Leyland Marathon

[skandiahamn]

I have a few Marathon pictures to post, I'll start with these two.

Nick



1977 short sleeper cab.

[Anders]

Is this the DIY/IKEA-version?

Back to topic:
The tractor looks a bit old fashioned, but perhaps this model had a few years behind it in 1977?

Anders

[Stellan]

Thanks Nick...you´re giving us here in Sweden a realy nice insight in British transport history.

/Stellan

[Anders]

Indeed Stellan!
The british trucks are more or less unknown here in sweden. A rare sight even on the larger roads.
It is really fun to see all of your pictures Nick!

Anders

[Per Thomson]

Nick,
what happend with Leyland, I guess Leyland doesn´t exist today?

I can tell that the first Scania-Vabis with tandem was equipped with Leyland boggies.

Here is a link to a "swedish" Leyland http://www.veteranlastbilar.se/Leyland175.jpg (source/källa: Alla våra gamla lastbilar)

[Kjell T]

Det har även tillverkats några Scania-Vabis bussar med Leyland motorer.

[Per Thomson]

Det har även tillverkats några Scania-Vabis bussar med Leyland motorer.

Ok, det visste jag inte, har du mer info Kjell, årtal, specifikation o liknande?

[Anders]

Det har även tillverkats några Scania-Vabis bussar med Leyland motorer.

Ok, det visste jag inte, har du mer info Kjell, årtal, specifikation o liknande?

Kan bidra med den lilla Leyland-Scania kunskap jag besitter.
Enhetsmotorerna är konstruerade i samarbete med Leyland, och när de första direktinsprutade dieslarna(D622) konstruerades så valde man att samarbeta med Leyland än en gång. Detta pga att de hade tillverkat direktinsprutade motorer redan några år.

Anders

[Per Thomson]

Ok Anders, det väcker minnen - tack för påminnelsen

[Lars-Gunnar]

Nick,
what happend with Leyland, I guess Leyland doesn´t exist today?

I can tell that the first Scania-Vabis with tandem was equipped with Leyland boggies.

Here is a link to a "swedish" Leyland http://www.veteranlastbilar.se/Leyland175.jpg (source/källa: Alla våra gamla lastbilar)

The photo you will see is Leyland Hippo with a Swedish build large cab. A few Leyland Hippo was bought over from England and drove semitrailers (as was hooked to the fifth wheel) and trailers fitted to say VBG-coupling on the back of the truck.

Some interesting facts has come to be known through Fredrik Klint about two ASG trucks as ran in Sweden from the county administrative board. They were fitted to 2-axles trailers with flat beds and side beams

They were of the Super Beaver model whish mean 4x2, and they were equipped with Rydhs bogie and were named Super Hippo 6x2 and no tandem driven.

Year model: 1954
Horsepower: 154
Gross weight: 16,200 kg.

They was not exactly alike regarding axle space and length
A2480: 5.55 m + 1.31 m, length 10 m
A 16794 5.10 m + 1.34 m, length 9,60 m

A mean they had their home in Stockholm County.

Both were sold to Bernt Andersson February 1958.
A2480 was deregistered February 1 1962.
A16794 was not used may since May 21 1957 to February 15 1961 when the truck was deregistered.

These trucks were taller than Scania-Vabis and Volvo Titan but similar when it comes to their power. 1954 Volvo had 150 respective 185 hp (turbo) and Scania-Vabis 150 hp.

A driver in Canada said: the truck was built as a tank and the truck should have been a good one only it had 350 Hp engine. It was too weak with only 140 hp something. The truck had a weight of 9.9 ton in Canada. How the weight was in Sweden I don’t know.

Read the whole story told bt William "DieselGupsy" Weatherstone. Sadly he has closed his homepage due to his wifes ilness of Alsheimer but I hawe a copy of his story about the Hippo as I will try to post.

Lars-Gunnar

[Lars-Gunnar]

This is a special entry, ---

It was around 1963 when I was looking for a job, and had stopped into a hotel for a sandwich and a beer. There was a flooring contractor sitting at the next table over from me. After the sandwich had disappeared and was being chased down with the second beer, we struck up a conversation. The subject went something like this ---

Apparently, this flooring company, CAMEO WOOD PRODUCTS, in the west end of Toronto, was a fairly new co. and was expanding pretty fast. They were manufacturing parquet flooring, and was in great demand from the apartment building boom.

Carl the owner wanted a truck of his own, so as to have control over the deliveries to the construction job sites. He was shipping a lot to Ottawa, Montreal as well as, in and around Toronto. He also had a steady stream of kiln dried, Pennsylvania Red Oak, coming in from Titusville Pennsylvania. Relying on the transport companies for on time deliveries just did not work. In the meantime, his machinery mechanic had come across this Leyland Hippo straight truck, bought it cheap, and then talked Carl into buying it from him, to haul his cases of flooring. He also set him up with a 3 axle pup trailer from Highway Trailer sales. (Drawing a finders fee, of course.)

