Thursday, January 28, 2010

Sydney Tramway Museum's MLZ tower wagon

Andrew Blacklock - contributor to my other old truck site Australasian Classic Commercials - sent in this photo of a wonderful Bedford M-type tower wagon. The truck was part of the annual NRMA Motorfest held on Australia Day in Sydney's CBD. Looking immaculate, you can see she has an Australian-built cab by the curved section below the door. The fixed windscreen and wind-up windows are other, less obvious indicators of this type of cab (the English cab has a push-out driver's windscreen and slide-up windows). Good to see she's got a decent set of mirrors too.

Here's the details copied verbatim from the Bedford's placard:

Throughout the era of electric tramway operation in Sydney, road tower wagons were used to service the overhead trolley wire. Initially the towers were mounted on horse-drawn drays, from the 1920s motor trucks replaced the horse vehicles. This tower wagon is representative of the type used in Sydney in the 1950s. On the closure of the Sydney tramways in 1961 several tower wagons were sold to Melbourne. In 1980 the Melbourne tramways disposed of these vehicles, one was offered to the Museum, and it returned to Sydney in 1981.

A pump, driven from the power take-off, operates a ram to raise the work platform, this platform can then be rotated through 360 degrees enabling the workers to reach well to the side of the truck. The platform has a safety handrail that can be raised and locked in position.

Make: Bedford
Model: MLZ
Year: 1950
Owner: The Sydney Tramway Museum - Loftus (South Pacific Electric Railway)

Now, as part of trying to explain the various models of Bedfords (in an attempt to make this site useful!) that I actually understand, here's a break down of what MLZ means. Firstly, of course, she's an M-type of the KMO (read K-type, M-type, O-type ... lighter payload to heavy). The M-type has a nominal rating of 2-3 ton (2032-3048 kg). The L refers to her chassis. In this case she's 'Long' (as opposed to S for 'Short') with a wheelbase of 11 ft 11in (3.63 m). Finally, the Z is the code for her factory fitout. Z = Chassis only. In other words she would have been delivered as a rolling chassis with engine, controls and, I believe, bonnet and mudguards. Makes sense given she's got an Australian-built cab. The other ML designations are MLC (chassis with cab) and MLD (dropside). It makes a lot of sense when you discover all of the designations in the Bedford Shop Manual Models K, M & O and can then apply the details to an actual truck. I've used the manual to make sure the above is correct. There's a few more designations in the KMO range but we'll cover those when there's photos to illustrate them.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Bedfords at Sandown 2008

What's better than seeing a Bedford on the road? Seeing several! The Historic Commercial Vehicle Club's annual show at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne had a good showing of Bedfords in 2008 (when I last managed to get there). Here's a selection of the majority as they arrived on the Sunday morning.

Above: I believe the cab of this fine, pre-1968 TK was restored by ACW Bedford. Note what appears to be their signature vinyl roof protection. Below: I first saw this J1 (?) at Sandown 2006 ... and it was just as shiny then (although her teeth were still white)!

Above: this post-1973 TK gets around a fair bit and will feature heavily here over the next few posts as I'll use it to explain my TK-ageing technique. Below: ACW's mobile workshop CDJ (not a TJ, note the Griffin badge on the bonnet) has a nice metallic green finish which might not be obvious in this sun-drenched (read slightly over-exposed!) photo.

Above: I've admired this little post-1967/pre-1973 TK on a number of occasions but have yet to meet the owner. He did feature over on the HVCV Forum last year but I've forgotten his name. Below: this J1 (?) was parked outside the venue but is a worthy exhibit in itself as it is still clearly working and how often do you see Bedfords with more than just a tray these days? A bit hard to photograph though...

Above: not really my cup of tea but it's a Bedford ... and it's not selling ice creams!

Our Bedfords - Part One

Well, I guess I had better put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. Here is one of our three Bedfords. We'll talk about her and her sisters' various 'issues' at a later date but, to kick things off, here's our TK - a 1968 EFN (conveniently called the effing TK on occasion) - with the nose of our 1949 MLZ edging into the picture. I'm still learning the various incarnations of the legendary TK so would welcome a run down if anyone can make any sense of them!

One thing I have worked out is how to get a general idea of the age of a TK. It all has to do with the location of the 'Bedford' on the front of the cab and the style of indicators. Not foolproof of course but it has served me well. I'll write something later with photos to illustrate (need to do that for the KMO series too).

Bedford Logo

Until I find a better one or take a photo myself, the TK-style logo at the top right of the page will do. I think I'd prefer some artwork so I'll throw the challenge open to whoever manages to find this blog! Can you comeup with a better logo image?

Welcome to Bedford Trucks Worldwide

I'm an old truck/lorry fan in Australia and already run another blog on the subject - Australasian Classic Commercials. Since I'm my own worst enemy I figured I didn't have enough on my plate already and decided to address the apparent lack of good Bedford truck information available on the net.

The plan here is to feature the range of Bedford trucks to be found in most corners of the world, talk to owners about their projects, share sources for parts and the various skills needed for operating vehicles that can be over 70 years old ... and basically spread the awareness of one of the most successful and prolific truck makes to turn a wheel.

We all know Bedfords tend to get some stick for being, well, Bedfords. However there are many still working and many continuing in their second (or third or fourth or...) lives on farms as paddock trucks, fire trucks etc ... and those of us who own them know they have character and their faults but...

I've cursed my Bedfords from time to time and I love any old truck from any country. For some reason, though, Bedfords just strike a chord with me. Leylands and Macks do the same but I'll stay small for the time being (having enjoyed the honour of owning a Mack in the past). Maybe it's the underdog status of the Bedford. Most tend to walk passed them and ogle over the Kenworth with all the chrome for example. It was the humble Bedford, though, that did everything from delivering the mail to transporting cars across the country.

If you own a Bedford or used to drive them for a living I'd love to hear from you. Photos of any Bedford are more than welcome. I'll even talk about b*ses and vans as Bedford was very strong in that area (don't know much about them though)! Let's increase the presence of these great vehicles on the worldwide web and make sure you can still see them everywhere!