Working vehicles past their sell by.

[sierraman]

Redgate waste in Gorton still have some early 80’s Scanias and Foden still working for a living. 

[Dobloseven]

On 31/12/2024 at 10:00, lesapandre said:

One word. WOW.

I wonder if the Humber 1 Ton is theirs?

 

On 31/12/2024 at 10:00, lesapandre said:

One word. WOW.

I wonder if the Humber 1 Ton is theirs?

Think the owner is a big military vehicle aficionado.

[HMC]

This one is not old as such (it was about 13 years old when photographed in approx 1983) but it certainly looked to have been worked hard in that time

[mk2_craig]

8 minutes ago, HMC said:

13 years old

If the missing letter from the registration is S then it appears to be a 1963 built vehicle, no idea why it was given a H suffix. Tax ran out end of 1985.

[MrBiscuits]

2 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

If the missing letter from the registration is S then it appears to be a 1963 built vehicle, no idea why it was given a H suffix. Tax ran out end of 1985.

Probably ex army and sold off in 1969/70.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Has the roof on it a military medical cross on it? For it looks like it has one.

[mat777]

On 01/01/2025 at 14:36, sierraman said:

Redgate waste in Gorton still have some early 80’s Scanias and Foden still working for a living. 

Until very recently, the Mornflake trucks (based locally to my parents) were a fleet of ancient Scanias, as seen here. Not sure if restored or just very well kept? Sadly they now seem to be running modern stuff in the last year or two

 

What definitely have been restored are the vintage buses in Malta. Much like the London Transport heritage routes, there's a few journeys where you can ride on a small fleet of re-introduced original buses in *extremely* eye-catching decor   They do seem to be a weird mix of parts, as they somehow run EU6 compliant LPG systems, on original (or original-sounding!) diesel engines and crash gearboxes... There was a bit of digging done by Dr Shakamoto last time these got mentioned, and they seem to be a real mishmash of bodies and chassis too! 

 

Last but not least, and definitely not restored (or very well loved!) is the forklift at my shared workshop. No idea how old it is other than "ancient", with a rotted-away silencer, dodgy brakes, disintegrated driver's seat and fluid gearbox that weirdly has less drive the further away from centre the forward/reverse lever is. Despite also seemingly not retaining much water in the cooling system it never gets hot either..... It gets some abuse moving bits of of aeroplane and shunting around other heavy objects (like dead Bedfords), often over terrain that really isn't forklift friendly with mud, uneven tarmac and ruts galore. Last year the pin connecting the steering ram to the rear wheels sheared after one too many stationary full-lock manoeuvres to reach shelving, necessitating a lot of grinding and drilling of the remains before replacement with a very large bolt and a machined collar twatted into place under the counterweight.
And yet, as long as we keep the battery charged and the tank full of whatever red (or even black) juice we can scrounge, the old Ford(?) lump will happily and loudly clatter into life, much to the annoyance of the neighbours....

[Blue 850]

On 15/12/2024 at 14:50, danthecapriman said:

 

And how can a thread like this exist without honourable mention of this 

Absolute legend!

Still working, just not as hard

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, Blue 850 said:

Still working, just not as hard

That’s good to see that Volvo is being kept as it is and being used as intended. It’s probably one of my all time favourite vehicles tbh. 
Hopefully the new owners will look after it and it’ll stay on the road working for years to come.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

17 hours ago, mat777 said:

Until very recently, the Mornflake trucks (based locally to my parents) were a fleet of ancient Scanias, as seen here. Not sure if restored or just very well kept? Sadly they now seem to be running modern stuff in the last year or two

 

What definitely have been restored are the vintage buses in Malta. Much like the London Transport heritage routes, there's a few journeys where you can ride on a small fleet of re-introduced original buses in *extremely* eye-catching decor   They do seem to be a weird mix of parts, as they somehow run EU6 compliant LPG systems, on original (or original-sounding!) diesel engines and crash gearboxes... There was a bit of digging done by Dr Shakamoto last time these got mentioned, and they seem to be a real mishmash of bodies and chassis too! 

 

The lasting impression I have of Malta from a family visit as a kid back in the late 1980s was how much I loved the classic motors and buses. It's a shame so many have now been dragged over to Salty Isle to fast-track the rot. At least some of the classic buses have been reinstated on special routes. 

[LightBulbFun]

On 31/12/2024 at 08:51, loserone said:

They've got some decent looking kit about

is @SiC or some other moderator secretly selling the forum data? LOL I have just had this crop up in my facebook feed LOL 

[neil72]

A couple more, i think the Commer has since been scrapped since i took the pic a few years back.

