bowser you still driving trucks and who for?
boardy77:
bowser you still driving trucks and who for?
hello andy , yes still driving i’m back on the 8 wheelers , i took two years off because i’d had enough to be honest , i’m still deciding if i made the right decision going back to it … 
hows dave doing ? not seen him for weeks now… and did you find any pics.■■
bowser:
boardy77:
bowser you still driving trucks and who for?hello andy , yes still driving i’m back on the 8 wheelers , i took two years off because i’d had enough to be honest , i’m still deciding if i made the right decision going back to it …
hows dave doing ? not seen him for weeks now… and did you find any pics.■■
Hi our Daves not to bad he has to go in hospital next week for his operation as a result of the accident he had a few years ago in the truck… you will never go wrong driving a truck… wish i had took my test when i had the chance… would not be stuck in a deadend job! you never know one day if i can afford it i will give it a go…lol
Andy
boardy77:
bowser:
boardy77:
bowser you still driving trucks and who for?hello andy , yes still driving i’m back on the 8 wheelers , i took two years off because i’d had enough to be honest , i’m still deciding if i made the right decision going back to it …
hows dave doing ? not seen him for weeks now… and did you find any pics.■■
Hi our Daves not to bad he has to go in hospital next week for his operation as a result of the accident he had a few years ago in the truck… you will never go wrong driving a truck… wish i had took my test when i had the chance… would not be stuck in a deadend job! you never know one day if i can afford it i will give it a go…lol
Andy
is he having leg trouble ■■
bowser meet you in the chat room…now
Hi Bowser
i had a word with my mum she has not got any pictures of my dads trucks… she thinks his widdow may have them now…
Regards
Andy
I remember going into London Carriers Sywell, when i was on artics at David bletsoe Brown trpt, we used to do trunks to Beddington and Heywood and also i remeber to shunts to a place in Corby near the Texas store, this must have been about 93/94.
Sarah Atkins was one of the planners, now at asda george brackmills and Andy (can’t remeber his surname) was TM and he went to Holtons at M.Keynes when they had the coca cola contract
Hi there
new member here,
My late father worked for London Carriers from about 1969 until October 1974
He was based at Beddington Lane, Croydon, and was 1 of the 20 Night Drivers,
There were 100 day drivers at the time
He started on the Southampton Trunk - Guy Big J artics with 220 ■■■■■■■ were the main lorries (still had a few Guy Invincibles & LAD cabbed Leylands)
He did the Trunk to Sywell Airport for a while, there was another to PYE factory at Cambridge
There was one to Cardiff & another to Swansea
He last one was the easiest - Potters Bar
This was the first haulage co he worked for that had a pension scheme & a uniform (of sorts)
2 piece green overalls with the firms name on the breast pocket
(Before Eddie Stobart was into long trousers)
Great to read the posts on here, just found a picture of 2 Big J’s at Croydon - will try & uplaod or post a link
Regards
Toddy2:
Hi therenew member here,
My late father worked for London Carriers from about 1969 until October 1974
He was based at Beddington Lane, Croydon, and was 1 of the 20 Night Drivers,
There were 100 day drivers at the time
He started on the Southampton Trunk - Guy Big J artics with 220 ■■■■■■■ were the main lorries (still had a few Guy Invincibles & LAD cabbed Leylands)
He did the Trunk to Sywell Airport for a while, there was another to PYE factory at Cambridge
There was one to Cardiff & another to Swansea
He last one was the easiest - Potters BarThis was the first haulage co he worked for that had a pension scheme & a uniform (of sorts)
2 piece green overalls with the firms name on the breast pocket
(Before Eddie Stobart was into long trousers)Great to read the posts on here, just found a picture of 2 Big J’s at Croydon - will try & uplaod or post a link
Regards
Hiya Toddy,nice to hear about London Carriers I used to see them all over the place in the 60’s&70’s.However they weren’t a haulier in the true sense of the word as they were the “in House” carrier for the Thorn electrical group.Thorn must have taken over the carrier years before and just kept the name,probably operating it arms length for some sort of tax advantage! nevertheless I look forward to some shots appearing as they were a well known outfit!! Cheers Bewick.
