alexsaville:
Dave, I said to you before, I think, that I could kick myself for not having a camera all these years ago! I make up for it now!
Murray Smith was the son of one of the Smith brothers, I cant remember which one, but I know a man who does! Next time I am in Falkirk I’ll ask him!
He got most of his work, if not all from Smiths. Then the word was put about that none of the depots were to give him loads. He was using S o M trailers instead of getting more of his own. Perhaps United thought the brothers Smith were trying to do a comeback via Murray.
I believe it was Stockton Depot that caused the situation that I relate.
I was sent to KG5 Docks in Glasgow with a CAT D8 on the back of the trailer. I was told to shunt down there between the boat and the trailers that were dropped there. The dockers didn’t start loading until after dinner. Meanwhile I discovered an empty Smith’s coil carrier at the back of a shed.
I phoned London Rd and they knew nothing of it. When one of our guys brought another cat in, I gave him the empty coiler as I had none of mine empty.
At about 3 pm a Murray Smiths driver came in looking for that trailer. Naturally, I told him I knew nothing about it!
How Murray explained to Stockton about their lost trailer, I have no idea.
I seem to recollect Murray traded under the Smith’s Motorway Express name, his units were painted orange and white with a blue stripe. In this part of the world, that amounts to a political statement!
Alex
Good on you Alex you’ve at least got Fergie to re-join the fray !! I was intrigued to read that bit about the colours of Murray Smiths Motors What is the political conection? If my memory is correct I think he was Alex’s son ! I did hear the tales years ago about him been a parasite at SOM but you hear all kinds over the years ! Look forward to hearing more from you on this great old outfit Cheers Bewick.
alexsaville:
Hi, Ya All!
I worked at London Rd Glasgow in the mid 70’s with Smith’s. I also remember driving a Guy with a 240 Gardener, ND 999 was the fleet number and it went like a rocket. Not only that, but for a Gardener, the heater also worked. Now, that was something! I think the trunker was Irwin Watt. Hi, Dave & Tony, just found this thread.
Alex
Hi Alex, glad you have, thought you might have seen it earlier, poor old Bewick’s nearly been hospitised worrying about this 240 / 8 cyl. As far as I’m concerened if you drove one, that’s good enough for me, couldn’t have been that around though. Pity no one has a photo.
Take care mate
Dave
I’am speaking to from the Nuffield hospital Fergie no thanks to you !! I’ll be expecting a large basket of fruit from Interflora France in the morning ------ nurse ! nurse another bed pan and be quick !! Cheers Bewick.
I thought they only repaired vintage tractors in there,not vintage tycoons.
Cheers Dave.
I’ll take that remark as a " forget the fruit basket from Wales but look out for the abusive get well card later on in the week ".You should see the flowers and the cwt of grapes Carryfast has sent !! Cheers Bewick.
alexsaville:
Hi, Ya All!
I worked at London Rd Glasgow in the mid 70’s with Smith’s. I also remember driving a Guy with a 240 Gardener, ND 999 was the fleet number and it went like a rocket. Not only that, but for a Gardener, the heater also worked. Now, that was something! I think the trunker was Irwin Watt. Hi, Dave & Tony, just found this thread.
Alex
Hi Alex, glad you have, thought you might have seen it earlier, poor old Bewick’s nearly been hospitised worrying about this 240 / 8 cyl. As far as I’m concerened if you drove one, that’s good enough for me, couldn’t have been that around though. Pity no one has a photo.
Take care mate
Dave
I’am speaking to from the Nuffield hospital Fergie no thanks to you !! I’ll be expecting a large basket of fruit from Interflora France in the morning ------ nurse ! nurse another bed pan and be quick !! Cheers Bewick.
I thought they only repaired vintage tractors in there,not vintage tycoons.
Cheers Dave.
I’ll take that remark as a " forget the fruit basket from Wales but look out for the abusive get well card later on in the week ".You should see the flowers and the cwt of grapes Carryfast has sent !! Cheers Bewick.
Dennis, there are no grapes in Wales,only gripes with the amount of job losses this week,as for flowers I doubt if Carryfast could beat the frost,even with his extraordinary powers.Also the ground is too poor to grow flowers this way.
Cheers Dave.
I remember a company called Murrays Motorway Express flying around the Grangemouth area in the 70s,would that be the same Murray? Mainly orange colour IIRC.