[neil72]

And a couple more that are now well past it....

[jon.k]

I just saw a 63 plate sprinter ambulance go past with all its lights on. I know it’s not old by car standards but is 15 years old good going for one of these?

[Weird Car]

We’ve got a few oldies on the fleet, here’s our currently oldest service buses, East lancs Trident is in daily use whist the AEC is reserved for wedding hire and occasional rail we also have a 2001 Volvo B7 Gemini though it’s more of a loan bus 

[wuvvum]

I would be over the moon if my train was cancelled and an AEC Regent showed up as the rail replacement bus.

[Weird Car]

2 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

I would be over the moon if my train was cancelled and an AEC Regent showed up as the rail replacement bus.

We’re sorry sir your sleeper train from Southampton to Glasgow has been cancelled, there is a rail replacement bus waiting outside for you 😳

[artdjones]

That's Delaine's oldest (in the non heritage fleet). Very attractive, and without turquoise or magenta swirls.

[wuvvum]

19 minutes ago, Weird Car said:

We’re sorry sir your sleeper train from Southampton to Glasgow has been cancelled, there is a rail replacement bus waiting outside for you 😳

The service is now scheduled to arrive in Glasgow at approximately the 12th of April.

[wuvvum]

First Bus in Norwich have only recently got rid of a load of 52-plate Dennis Tridents.  They were getting rather unreliable, they were finally pensioned off when the batch of new electric double deckers arrived last year.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, jon.k said:

I just saw a 63 plate sprinter ambulance go past with all its lights on. I know it’s not old by car standards but is 15 years old good going for one of these?

By my reckoning a 63 plate means 2013, so it will turn 12 this year. I'd guess the mileages are less than supermarket deliverers, though I'd hope are better maintained.

[jon.k]

9 hours ago, High Jetter said:

By my reckoning a 63 plate means 2013, so it will turn 12 this year. I'd guess the mileages are less than supermarket deliverers, though I'd hope are better maintained.

Oh that is bad maths, whoops! I was broken down and waiting for rescue when I was typing that so please can I use that as an excuse?

[jonathan_dyane]

On 06/01/2025 at 20:50, Tayne said:

Pre-71 bulkhead

Pre-68 front panel.

Military headlights.

Its older than that plate suggests and I believe that ex-mil stuff wasn’t given age-related plates back then.

No they were given a 'new' plate so I guess it's an early s2 demobbed in 1969

[Floatylight]

10 hours ago, High Jetter said:

By my reckoning a 63 plate means 2013, so it will turn 12 this year. I'd guess the mileages are less than supermarket deliverers, though I'd hope are better maintained.

Think @stuboy maintains ambulances so would be in the know. I do think they do a decent stint though probably due to the high conversion costs & low residual values.

[High Jetter]

46 minutes ago, Floatylight said:

Think @stuboy maintains ambulances so would be in the know. I do think they do a decent stint though probably due to the high conversion costs & low residual values.

Indeed, but time parked at incidents and at A&E handing over might skew that? I'd be happy to see Lomax's on the road if it helps.

[Markeh]

I think there's a limit on age of vehicles you can use on NHS-related stuff of 10 years - not sure that applies to ambulances though. It's through those circumstances (and a load of at the time 10 year old Mondeos being decommissioned from NHS work) that the blood bikes were able to replace their vehicles and therefore how I ended up briefly with their old Octavia!

[Nibbler]

On 20/12/2024 at 22:44, Nibbler said:

I’ve been trying for a whole week. So I hope you really appreciate these fantastic high quality pictures. Glebe is a local company in my part of the world and they operate a fleet of rusty Volkswagen T4s.

[Datsuncog]

That crusty Dodge Spacevan posted upthread reminded me that this one is still going locally...

It's been nearly six years since I took these pics, but I've regularly spotted the old girl still pottering about the Shore Road area, most recently a few months back, so presumably still in service as a commercial vehicle.

Long may it continue.

[danthecapriman]

23 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

That crusty Dodge Spacevan posted upthread reminded me that this one is still going locally...

It's been nearly six years since I took these pics, but I've regularly spotted the old girl still pottering about the Shore Road area, most recently a few months back, so presumably still in service as a commercial vehicle.

Long may it continue.

I guess it’s an ex PO Telephones/BT van? 
What a great old van though.

[Datsuncog]

More than likely ex-British Telecom, as a 1981 registration - I think BT were pretty much the only organisation buying such an antiquated vehicle in any great numbers! Still, if the deep discounts offered made the fleet accountants happy (see also Bedford HA etc...)