Hi Bewick,
the story my dad got was that London Carriers started out as a proper Haulier, then won the contract with Philips, As Philips grew & aquired more companies inc Pye, Stella, Mullard, Ekco etc, they took over Carriers & it became a part of the group.
They kept the name & the green livery as a security measure - they did not want to draw attention to the fact they were carrying high value loads - Tellys & cassette recorders & the like.
There were several incidences in the 70’s of lorries being hi-jacked, the drivers were ■■■■■■■ & driven round in a van during the night & were found wandering around in Epping Forest in the morning.
The Lorries were found abondoned & Empty.
It turned out that some of the ‘hi-jacks’ involved ex-staff
Once they realised that It was a well known fact that Carriers were part of Philips, they decided to make use of the advertising advantage of the lorries & started to put the trading names on them,
The fleet was still green at this stage, but the trailers has either PHILIPS, PYE, or MULLARD lettered on the top of the sides in big letters, The Letters were the right size to be read from the windows on the top deck of London Busses.
The Blue & grey Livery came later on
The make up of the fleet was quite straighforward, The Night Trunks were mainly Guys with York 40ft boxvans.
The Delivery trucks were Bedford TK’s & referre to as ‘Rounds motors’
They had some transit vans they called ‘Skates’
They were an early operator of ‘Wagon & Drags’
They bought in some Guy Big J 4 wheelers with 220 ■■■■■■■ engines & used these with 5th wheel dollies - they already had some old 28ft single axle artic trailers laying around, so cut 4ft off the back end to use as 24ft trailers behind the Big J’s -
Hi Bewick,
the story my dad got was that London Carriers started out as a proper Haulier, then won the contract with Philips, As Philips grew & aquired more companies inc Pye, Stella, Mullard, Ekco etc, they took over Carriers & it became a part of the group.
They kept the name & the green livery as a security measure - they did not want to draw attention to the fact they were carrying high value loads - Tellys & cassette recorders & the like.
There were several incidences in the 70’s of lorries being hi-jacked, the drivers were ■■■■■■■ & driven round in a van during the night & were found wandering around in Epping Forest in the morning.
The Lorries were found abondoned & Empty.
It turned out that some of the ‘hi-jacks’ involved ex-staff
Once they realised that It was a well known fact that Carriers were part of Philips, they decided to make use of the advertising advantage of the lorries & started to put the trading names on them,
The fleet was still green at this stage, but the trailers has either PHILIPS, PYE, or MULLARD lettered on the top of the sides in big letters, The Letters were the right size to be read from the windows on the top deck of London Busses.
The Blue & grey Livery came later on
The make up of the fleet was quite straighforward, The Night Trunks were mainly Guys with York 40ft boxvans.
The Delivery trucks were Bedford TK’s & referre to as ‘Rounds motors’
They had some transit vans they called ‘Skates’
They were an early operator of ‘Wagon & Drags’
They bought in some Guy Big J 4 wheelers with 220 ■■■■■■■ engines & used these with 5th wheel dollies - they already had some old 28ft single axle artic trailers laying around, so cut 4ft off the back end to use as 24ft trailers behind the Big J’s -
Thanks for that potted history of LC,T2, interesting to hear how big firms developed their transport operations over the years.A number of big manufacturers bought out their carriers/hauliers and created an “in house” transport division.Reed Transport springs to mind as someone we subbed off for many years.Anyway thanks for that info Cheers Bewick.
Hooray,
Finally managed to upload a picture without the help of a 9 year old
![4075379491_37fc63180d_b[1].JPG](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/trucknetuk/original/3X/5/a/5a44428fe46ea1eac4fde8f5cd2938cd8b3f6a56.jpeg)
I think this was a London Carriers motor (MGP 472D, from memory):
On Mr Knowles’ preserved fleet now, I believe.