Chris Webb:
I remember a company called Murrays Motorway Express flying around the Grangemouth area in the 70s,would that be the same Murray? Mainly orange colour IIRC.
Hiya Chris you arn’t a Celtic supporter as well ■■ Cheers Bewick.
Chris Webb:
I remember a company called Murrays Motorway Express flying around the Grangemouth area in the 70s,would that be the same Murray? Mainly orange colour IIRC.
Hiya Chris you arn’t a Celtic supporter as well ■■ Cheers Bewick.
Hi Dennis.I don’t support either Rangers or Celtic mate,but it would be a bit dodgy running in orange livery around certain parts of Glasgae,wouldn’t it?
Only the same as running in green in other parts I suppose
When politics and religion get into football I don’t want to know the game. There was story going round years ago that when Suttons painted the Union Jack on the fronts of their motors in Jubilee year 1977 the wagons were pelted with stones etc when going through certain Scottish towns.I’ve never been able to confirm it though.
Chris Webb:
I remember a company called Murrays Motorway Express flying around the Grangemouth area in the 70s,would that be the same Murray? Mainly orange colour IIRC.
Hiya Chris you arn’t a Celtic supporter as well ■■ Cheers Bewick.
Hi Dennis.I don’t support either Rangers or Celtic mate,but it would be a bit dodgy running in orange livery around certain parts of Glasgae,wouldn’t it?
Only the same as running in green in other parts I suppose
When politics and religion get into football I don’t want to know the game. There was story going round years ago that when Suttons painted the Union Jack on the fronts of their motors in Jubilee year 1977 the wagons were pelted with stones etc when going through certain Scottish towns.I’ve never been able to confirm it though.
Yea Chris it gets out of hand dosen’t it !! couldn 't be fashed mi-sel either . Whats that Rangers bar called that sits in the middle of Celtic territory ? I reckon that could be quite a rough dive to have a drink in ----- especially on old firm match days !! You don’t fancy it do you ? Same as this Andy Murray — reckoned he was a Scotsman going into the match in Melbourne but he is now "the beaten British finalist " !! Cheers Bewick.
Hello Chris, how’s things in the middle of theIrish Sea?
Yes, you are right, that’s the same outfit.
I could believe that story about Suttons and the Union Jack. When I worked for United Glass, the livery was a funny colour, it was in fact a shade of blue, but looked green. Yes, I had stones thrown at me by BOTH sides!
Alex
alexsaville:
Hello Chris, how’s things in the middle of theIrish Sea?
Yes, you are right, that’s the same outfit.
I could believe that story about Suttons and the Union Jack. When I worked for United Glass, the livery was a funny colour, it was in fact a shade of blue, but looked green. Yes, I had stones thrown at me by BOTH sides!
Alex
Hi Alex,aye everything sound in t’Isle of Man and we aren’t bothered what colour wagons are here,did I tell you that a lot of them have the same name - DOT…Department of Transport. (sorry).
Was that the United Glass depot at Newbridge? If so Glass Glover(MFS) were next door on the Littlewoods contract and I’ve done one or two shifts up there when the Newbridge lads were getting p***** at Hogmanay.
alexsaville:
Hi, Ya All!
I worked at London Rd Glasgow in the mid 70’s with Smith’s. I also remember driving a Guy with a 240 Gardener, ND 999 was the fleet number and it went like a rocket. Not only that, but for a Gardener, the heater also worked. Now, that was something! I think the trunker was Irwin Watt. Hi, Dave & Tony, just found this thread.
Alex
Hi Alex, glad you have, thought you might have seen it earlier, poor old Bewick’s nearly been hospitised worrying about this 240 / 8 cyl. As far as I’m concerened if you drove one, that’s good enough for me, couldn’t have been that around though. Pity no one has a photo.
Take care mate
Dave
Right Alex& Fergie might ND999 have been a special order when you consider the number of ■■■■■■■ engined Guy tractors that SOM would be taking delivery of each year ? ND999 certainly seems to have been an extremely rare machine and also appears to have been allocated a very special fleet No.!! I know if If I had been Sales Director of Guy Motors and one of my best customers had asked for a special spec of tractor that I could build I am sure Leyland wouldn’t have objected!! It was only when Guy’s were to be closed down that the trouble started and SOM turned to ERFs. Does that make sense boys or am I talking B******s ?Cheers to you both Bewick.
