Trux Models. 1990 to 2005.

Discussion in 'Modelling' started by Trux, Jan 1, 2015.

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  1. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    I am very pleased to see MLRS are back in business, although I did prefer the printed versions. It reminds me of why Trux started putting the content of the War Establishment booklets on a free website. It was cheaper than producing paper copies and charging for them. In other words I lost money on them. The standard price was £2, half of which went on postage. The rest went on paper, copying, envelope etc.

    Two other considerations were that:
    customers sometimes contacted me to say that they did not want the whole booklet but only one page could I send it please.
    even in those low tech days people copied and shared publications.

    MLRS make many interesting documents available and deserve support. I will be buying some titles, or at least I will hint which would be acceptable as birthday presents.

    Mike
     
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  2. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Class 24 Pontoon Bridge.

    MkV1.jpg
    In the 1930s it was felt that a new heavy bridging system was required for the new mobile army. It was not envisaged that any vehicle would weigh more than 18 tons and so the bridge was designed on this basis. At the time the heaviest equipment was the artillery piece with tractor. By the outbreak of war this weight limit was already out of date and it was increased to 24 tons by adding an extra pontoon to each of the rafts which formed part of the bridge.

    These photos are old and low resolution. The model is still in the attic but difficult to access and photograph. Above is a view of the complete bridge consisting of three rafts each of three two part pontoons, a trestle and sliding bay giving access to the shore at one end and a long landing bay at the other end.

    MkV2.jpg MkV3.jpg MkV4.jpg
    1. The long landing bay. This was used where the river bed was not suitable for trestles, where the water was too shallow to allow pontoons to be positioned near the bank or where the bank was too high. It was secured on a bankseat at the shore end and was adjustable at the pontoon end.
    2. The trestle and sliding bay. The trestle was positioned on the river bed and the two lengths of roadway connected to it. At the shore end it rested on a bankseat and at the pontoon end it could be adjusted to the required length.
    3. The three rafts joined together with raft connectors.

    The vehicles carrying these components will follow.

    Mike
     
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  3. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Class 24 raft.

    P1010589.JPG P1010588.JPG
    When constructing a Class 24 bridge the components were assembled into rafts at some convenient point on the river and then the rafts were moved as required to make the complete bridge. In the meantime it was common for an assembled raft to be used as a ferry to get priority vehicles across before the bridge was complete. The ferry raft could be powered by cables and winches, towed by motor boat or as here powered by propulsion units. As there are no ramps pontoon jetties will be needed.Eventually the pontoon raft can be added to the bridge or held as a reserve unit.

    The MkV pontoon was timber on a steel frame and completely decked over. The raised strips are foot rest for use when rowing pontoons into position. Rowlocks could be fitted and oars used. The complete raft was usually towed by a motor boat.

    Mike
     
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  4. Trackfrower

    Trackfrower Member

    Is there no end to your collection?

    Infantry bridges?

    Assault boats?

    Excellent stuff

    Lawrence
     
  5. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    About halfway through the surviving Trux Models. Probably as many more from other manufacturers, mainly armour since Trux concentrated on trucks.

    Yes. Infantry bridges, FBE bridges, Bailey Bridges, Class 50/60 rafts.

    Military locomotives? not Trux.

    Mike
     
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  6. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    This is rapidly becoming the best source on British/Canadian military vehicles let alone models.

    Well done Mike!
     
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  7. Aixman

    Aixman War Establishment addict Patron

    @ Mike L
    You found the right words I was still searching for.

    @ Mike (Trux)
    Please go ahead. Your updates have become my personal daily highlight right from the start. I am learning more every day as your explanations always put me right into the whereabouts and the processes concerned.

    Cheers
    Aixman
     
  8. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    The bridging lorries.

    P1010590.JPG
    3ton 6 X 4 Pontoon lorry. This one is on an Albion BY but the Leyland Retriever was also used. For the MkV pontoon bridge the loads were identical and three lorries carried all the components for a Class 24 raft. Each carried
    2 MkV pontoons sections resting on the platform. For loading one pontoon section was loaded by hand and then winched up using the four winch towers. The second section was then loaded underneath it and the upper section lowered and secured.
    1 button road bearer and 3 plain roadbearers in the body well.
    9 roadway chesses and one riband in the well.
    1 raft connector on the off side platform and secured to the pontoons.
    Plus
    2 anchors, 5 oars, 1 boathook, 2 buoys plus cables and lines.