The trailer was a tandem axle, about 20 feet long. At the front of the trailer was a pier type dolly (converter). There was no pin or 5th wheel, the axle was connected permanently to the trailer, on a swivel. The only connection to the truck was the standard tongue eye, to the coupler on the rear of the truck. The same as a doubles dolly, only cannot be separated from the trailer. The dolly swiveled freely and had no locking pin. Also the connection to the truck was at the end of the platform deck, which was on the overhang, about 6 ft. from the rear drive axel.

The truck itself, was a real monster, it had 11:00 X 22 in. tires on disc wheels, a solid steel deck, and was bigger than an Autocar day cab. It had a leather drivers seat, and a 3/4 passenger seat. You could lay down across the seats with room to spare. It was almost 7 feet wide. The truck was originally brought in from England for British Oxygen of Canada. They sent over 2 of them with left hand drive, and I'm sure that they were the only Hippos to make it into North America. They really didn't do to well, in our high speed environment. They were low powered, (about 140 hp.) coupled to a straight 5 speed transmission, and scaling out at over 22,000 Lbs. empty. After time, British Oxygen finally seen the light and replaced them with North American trucks.

They hired 3 different drivers for the job. Each only lasted a couple of hours. It seems that with the manual steering and all the maneuvering to get hooked up to the pup trailer. With the 6 ft. overhang of the coupler, they couldn't make contact, plus trying to lift the tongue up was just to much labor involved. Turning the wheel a couple inches, would swing the coupler about a foot or two. All 3 gave up and quit, and the trailer was still at the dealers yard.

Carl was getting pretty discouraged over the truck deal. He knew nothing about trucks, but was a genius at woodworking machinery. He operated a company for others, in Austria, and finally came to Canada to try it on his own.

After we sat shooting the breeze for a few more beers, I was feeling a challenge coming on. I always took the trips that no one else would take, just to prove that it could be done. Trips into the deep north bush country was a favorite. It must be the adventure of the new and unknown that attracted me.

During our chat, I let it be known that I would like to give it a try, if they were still looking for a driver. He made a call and had it set up for first thing in the morning.

I showed up bright and early, and ahead of time. Carl was impressed before we even started. Apparently I was the first one to show up on time for an interview. He took me around the back of the plant and there it was, this big iron horse. The first one of it's kind that I had ever seen. I did a walk around and opened the hood. Under the hood of this monster was a dinky little diesel engine. It really surprised me. I got it started up and drove it around the yard. I was having a rough time with the straight 5 speed box, it needed more. He asked if I would like to try it out loaded? He had a load of flooring to go across town, and no way to get it there on time. Sure thing, I backed it in the plant door and the lift truck had me loaded out in a flash.

Carl came with me and we headed across town. That little engine and 5 speed was really laboring to get rolling. We made the construction site just in time, and was unloaded in minutes. He was really thrilled with the delivery. On the way back, he said he wanted me to work for him, and by the time we got back to the yard, I had told him that some changes to the truck would have to be made before I would sign on. He agreed and gave me carte blanche to go ahead.

This was on Friday and I was ready to give it a shot on Monday morning.

The first thing was to let the machinery mechanic know to his face that he screwed Carl on this deal. He said he cannot give him his money back as he had already spent it. I made it perfectly clear that he was to stay away from the truck, and that it was my problem to look after it now, and if he wanted to do anything with it, he would have to come to me directly.

The first thing I did, was to arrange for a used 3 speed Spicer auxiliary transmission to be installed. The second, was to go over to the trailer sales and have them install a spring loaded balancing cable for the dolly tongue, so as it would sit up on it's own for hooking up.

All the modifications were completed, and I was headed over to pick up the trailer. Carl insisted on coming along, just to make sure it was going to happen. We got there and I backed up to the pup trailer. I lined up the tongue with the coupler, the cables did their job perfectly. I backed up and made the connection. Hooked up the light cord and air hoses, and we were on our way. Carl looked like he had just swallowed the canary, he was grinning from ear to ear. On the way back, I noticed that the trailer was following in the truck tracks, and not cutting in to the inside track of the turns. The 6 ft. overhang of the body and coupler made the trailer swing wider than usual. That was a good point for going around corners, but it could be hell in reverse.

We got back to the yard and Carl wanted to try and get the trailer loaded right away. Well now, it was a whole new ball game trying to back it up into the small loading door. With no sort of lock pin to keep the dolly from jackknifing. The 6 ft. over hang on the body, made a couple inch movement of the steering wheel turn into a 2 ft. swing on the dolly arm, and forced it to jackknife in a couple of feet. It took an hour of pulling ahead and backing up, before I had it down pat. That Armstrong (manual) steering really worked up a soaking sweat. I had to back in, and move it, every time the lift truck had a palette, then move out to let him pass behind and pick up another. The warehouse was small and lacking in space. He had to back into a slot, then I would have to back in again so he could reach the deck. In and out for every skid. It was a laboring chore. Every second or third skid, I would have to pull out completely, to line the trailer up again. A long, slow process.

