Can anyone remember from the late 60’s/70’s the mustard/yellow coloured six wheeler Macks on general haulage that ran out of Glasgow?. am I correct in saying that it was P&S transport, 
Taskman:
Can anyone remember from the late 60’s/70’s the mustard/yellow coloured six wheeler Macks on general haulage that ran out of Glasgow?. am I correct in saying that it was P&S transport,
It was indeed P&S: P&S Contracts, I think
240,
also from the same era do you remember ‘A G BIRD’ from Darlaston when the ‘News of the screws’ got hold of them because the mates that they employed earned about two bob a week for ninety hours,
Taskman:
240,
also from the same era do you remember ‘A G BIRD’ from Darlaston when the ‘News of the screws’ got hold of them because the mates that they employed earned about two bob a week for ninety hours,
Sadly, I suspect before my time… 
Taskman:
240,
also from the same era do you remember ‘A G BIRD’ from Darlaston when the ‘News of the screws’ got hold of them because the mates that they employed earned about two bob a week for ninety hours,
don’t know about the newspaper bit, but they ran out of a nice little place at the side of the A460 at featherstone near the now BP station, some nice AECs and ERFs on abnormal load work, remembered as a bit fly by night in some of the things they did, closed down in 1974 after suffering in the drivers’ strike and then shortly after geoff bird died of cancer unfortunately
Spot on mate that is what AGB was all the abnormal stuff, I thought there might tbe some of there lads knocking about on here,
Getting back to the P&S Contracts theme of the thread, here’s a picture of one of the fleet.
It was taken in February 1966 at the White Horse Cafe near Coppull in Lancashire. The photographer was none other than Mr. Tom Riding, who was the Managing Director of W&J Riding Ltd.
Marky,
First class photo of one of the P&S Macks, I remember Ridings from Longridge a mate of mine worked there.
What memories that photo brought back Marky. I remember them well looming up in the rear of my Ilkeston Haulage Highwayman down the A74 at night. We called them the Christmas Trees.
They had a depot at Rotherham too I recall and I well remember one powering over the Heads of the Valleys road as if the hills had been ironed out.
The picture has even more vivid memories for me as not too long after I was driving a similar B61 Thermodyne myself in Oz, the originating country of P&S’s Macks - all right hand drive.
A mighty motor indeed, not much comfort but then what was in those days, but FUN!!
Salut, David.
A chap who worked at Thomas Guy got the fright of his life from one of P&S’s one night on the M6 at Standish.
He was coming down the sliproad (empty) in his Mk I Atki and alongside him came a P&S Mack. He thought he’d try and outrun the Mack, which was (heavily) laden and set off with smoke billowing from the exhaust. He pulled out and got alongside the Mack and drew level (Boden trailer bouncing about all over the road) only to see a smile on the P&S driver’s face as he simply dropped a cog and disappeared up the road. Apparently it didn’t do to get in their way - they didn’t like to be slowed down!!
People would try to outrun them, but very few (especially in British tackle) could do it.
I believe the P&S wagons went with the boss to Canada, although the details of how this came about I don’t have.
Can’t stop looking at that photo because it also brings back the memories for me, it just sums up lorry driving from that era muddy transport cafes, wet ropes, and dirty old sheets,
OK - OK !!
I give in - here are the other three pictures - all taken by Tom on the same day as the one above.
Enjoy …
Imagine driving one of them at the time - akin to a Ford Transconti or a Magnum in their respective eras I bet. What were the motors in them Marky? Thermodynes? They were based on Scania engines originally werent they ? Great pics, thanks! 
Those are typical B-series Macks, and they were built up until the late 1960’s, maybe the early 1970’s (although the R-series that supplanted them overlapped a bit).
Motors in these things were always Mack-built, as were the transmissions. The experince of driving one of these things was like being inside a paint agitator. Everything vibrated, and the Maxidyne transmission was always a difficult one to shift, with it’s square-cut non-synchro gears. Many were twin-stick transmissions. The typical Mack ‘camel-back’ springs were noted for their rough ride, but nothing ever broke on them. Drivers loathed them, yet respected them. Fleet owners adored them.