    P1010592.JPG
    3ton 6 X 4 trestle and sliding bay body. This one is on a CMP Ford but the Albion BY and AEC Marshall were also used. This lorry is not fully loaded. If it were then there would be roadbearers and ribands on the framework, road chesses and trestle components in the well, bankseats on the side platforms and ramps in the front compartment.

    P1010591.JPG
    3ton 6 X 4 GS lorry with long landing bay. This is a Leyland Retriever but any 6 X 4 GS could be used. The body is only modified to the extent of cutting holes and slots in the tailboard to accommodate some of the box girder components. The stowage diagram is very precise and if followed the whole bay can be fitted in as shown.

    Mike.

    PS thanks Mike and Aixman.
     
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  9. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Anti Aircraft Artillery.

    In the 1930s the priorities for British defence police were;
    The Royal Navy to defend the sea routes to the Empire.
    Anti Aircraft defence of the UK, including fighter aircraft and radar.
    The field army.

    A great deal of money was spent on purchasing new anti aircraft guns and their associated tractors and equipment but there was a large stock of 3" AA guns left from WWI. These were designed as static weapons, to be bolted down on bases. In the 1930s these guns were given new trailers, tractors and were fitted with improved sights. Some were fitted to receive information from predictors.

    P1010594.JPG P1010595.JPG
    3" AA gun on its trailer and towed by a 3 ton 6 X 4 Leyland Terrier tractor. The gun platform could be stabilised by using four jacks. This particular gun is fitted with visual sights linked to discs which were set for height, distance and speed of the target so that with any luck the shell and target would arrive in the same airspace at the same time. Ammunition was carried in the rear locker. There were seats for some of the crew including one for the brakeman. Brakes were not linked to the tractor. The Leyland Terrier was basically a commercial type but fitted with WD rear suspension, a WD type cab and a specially designed body. It was a stopgap until newly designed tractors became available.

    P1010596.JPG P1010598.JPG
    Crossley IGL 3ton 6 X 4 Searchlight lorry. Cab and chassis wwere slightly modified for the searchlight role. A power take off was fitted to drive a generator to provide electrical power for the searchlight. A large junction box was fitted to the nearside of the cab and the power cable for the light was connected to it. The body was high enough to accommodate the 90cm light which was loaded using ramps stored under the body. There was a crew compartment at the front. This had the generator housing down the centre.

    P1010599.JPG
    Gun and light ready for action. (Not much chance of hitting anything).

    Mike
     
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  10. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Two more bridging items.

    P1010600.JPG
    Kapok infantry assault bridge. This was carried in the Bridge Company but was issued for infantry to assemble and operate. It consisted of kapok filled canvas floats with a timber saddle attached. Timber walkways were laid on the saddles. Usually the bridge was assembled in manageable lengths and then as it was launched and pushed out into the water obstacle more lengths were added at the shore end. Rope handrails could be erected. It was possible to cross without getting your feet wet if you maintained a steady pace. After a few hours the floats became water logged and sank. Only to be used in reasonably still water. Not for me anyway.

    Behind is a Leyland Retriever with a standard load of kapok bridging.

    P1010602.JPG
    Motorboat MkIa. This was used in bridging work to tow rafts into position and carry materials to the far bank etc. The MkI was similar but with a blunt bow as on a pontoon. The hull was of similar construction to the pontoon but the propeller was in a tunnel to protect it from obstacles, the river bed, ropes and weed. In the foreground is the waterline Trux Model with rudders lowered and thus invisible. There is a crew compartment for two men and a heavy towing cleat behind it.

    Behind is the Motorboat Mk1A on its transporting and launching trailer. For launching the trailer was backed up to the water obstacle and positioned on a gentle slope. The carriage brake was released and the top part of the trailer bed slid backwards under the force of gravity. When the bed reached its stops the motorboat kept on moving and launched itself. (Do not forget to attach a mooring line first). The boat was recovered by reversing the process with the aid of a hand winch. Towing vehicle was a 3ton GS, usually one carrying the propulsion units and fire fighting equipment.

