Phil Moston is an excellent engineer to whom Frank Hardern entrusted some work on his Scammell 45CD – Phil is seen here checking the Scammell’s water level.
Another season ahead
With the 2008 season upon us, Frank Lythgoe of Cheshire sent down to Phil Moston’s garage in mid April his 1944 chain drive Scammell 45CD ballast box tractor unit for a service and one or two minor repairs, including the driver’s door window. The Scammell was magnificently restored originally by the late Frank Hardern of Holmes Chapel many years ago.
Neatly hidden in the body of the tractor unit are a water tank, hose reel, pump and auxiliary engine to drive it. The way it was laid out by this former Shackleton engineer is excellent.
It was just a couple of years ago now that GXV 657 was acquired by Frank Lythgoe, whose team still use the ex Pickfords Ltd of London vehicle for filling up the steam engines at local rallies.
The 45-ton chain drive design goes back many years, but it was in 1939 when the 45CD was introduced, fitted as standard with the Gardner 6LW 8.4 litre direct injection diesel engine – a classic in itself. Frank reports that the Gardner and the four-speed gearbox are in excellent order.
If I remember correctly, there was another of these Scammell 45CDs in preservation based in Yorkshire at one time with the registration GYK 194. Where is it now?
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Foden didn’t sell
The Foden didn’t make it on the day, although some of
the
other commercials did sell well.
An excellent selection of items was offered at the Wright Manley sale of the late Phillip Priestner estate at Castle View, Moore, Warrington, on Saturday 12 April.
The pride and joy of this former haulage operator was his 1967 Foden S21 cabbed F series double-drive eight-wheeler, FTH 988E. The lorry was fitted with a Gardner 150 and 12-speed Foden gearbox.
However, I can say the lorry was on livestock work in a brown livery before going to Silcocks and Shaws Amusements latterly in a blue livery.
The restoration is about half complete. The bidding went to £5900 but it was unsold.
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Halford debut
Adrian’s Halford gave a number of rides around this extensive site over the Easter weekend at the Chatham Historic Dockyard Steam & Transport Show,
west Kent,
just miles from where it was made nearly a 100 years ago.
It’s been a long time coming, but Adrian Herbert needs to be congratulated on what he has achieved with his 1912 Halford bus. This has been a persistent, one man campaign in terms of restoration and dedication in difficult circumstances, starting in 1983 without an engine and gearbox.
J and E Halford are a very historic company dating back to 1785, with principally refrigeration units from 1888. Later on escalators and elevators were to become the heart of the business.
Adrian has a vast historical and archaeological knowledge of Dartford and the surrounding area of Kent, and the aforementioned town is the birthplace of this vehicle, so the project had a double interest for him personally.
When undertaking a project like this, you need considerable skill, and Adrian has that as a specialist body builder of some repute; this came in very handy indeed as the project went along, and his panel work is second to none.
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