Hi 240 Gardner
Great to see that picture,
I think that old Invincible was one of two trunkers based at Southend depot, Carriers had lorries based at many of the Philips group company depots,
The one at Southend was Ekco plastics, who made cabinets & casings for Philips products
The man that ran Maldon Transport was Peter Mann, long since passed away, had a son James who took over many of his business interests in Essex,
I knew a driver who bought an Old ERF from Peter Mann & started as an owner driver - Roy Strawbridge, went on to run a SedAtki as Strawbridge Transport,
Peter Mann was one of the guys that started the Fifth Wheel Lorry club, many years ago - no idea if it still exists
What is great about that picture is that it shows an AEC Mammoth major that once was owned by John Mee, a farmer in my little village. It was restored many years ago by a very good fitter (a legend in these parts) called Reg Turner - also sadly departed. The guy who now owns that fine lorry also bought a Volvo F12 from a mate of mine, it was pictured in Claasic & Vintage Commercials in May 2009 in the ‘Carrying On’ section, with that AEC on the trailer.
Lets see more of these great pictures !!
Hiya “Toddy2”, question,did LC ever run any Gardner engined tractors,and if so,did they have any with the 8LXB,and if they did have you got any photos of one clearly showing the engine! If you get a load of abuse from else where on the thread you can always “log off” until the nurses get them settled down and back in their cell’s,sorry,rooms.Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
Hiya “Toddy2”, question,did LC ever run any Gardner engined tractors,and if so,did they have any with the 8LXB,and if they did have you got any photos of one clearly showing the engine! If you get a load of abuse from else where on the thread you can always “log off” until the nurses get them settled down and back in their cell’s,sorry,rooms.Cheers Dennis.
hiya,
And the registration number after manufacture conversions don’t count.
thanks harry long retired,
Toddy2:
Hi 240 GardnerGreat to see that picture,
I think that old Invincible was one of two trunkers based at Southend depot, Carriers had lorries based at many of the Philips group company depots,
The one at Southend was Ekco plastics, who made cabinets & casings for Philips productsThe man that ran Maldon Transport was Peter Mann, long since passed away, had a son James who took over many of his business interests in Essex,
I knew a driver who bought an Old ERF from Peter Mann & started as an owner driver - Roy Strawbridge, went on to run a SedAtki as Strawbridge Transport,
Peter Mann was one of the guys that started the Fifth Wheel Lorry club, many years ago - no idea if it still exists
What is great about that picture is that it shows an AEC Mammoth major that once was owned by John Mee, a farmer in my little village. It was restored many years ago by a very good fitter (a legend in these parts) called Reg Turner - also sadly departed. The guy who now owns that fine lorry also bought a Volvo F12 from a mate of mine, it was pictured in Claasic & Vintage Commercials in May 2009 in the ‘Carrying On’ section, with that AEC on the trailer.
Lets see more of these great pictures !!
Thanks for the info. I was involved with Fifth Wheel and have met James Mann, but never Peter. The club folded several years ago.
I knew that John Mee owned the LBC Mammoth - so who has it now? Reg obviously did a very good job - it’s many years since the restoration was done. That photo would have been either 1984 or 1985, I think, at the start of the Trans Pennine Run, starting from the Greater Manchester driver training centre on Hyde Road. I think it’s the same site that became Olympic Storage.
Hi 240 Gardner,
That LBC Mammoth now lives in Canterbury, at Chris London’s Farm
A guy who lives near me badgered John Mee for months & months to sell it,
John Finally agreed to sell it to Chris London & Malcolm Smith in 2007,
It had sat in a shed for about 20 years, when Malcolm put 2 batteries on it & cranked it over,
After One & a half turns, it fired up.
It was 30 years ago that John Mee bought it from Rush Green Motors,
Reg Turner spent 2 years restoring it, and it is still wearing the same paint that Reg put on it back then,
It went to the Great Dorset Steam fair in 2008, & i think it;s been out a fair bit since
Hi Bewick,
I had noticed the previous posts & had a chuckle,
You seem to have an obsession with 2 pots sticking out the back of a cab,
LC did not run any Gardners to my knowledge, They were a ■■■■■■■ operator,
I have never seen a Guy with an 8LXB, I am pretty certain they never fitted them,
although there is always the chance that an operator retro fitted them,
I remember that ERF & ATki were the main users of these in the early days,
I have a picture of the first A series that ERF built, and this had an 8LXB and was the show model at the 1971 Commercial motor show. This must have been one of the first 8’s fitted
ANd before you ask - no the picture does not show the engine, it’s a full frontal shot
Best of luck in your quest for pics of an 8’s arse sticking out of the back of a cab