I’d defiantly have to go for the ■■■■■■■ rather than a Cat. My ■■■■■■■ has been of the road a few days and I’ve been on the Cat, the engine brake on the Cat is woefully inadequate compared to the ■■■■■■■■
Jeff…
harry:
0
UK spec half cab,Rob? Orrible windows in the back!
anyone know where the truck is ? it was on ebay a few years ago i,m sure it has a cat fitted and was first operated by Caterpillar themselves ?
Would this make a good donor for a restore project?
@TDL, good research and quite a find considering the age of the vehicle…it is Road Commander 1 version.
tetris418:
harry:
0
UK spec half cab,Rob? Orrible windows in the back!anyone know where the truck is ? it was on ebay a few years ago i,m sure it has a cat fitted and was first operated by Caterpillar themselves ?
Yes it was originally operated by Finnings, the CAT dealers, and yes it has a Cat 3406, and yes I did put it on Ebay a few years back, and have regretted selling her ever since!!
Hello Saviem and YVR Brit,
Re the White,s used by the Ryland group, i worked for Ryland Warrington in the Seddon Atkinson sales department for a number of years, Leaderfreight ran out of our yard, [ Boss was John Scholes ] and they were given a White to run, i think from memory that Ryland had something to do with the importers, well when the lhd White turned up…wow, i had to have a go, well what a disapointment, no room behind the wheel, boneshaking ride, but it made a fantastic noise [ Cat i think ], had a massive sleeper and looked fabulous !!! It was used on the Tunnel Refineries trunk to London every day, but i seem to remember it being sold quite quickly due to it,s thirst and things dropping off !!!
Whatever happened to the Ryland group, they became a big group in the Eighties, did they sell out ?
harry:
0
UK spec half cab,Rob? Orrible windows in the back!
I quite liked the back windows, my RC had the bunk raised up like an ERF’s and my dog used to like to sit on there & look out the Windows,
Plus - the White had a zip around leather panel that rolled up to see out of the windows, or zipped up to blank out all light, somewhat better than the scanny I drive with the plastic curtain rail that sits 2 inch away from the window and the bit of flimsy curtain that does not even cover the glass
gandy:
Hello Saviem and YVR Brit,
Re the White,s used by the Ryland group, i worked for Ryland Warrington in the Seddon Atkinson sales department for a number of years, Leaderfreight ran out of our yard, [ Boss was John Scholes ] and they were given a White to run, i think from memory that Ryland had something to do with the importers, well when the lhd White turned up…wow, i had to have a go, well what a disapointment, no room behind the wheel, boneshaking ride, but it made a fantastic noise [ Cat i think ], had a massive sleeper and looked fabulous !!! It was used on the Tunnel Refineries trunk to London every day, but i seem to remember it being sold quite quickly due to it,s thirst and things dropping off !!!Whatever happened to the Ryland group, they became a big group in the Eighties, did they sell out ?
The White had a very hard ride, and would throw you about a bit - especially with front axle directlybeneath you, But Oh what a great sound the Cat makes through the Eminox pipe
gandy:
Hello Saviem and YVR Brit,
Re the White,s used by the Ryland group, i worked for Ryland Warrington in the Seddon Atkinson sales department for a number of years, Leaderfreight ran out of our yard, [ Boss was John Scholes ] and they were given a White to run, i think from memory that Ryland had something to do with the importers, well when the lhd White turned up…wow, i had to have a go, well what a disapointment, no room behind the wheel, boneshaking ride, but it made a fantastic noise [ Cat i think ], had a massive sleeper and looked fabulous !!! It was used on the Tunnel Refineries trunk to London every day, but i seem to remember it being sold quite quickly due to it,s thirst and things dropping off !!!Whatever happened to the Ryland group, they became a big group in the Eighties, did they sell out ?
Evening all, where does one start…
Fleet Hire based at Coleshill, primarily a road tank hire operation. Controlled by Dennis Barter, (a real Gentleman), who sat on the Main Board, of the Whale Families Ryland, (Street), Group. Seddon, Atkinson, Bedford, Vauxhall Main Dealers. Group Chairman, Bill Whale.
Without going into the depth of the Group, (specialist Pantechnicon sales on Bedford chassis)
Atkinson lorry Dealers…remember the Detroit engine Atkinson “featherweight” 4x2 tanker for Group Company Dobson of Edinburgh…Seddon Dealers…the driver behind the Rolls Royce Seddon 32.4 Tractor, and the Seddon “European”.