Do I suspect a note of acceptance here,at long last!!!
The Guy/240 I drove in Manchester was OD10■■,brain rot has set in,so cant be sure on the fleet number,so perhaps more than 1 “special” according to Alex?
Do I suspect a note of acceptance here,at long last!!!
The Guy/240 I drove in Manchester was OD10■■,brain rot has set in,so cant be sure on the fleet number,so perhaps more than 1 “special” according to Alex?
Take it easy,
David
You certainly do David ! But I would hazzard a guess that there wasn’t more than a few at SOM because Gardners could never satisfy their main customers (ERF,Atkinson ,Foden & Seddon.) So I can’t see how Leyland would have let Guy build more than a few token chassis !! Its been a good thread though hasn’t it !!! Regards Bewick.
Whoa! Guys!
Are you leaving?
As to the ‘Specials’, you may be right there, as I seem to recollect being told that these engines were something of an experiment. Who’s experiment, I dont know, but since the engine was fairly new, could it be that Gardeners asked Smiths to put them in the trunking fleet to notch up some miles?
By the way, Bewick, I met a guy called Colin Ellis from Kendal today while tipping at Iceland, Livingston, West Lothian. He used to work for Bewick, and drove a Big J, so he told me.
Alex
alexsaville:
Whoa! Guys!
Are you leaving?
As to the ‘Specials’, you may be right there, as I seem to recollect being told that these engines were something of an experiment. Who’s experiment, I dont know, but since the engine was fairly new, could it be that Gardeners asked Smiths to put them in the trunking fleet to notch up some miles?
By the way, Bewick, I met a guy called Colin Ellis from Kendal today while tipping at Iceland, Livingston, West Lothian. He used to work for Bewick, and drove a Big J, so he told me.
Alex
Hiya Alex You could be right there ! What year are we talking about when ND999 was new ? Maybe Gardners did spread a few seed engines around to see how they performed in differen’t chassis but I doubt it as Gardner reliability was legendary and the 8LXB was just a 2 cylinder addition to the 6LXB !! With regard to you meeting Colin he is known throughout the UK as “Chuffer” or Chuff for short ! He worked for Bewick Tpt for 20 years starting in January 77 on a brand new Big J TEC 471R and we gave him a framed coloured photo of the Guy for his 60th birthday present as it was standing in the yard at Milnthorpe brand new ready to go .A month or two after he started I was off down the M6 early in the car and I was closing on the rear of this trailer going down Wigan bank anyway as I got closer I saw it was TEC 471R and its clocking 70 plus mph!! So I pulls alongside and all I could hear was the tyres singing !! By this time Chuff had clocked me and he dissapeared in my mirror !! Right you T**t wait till I get hold of you ! The Guy would do about 57 mph all in ! I stopped at Keele for my breakfast and was just about get in the car to leave when the bold Chuff pulls on and asked if I wanted another cuppa !! I flew at him and he swore blind he wasn’t out of stick Bo****ks !! anyway next thing the police drove across the park to find out what the rumpus was about and I had to tell them we knew each other and had just been having a meaningful discssion that would be concluded back at HQ !! But otherwise Chuff was a good driver for the firm over many years and we are still in regular contact !! He still maintains to this day that the motor was in gear and I wouldn’t care but I had a witness in the car and I asked him to check the speedo . I could write a book !!! Cheers Bewick.
alexsaville:
Whoa! Guys!
Are you leaving?
As to the ‘Specials’, you may be right there, as I seem to recollect being told that these engines were something of an experiment. Who’s experiment, I dont know, but since the engine was fairly new, could it be that Gardeners asked Smiths to put them in the trunking fleet to notch up some miles?
By the way, Bewick, I met a guy called Colin Ellis from Kendal today while tipping at Iceland, Livingston, West Lothian. He used to work for Bewick, and drove a Big J, so he told me.
Alex
This thread will disappear if you ex or old ( whichever ) SOM lads crawl back into the cheese and keep all those stories to yourselves !! there must be loads of tales but modesty would seem to have got the better of you all !! or is it embarasment ? come lads it was a long time ago and when all said and done you won’t be able to here us p*****g ourselves with laughter now will you ? Yours in anticipation Bewick.