    My model of the MkI is part of the pontoon bridge diorama.

    Mike
     
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  11. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    P1000573.JPG

    Time for a rest.
    I shall have a few days off to sort, tidy, repair, etc. Back soon.

    Picture is Piper without whose help I would get a lot more done.

    Mike
     
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  12. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Often read of kapok bridges being used but never really understood what they were.
    (I should have looked them up but I don't need to now.)

    Men of the 8th Sherwood Foresters cross a river using a small kapok pontoon bridge, Dunadry in Northern Ireland, 28 August 1941.
    [​IMG]
    THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1939-45. © IWM (H 13291)IWM Non Commercial Licence


    Sappers from 1st Training Battalion, Royal Engineers, double across a river on a kapok bridge during a demonstration of river crossing techniques near Coventry, 30 October 1941.
    [​IMG]
    THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM 1939-45. © IWM (H 15157)IWM Non Commercial Licence
     
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  13. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Phone home.

    P1010606.JPG P1010607.JPG
    Wireless set No10.
    This was a microwave wireless set which provided eight duplex telephone circuits. Duplex meant that it could be used for ordinary two way telephone conversations. The set was carried in a cabin on a four wheel trailer. In fact there were two identical sets to provide 100% backup. There were two generators carried in a separate compartment. These could be operated in the cabin or demounted.

    In 21 Army Group these sets provided two way telephone communication all the way from Montgomery’s tactical headquarters to the War Office in London. Relay stations were situated some twenty miles apart and in line of sight. Each station consisted of two trailers facing in opposite directions. Each trailer had a Bedford QLR 3ton wireless house type lorry for towing, accommodation and maintenance work.

    The cabin could be demounted from the trailer and positioned on a collapsible tower or convenient building in order to maintain a line of sight with the next station.

    This was a secure system since the narrow signal beam could be picked up only by equipment in direct line of sight.

    P1010608.JPG P1010609.JPG
    Wireless set No 26.
    This was a military version of equipment developed for the General Post Office. It provided six VHF speech channels over considerable distances and was designed to fit automatically into the telephone line system. In 21 Army Group it provided the cross Channel link between No 10 sets.

    Two specially strengthened 3ton Thorneycroft 6 X 4 wireless house lorries were fitted to carry the equipment. Both were identical and could carry either the transmitter or receiver. There were also two trailers to carry the generators and other equipment.

    The Yagi aerials on a telescopic mast are not for the No 26 set. These are for the No 57 set which each vehicle carried for communication between stations in case of failure of the main set or to avoid using one of the main set channels for routine matters. The No 26 set aerial was a large and complicated Koomans array suspended between two 72 foot masts. Separate arrays were needed for transmitter and receiver.

    P1010610.JPG
    In the UK the final link was provided by early developmental No10 sets fitted into 3ton 6 X 4 wireless house lorries. These operated as for the above No10 sets and provided a link between the Solent and London.
     
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  14. Trackfrower

    Trackfrower Member

    An old (late) friend of mine used to operate something similar. I believe that it used tuning forks to modulate each telephone line. He said it was 30 line including 2 for the operators use.
    Not sure about microwave, I think he said HF. Unfortunately he never mentioned the name of the unit.
    He was a W02 and in charge of the day to day running.

    Any ideas?

    Lawrence
     
  15. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Lawrence,

    I am not in the least technical but I think 30 speech channels was beyond the technology of WW2. Anything later is beyond my knowledge. There were all manner of sophisticated communications in BAOR later. 30 teleprinter channels could probably be done since it did not require the same degree of separation, did not require sound quality and was not Duplex.

    But what do I know. I have spent a week setting up my new clock radio, phone/answer machine and DVD/HDD recorder. None of them are fully operational yet.

    Mike
     
  16. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Ptarmigan.

    Not swearing. This was a 30 channel UHF speech system which had an extra two channels reserved for the operators use. It also had automatic switching so that a message could be sent from any point on the net to any other point. In service about 1980.

    Mike
     
  17. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    3ton 6 X 4 Workshop Body No4, Type M.