But back to Fleet Hire, a mixed fleet of rigid domestic oil delivery vehicles,S eddon, and Bedford chassis, plus Leyland, and Albion. Artic spirit, and Black Oil tanks from Butterfield, Thompson, behind Atkinson, Seddon, and Volvo F86 tractors…n interesting tale to tell about these…and a young salesmans drive in one of these…that led him to become the Worlds largest private Scania Distributor…
Then came the Road Commanders…first through Coleshill, later Bromborough. Richard Cage in charge of maintenance, all RHD, all 3406 CAT power…one semi forward Road Boss…ended up as an NET Bulk express…
All had that paper thin rear axle…easily replaced by a Volvo F89…
When I was working in the US, many reffered to them as the “Road Commode”!..years later, having sunk my own “brass” into some of them…I fully understood the reason for the expression…What an absolute travesty of a lorry…looks good…performs badly…that is all I can say…and that is based on personal…“real time” experience!!!
I always remember Dell Roll, (Edwin Shirley Trucking), pointing at the scars on the front bumper of their Road Commode, and remarking that it was almost impossible to drive it into their West Ham yard without coming into contact with the Railway Bridge on the approach…(those of you who know the entrance will know of what he spoke)…lock…enen a Chinese Egrit has more…
Im away to my Bollinger…B awfull lorry…then there was the one I bought with a “Cab Hotel” fitted onto it…truly a Horror lorry…
I spent many a day in an RC2, ours had dual air seats, and were very comfy. That’s where the comfort ended! Bloody thing had naff-all room in the footwell’s and being the Narrow sleeper it had naff-all room in the bunk!. Always had a phillips screwdriver handy for tightening up all the trim screws in the roof panel, as they used to shake loose after every trip. You soon learned to get your hand out of the way when turning the huge wheel, or get your knuckles rapped by the quarter-light catches. It was a hard choppy ride empty, and not much better loaded! But, that said, i did have a soft spot for the old girl, it worked hard, looked fantastic and sounded sweet with 3406B singing through a straight through stack. What it really needed was more steering lock, electric wipers, and a heater motor that would last longer than a fortnight 
Chris.
STRAIGHT EIGHT:
I spent many a day in an RC2, ours had dual air seats, and were very comfy. That’s where the comfort ended! Bloody thing had naff-all room in the footwell’s and being the Narrow sleeper it had naff-all room in the bunk!. Always had a phillips screwdriver handy for tightening up all the trim screws in the roof panel, as they used to shake loose after every trip. You soon learned to get your hand out of the way when turning the huge wheel, or get your knuckles rapped by the quarter-light catches. It was a hard choppy ride empty, and not much better loaded! But, that said, i did have a soft spot for the old girl, it worked hard, looked fantastic and sounded sweet with 3406B singing through a straight through stack. What it really needed was more steering lock, electric wipers, and a heater motor that would last longer than a fortnight
Chris.
You are right about the steering wheel - about 3 foot diameter & about 400 turns lock to lock, and even on full lock, didn’t turn very far
Toddy2:
STRAIGHT EIGHT:
I spent many a day in an RC2, ours had dual air seats, and were very comfy. That’s where the comfort ended! Bloody thing had naff-all room in the footwell’s and being the Narrow sleeper it had naff-all room in the bunk!. Always had a phillips screwdriver handy for tightening up all the trim screws in the roof panel, as they used to shake loose after every trip. You soon learned to get your hand out of the way when turning the huge wheel, or get your knuckles rapped by the quarter-light catches. It was a hard choppy ride empty, and not much better loaded! But, that said, i did have a soft spot for the old girl, it worked hard, looked fantastic and sounded sweet with 3406B singing through a straight through stack. What it really needed was more steering lock, electric wipers, and a heater motor that would last longer than a fortnight
Chris.You are right about the steering wheel - about 3 foot diameter & about 400 turns lock to lock, and even on full lock, didn’t turn very far
It had a smaller one fitted eventually, think it came from Phil Nash, the only trouble with that was that it needed even more bloody turns than the last!!! 
. It’s regular driver Big Tony O’ Connor came off an F88 to drive the White, and forgot himself when he jumped out of the cab, went crashing to the ground and broke his arm!!, always climbed down after that 
.
It started life the same spec as yours Toddy, a 4x2 32 tonner, but had the chassis lengthend and a Volvo double drive back-end underneath and was then run up to 80ton. Ran it for 5 years before it was replaced by an 80ton tag lift F12 385, which didnt have the head-turning looks but was a massive improvement in fuel consumption and comfort, and much better for double-manning when having a night out!
Chris.
Incidently, it was one of the NET Bulk Express RC2’s mentioned by Saviem earlier, came south after accident damage to the back of the cab. As Saviem mentioned about the Scar’s on the bumper on the right hand side of Dell Roll’s RC2, our’s had’em on the left, and lost plenty of left hand inicator/sidelight lenses in the 5yrs it was at Heavyhaul, the vision of that front corner was terrible from what i can remember 
Chris.
ERF-Continental:
For the genuine collectioneurs herewith some continent-specifications, though in Dutch language …
It is interesting to note that both the CAT-powered example here and the ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ example(s) are provided with 13-speed Fullers (rather than 9-speed Fullers found in many of the UK ones). Was this simply because the Fuller 13 was favoured on the Continent (which we know to be true from other models)? Robert