![England_001[1].jpg](http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/big-lorry-blog/England_001%5B1%5D.jpg)
Ten hut! David VandeBerg has e-mailed me to say: "Hello BLB! I never thought I'd have anything to submit [aw go on Dave, you're justy beign modest BLB]. The first ones are (as we class them in the Air Force) 10 and 20-ton dump trucks. The pictures were taken while I was stationed at RAF Alconbury. I was a 'Pavements Maintenance Buck Sergeant/E4' at the time. We maintained the base property and would have fixed the runways in time of war."
![England[1].jpg](http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/big-lorry-blog/England%5B1%5D.jpg)
Now here's a line-up you don't see every day! Dave continues: "The lineup is of the British trucks we used. I really enjoyed driving the Seddon Atkinson we had (2nd from the left). One memorable day was when we were working a construction job at another base and I swapped from the Seddon Atkinson to the GMC Astro that is sitting next to it several times going between bases. (Left-hand-drive to right-hand-drive) Can you believe the smaller truck to the right, I forget what kind it was, but classed as a 5 tonner, was hooked to a 60-ton tri-axle trailer in that picture? Just for moving things around of course, but it sure looked funny at the time." So for an 'American' pie LBL army, what's the liitel 'un wiht the low-loader? Now click through here for more...
![England_004[1].jpg](http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/big-lorry-blog/England_004%5B1%5D.jpg)
More GMCs...but for now Dave continues by asking: "Finally, I wonder if you have ever done a spread on the 'travelling homes' as in the picture at the fair below?"
![England_007[1].jpg](http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/big-lorry-blog/England_007%5B1%5D.jpg)
"That was quite interesting to me at the time; quite the way to travel! Any more information on those rigs even just to email me back on davevb2003@yahoo.com? Another picture taken at that fair was of one of the steam engines on display. We have the same steam fairs, but not with 75 tractors in attendance as I wrote on the back! I really enjoyed my stay (1991-1993) and the things I got to see! Also read your Blog as often as possible. And thanks for the SuperTruck you sent me a few months ago. Cheers Dave VB!" Well my pleasure Dave and welcome to the fraternity of Biglorryblog anoraks!
Looks to me like a Leyland Mastiff.
Looks suspiciously like a Mastiff to me, fond memories of those !!
I'm opening myself up to widespread ridicule here.........but is it a Leyland (Clydesdale) Terrier? And that must have been a dumbed down "military 5 tonne rating" surely?
The Leyland on the end could be a Clydesdale unit but it looks more like a heavier Mastiff. I took my Class 1 artic test on one of these in '79 - they had the V8 Perkins engine. I can still hear the distinctive rattle, rattle they made. And I'll never forget the gear changing exercise you had to do (is it still part of the test) as the entire cab wndows were fogged up with condensation after I was finished due to the sweat I managed to generate. Ugh.
The 'little-un' on the right is a Leyland Mastiff, a type which was also in service with the RAF at the same time.
Brian,
The little 'un looks like a Leyland Boxer. I drove one quite regularly in the mid to late 1970s. Bloody awful thing. Only ever seemed to hit the bumps in the road which launched it towards the next bump totally ignoring any smooth tarmac. Apart from the constant bouncing, the engine noise and the steering that needed a firm grip to try to keep the wobble to controllable levels it had an annoying tendency to sound as though it was pulling really well when in reality it had an intense dislike of any work that involved going up hill. Incidentally, I took my test on its big brother, the Mastiff, which at the time I thought was great, but then I discovered other makes.
Best wishes,
Roy.
Can't help feeling those tippers in the top pic look a bit "unbalanced" with too much load in front of the rear axles, and will give the front end a hard time - or not enough behind the rear axles to counter the forward load.
But, presumably the spec was all worked out tickety-boo and I'm being an old fuss pot as usual.
The Conventional Jimmy in the lineup of semi tractors is a late sixties or early seventies C-8500 or 9500.