Macks were built for the long haul. I still often see old B-series Macks still being used around here as dumptrucks, towtrucks, and occasionally as lot trucks. In sunnier climes, some still use them in everyday haulage, but only in areas where the threat of corrosion by road salt is minimal.
I once drove an old Mack that was only a few years newer than the ones you show. It had 4 million miles on it. That’s not unusual for an old Mack.
marky:
I believe the P&S wagons went with the boss to Canada, although the details of how this came about I don’t have.
I understand that, when P&S finished, at least some of the motors went to H G Pentus Brown in Leighton Buzzard
Alexx,
good info mate on what you have posted, but looking at the photographs at the chassis of the Macks, do you happen to know was the Mack chassis and back end similar to the Diamond ‘T’ that was used by the Army for Tank transport during and after WW2?, we had many over here in the UK which heavy haulage companies used after the war namely ‘Wynns’, cheers
Some basic info about the P & S Macks from a CM test of June ‘65
They were B61RS models built at Plainfield New Jersey with:
Thermodyne engines
air starter
195bhp and 578 ib ft of torque@1250rpm
10 spd two stick transmission needing two hands for split changes
Double drive bogie with Mack Power Divider which acted as a limited slip diff
thermostatically controlled radiator shutters
4 way flashers
top speed 55mph
pulled Northern 30’ trailers
400 miles per night
9 operated
Price was £10,500
The nearest engines I can find to match this at that time were:
Leyland 680 200bhp and 548 ib ft torque@ 1200rpm
AEC 2AV690 192bhp and 560 ib ft @ 1200rpm
■■■■■■■ may have had something similar available ,180 or 200 NHK in- line
Pentus Brown had at least one series 6x4 on International work and the last F-series I saw was about 4 years ago on the M6 in the middle of the night pulling a flat loaded with construction gear.
Ruttles from Chorley had F 4x2 with set back axle pulling a low loader from around 79 onwards and later a different model 6x4 unit and at least one 6x4 tipper, the model type may have been MC and an outfit from Leigh had a 1980 model of the same type in 4x2 form on skip work up till recently and it may still be working.
In the summer I was passed a few times on Sunday afternoon by a 4x2 Ultraliner on Dutch plates which was available in the UK inthe 80’s
Mack had a UK factory from 1954-64 but made only a few Perkins and Leyland engined 7 tonners and the P& S units were seemingly linked up with a sales pitch connected to that.
boden:
Some basic info about the P & S Macks from a CM test of June ‘65
They were B61RS models built at Plainfield New Jersey with:
Thermodyne engines
air starter
195bhp and 578 ib ft of torque@1250rpm
10 spd two stick transmission needing two hands for split changes
Double drive bogie with Mack Power Divider which acted as a limited slip diff
thermostatically controlled radiator shutters
4 way flashers
top speed 55mph
pulled Northern 30’ trailers
400 miles per night
9 operated
Price was £10,500
The air starter was surely the best idea on a truck. I first encountered it on my Oz B61 and that siren scream was far more comforting than any tired old battery grinding over. To those that ask ‘ah, but what happens when your air leaks overnight?’ I replied ‘I just connect this handy hose we all carry from tyre valve to air tank, then, after starting leave it there to blow the tyre back up again.’ 
If my ■■■■■■■ Borderer had had that facility I wouldn’t have got involved in the Easystart debate with Econofreight (see another thread somewhere 
).
That would be a Duplex transmission then. Strange, as I believed they came from Oz, and all ours over there had quad boxes (20speed). But then most of ours were 4x2s.
55 does not seem much now (todays trucks are capable of much more unlimited) and at the time they seemed much faster. Maybe because when they flew past my Highwayman I was at max speed of 38 (except in double speed angel gear between Stainmore and Scotch Corner 
)
BTW, in the 2nd last of those pics, is that steel billets tied down with rope? 
Good info Boden.
Salut, David.
David,
Why did I not bump into you out in Ozz? I was a baby £10 pom back in 65, you must be even older than me and I’m nearly 58.
What a thread, loads of info, great pictures and plenty of interaction (and memories). That’s what makes this such a great website!