    P1010611.JPG P1010613.JPG
    Workshop Body No4 was a flat floor body which could be fitted with machinery for a number of roles. This one is fitted for Type M, motor maintenance. The body has a drop panel in the rear with built in steps for access. There are double fold drop panels in either side. These can be used either to form extra floor space, as on the left, or a workbench as on the right. A canvas tilt on a tubular frame is fitted. Part of the tilt can be folded up or used to provide cover over the lowered side panels.

    Machinery in this vehicle includes a lathe at the front, a drill and valve grinder on the nearside, engine and generator for battery charging on the offside and gas welding equipment in the rear corners.

    On the left is a Crossley IGL. On the right a later Leyland Retriever with windscreen.

    P1010617.JPG
    Thorneycroft 3ton 6 X 4 Machinery House type. This had a well type body and was used for smaller and more delicate tasks requiring a cleaner and more sheltered environment. There were a number of different fittings, some standard and some provided by the user. The body sides contained windows and the entire top part could be swung upwards for ventilation. At the front were drop panels for battery charging.

    All the above vehicles were fitted with a power take off driving a generator to power the equipment.

    Mike
     
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  18. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    More 3ton 6 X 4 lorries.

    P1010614.JPG
    3ton 6 X 4 Derrick. A flat platform body fitted with folding derrick jib. A power take off drives a five ton winch for lifting. Folding legs are fitted to the rear to relieve the chassis of load when lifting. Used in RAOC workshops. This one is on a Crossley chassis but Leyland and Guy were also used.

    P1010615.JPG
    3ton 6 X 4 RASC Breakdown. RASC were responsible for the maintenance, repair and recovery of their own vehicles. They used a standard 3ton GS body with a hand winch and jib. Casualties could be towed normally or suspended from the jib. They could also lift engines out for maintenance. Any standard 3ton GS could be so converted. A tilt was fitted but omitted here to show the interior.

    P1010622.JPG
    Two 3ton 6 X 4 GS. The General Service body was fitted to all the 6 X 4 chassis, Albion, AEC, Crossley, Guy, Karrier, Leyland and Thorneycroft. A visually identical body was also fitted to the CMP 6 X 4 in the background.

    Mike
     
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  19. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    3ton 6 X 4 Wireless lorries.

    P1010618.JPG
    3ton 6 X 4 Wireless House Type Body No3 with Wireless set No3. This was a wireless body with a well for the rear two thirds and a flat floor at the front. There were two compartments, at the front for the batteries and at the rear for the Wireless No3 and operators. Most were fitted to a Leyland Retriever chassis with power take off. Some were fitted to Guy FBAX chassis and a few were fitted to CMP 6 X 4. Two 70 foot masts were stowed in sections on the body sides.

    Wireless No3 was a medium range set for use between Corps and Division and on the Lines of Communication. Its main use was as a long range voice set but it could be used for Morse and high speed teleprinter transmission. Early sets used a folding roof aerial array but later a vertical rod aerial was used. When a 300 foot wire aerial was strung between two 70 foot masts and a high power booster was used a range of 1000 miles could be achieved using Morse.

    P1010626.JPG P1010627.JPG
    3ton 6 X 4 Wireless High Power Type B with Body No1. This body was only fitted to the Thorneycroft 6 X 4. The wireless set was a commercial HS1 which was introduced along with other high powered commercial sets for use in N Africa. This version is a later one for use on the Lines of Communication and using a telescopic 48 foot aerial mounted on the roof. It was intended for remote control. That is while there were operators in the vehicle messages in Morse originated from a headquarters some distance away. Main visual difference from Body No3 is the large number of ventilators fitted.

    Mike
     
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  20. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    3ton 6 X 4 photographic lorries.

    P1010619.JPG P1010620.JPG
    On the left. Lorry 3 ton 6 x 4 Dark Room. A house type body with two compartments for developing photographic film. Entrance door in the rear.
    On the right. Lorry 3 ton 6 X 4 Camera. House type body with door on the offside. This body for enlarging and printing photographs.
    The two vehicles are connected by a walkway formed by a hinged flat in the doorway of the Dark Room. A telescopic canvas cover allows film to be passed from the Dark Room to the Camera. Fitted only to a late production Leyland Retriever.

    This is only partly a Trux Model. The body was made by Matador Models as a conversion for the Matchbox Leyland Retriever. These are fitted to a Trux Leyland Retriever.

    Mike
     
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