the time, but I now live in Doncaster.
On many occassion, I unknowingly passed by my future home, and the home of my future wife, who was a little girl fast asleep in the early hours of the morning as we snaked our way up to junction 36 of the A1.
If he was on night trunk in the early 80s he will have passed me on the A1,I think they were something to do with Bell’s Whisky and did a Newton Aycliffe depot changeover.Towmasters used to sneak up behind you with their lights off then cruise past holding a lighted match up.
Thats mi dad alright!!
This was a regular ‘stunt’ performed by their night trunkers, (either a lit match or the interior light)…dad says they used to have a right hoot doing this!,nuts or what 
They used to carry empties up to Washington Services, and do a swap for full bottles of Bells Whisky with drivers from the Broxburn Depot in Scotland.
This was then in turn taken all over England and Wales…‘Beefeater’ in London being a regular destination, then to Canning Town to pick up more empties to bring back up.
They also carried concerete tunnel sections from Mansfield, down to locations throughout London, for a massive programme of sewer upgrades at the time.
BWF 74T was driven hard night and day, dad driving through the night, and then re-fuelling and passing the key to the day driver, swapping shifts the following week. The wagon never complained and begged for more when pushed…if I remember rightly, it was a 280bhp 12 litre ‘screaming eagle’ engine and it went like “s**t off a shiny a shovel” my dad says…but maybe that was just his driving 
hilltop4:
You’re kidding!!!
He worked at the Denaby depot. As you may be aware, the yard is still there, despite the onslaught of commercial and domestic development in the area. The only thing the yard has suffered over the last 3 decades or so was a corner snipped off to make room for the new link road a few years back.The chances are that I was sat in the passenger seat as we trundle past your street. We lived in Wombwell at the time, but I now live in Doncaster.
On many occassion, I unknowingly passed by my future home, and the home of my future wife, who was a little girl fast asleep in the early hours of the morning as we snaked our way up to junction 36 of the A1.
I lived in the dip on Low Road in Conisbrough. In fact, my mates dad drove for Towmaster, Derek Donnison - a name you may be familiar with! He was a regular night trunker I believe. I’m going to print this thread off for him to see!
Small World 'eh!
Nice one! I will also mention Derek to dad, to see if he remembers him. Mention the name Stuart McDermott to Derek…or as he was probably known…‘Stu Mac’
Small world indeed…cheers mate.
I think that the Towmaster night trunk was Denaby to Washington (not Newton Aycliffe as I thought),change trailers and run down to either Leicester Forest or Trowell and do another changeover before running back to Denaby. I know they never hung around.
You are right…they didnt hang around.
They also used to pick up pallets full of empty bottles from ‘Yorkshire Bottle’. They had a massive wharehouse out at Bawtry. I used to love going up there…the fork lift lads were very relaxed, and always let me have a play on their lifters. I also sat on the empty flat (atop the rolled up sheets) whilst dad moved the wagong round the yard. No such thing as Health & Safety in them days!!!..we couldnt afford it!
Another bottle plant, somewhere in London, after getting tipped, the fork lift driver would always come up to my door, open it, and stick a crate of lemonade in the footwell for us.
The tunnel sections were collected from a place called ‘Charcon’ at Mansfield. Their yard was covered in dust, and totally exposed with narrow tracks between their stock for wagons to revers down for loading.
I remember one afternoon, again, somewhere in London (Islington I think■■?) waiting with dad to get tipped at the roadside with these tunnel sections. Dad was snoring, and I was enjoying watching life passing by on the busy High Street…when all of a sudden there was this almighty bang that seemed to come from below. The cab shook and then steadied to a gentle rocking to and fro on its dampers. Dad woke up with a start…Bang!,… another.
They were blasting about 90 metres below us to make new tunnels!
It was very unerving to think that we, along with thousands of other people were sat on top of a bloody big pile of dynamite or whatever it was they used.
One red hot afternoon, in Birkenhead, whilst waiting to be tipped, dad and me, and one of his mates went across a causeway, and took our shoes and socks off and had a paddle in a boating lake!!
Great days!!!
Hi, my uncle used to drive for Tomasters at their Sheerness Kent depot. I used to go with him on a Friday night. He would usually change over at J14 of the M1 with a northern driver and then tip somewhere in London on his return to Kent.
I had quite a few photos of Tomasters lorries but cant seem to find them at the mo, mainly B and C series ERFs but later they changed over to Mercedes.
Hi,heres a cutting that may be of interest.
Not the lorry you’re after but the same stable.
Cheers Bubbs,