After loading up, tarping, (sheeting) and spotting the truck, for my first out of town trip, I headed for home to clean up, and grab a couple hours sleep.

My first trip was to Ottawa, it was still daylight when I left. It was getting dark now and time to turn on the lights. The truck lights seemed normal, then I saw that the trailer lights were glowing so strong that they looked like flood lights. I couldn't figure that one out. As the night wore on, I pulled over for a tire check, and seen that the bulbs in the trailer clearance lights, were melting right through the lenses, and just before daylight they had completely burned out. I got home eventually, after using up a full box of bulbs.

There was a garage about 2 blocks from our plant. The mechanic in there was English. He had the problem solved in no time. He also thought it was a big joke. Unbeknownst to me, this Leyland had a 24 volt electrical system, and doubled the power to the Canadian lights, burning them out as fast as I could change them. Now what? After trying like hell, to find where I could come up with some 24 volt bulbs, a suggestion from one of the employees, (X-military) was to try Levy auto parts, on Weston Rd. They were dealers in war surplus equipment. I went in and told them my problem, and showed a sample of the size. He went over to a shelf and dusted off a box that had been there since world war two. It was a box of 24 volt light bulbs used in army tanks, overseas. It was the first call since the war for these bulbs. It cured the problem, and I was on the road again, after replacing all of the melted lenses as well.

I was getting used to this animal on all points except one. The top speed flat out downhill was 55 mph. It took miles and miles to get it there. With the trailer and truck loaded out, I was grossing close to 90,000 lbs. Even with the auxiliary transmission, and on the flats it was a chore getting any speed up.

The plant was stuck for some red oak and couldn't get a transport delivery on time, so he sent me down for it, at Titusville Pennsylvania. I crossed over into New York State, at Buffalo, and headed west on US 20. I got over and picked up my load ok, and was heading back. There was an old weigh scale at Silver Creek, NY. Just before there, a State trooper pulled me over and wanted to check me out. I figured my problem was length, so I pulled into an empty lot of a motel, and turned and parked in a wagon wheel formation. I tried to make it harder to judge the length of it. He came and looked it over, and had never seen anything like it before, and the combination of straight truck and pup really fascinated him. That's when everything came apart for me.

First, he got my paperwork, and registration. Second, he got the measuring tape out and had me pull the truck out straight, for measuring. I was about 6 ft. over the legal length. He was alone, and needed me to hold one end of the tape. During his measuring towards the front of the truck, my end unexpectedly lost about 3 feet of length. Got nailed anyway, I was still to long for NY State. I saved a few bucks there, from the lost length. Then there was the fact that I had no NY plates. I told him that I was under the impression that a private carrier, hauling his own product, didn't require plates. His answer, --- you do here, my over length friend. Shot down again. He couldn't weigh me, as the scale was shut down, and not in service. It was a good thing, I don't think that he would be impressed with me scaling out at about 90,000 lbs.

He was really filling his book up, at this point. Now lets see your log book. I showed it to him and it only had about 10 hours entered in the whole book. What's going on? I said that I got a new book from a driver at the Canada, USA border crossing. We don't have log books in Canada. He was still not impressed. Then he got the brainstorm about pulling a set of trains. I said that I am not pulling trains. I have one power unit and one trailer. He said that the dolly constitutes a trailer, making 2 connections. The tongue to the truck, and the dolly to the trailer pin. It was then, that I knew I had him on something, for a change. I told him that the dolly could not be separated from the trailer, leaving me with one connection. So technically, it was not considered a trailer, but a wagon. He really did not want to buy that. Then I told him, if he could get it separated, I would kiss his butt. This is one time I made sure that I could not lose a bet first. He screwed around for a good 10 minutes on that one, before giving up. That got me off of the hook for that infraction.

Now what? He told me that I was under arrest and could not leave till all the fines were paid and NY. plates were purchased, plus a float and oversize permit had to be acquired, as well as any tax stickers necessary. Why under arrest? Well you are from a foreign country, and all fines have to be paid before we can let you go. Once you get home, you could ignore everything and be out of our jurisdiction. OK, but for now, I think it is about time that I had something to eat, I'm starving. I haven't had anything all day. There's a restaurant in this motel. It opens in about 1/2 an hour. You can stay here if you like, but I get to keep the keys, till you get this cleared up. I went in and registered, cleaned up, and had a good meal. This has to be the easiest jail time that I have ever done.

I called home and let Carl know what was happening, and that I was under arrest, officially, but not physically. I thought that he was going to have a heart attack. He could not apologize enough, and was really scared over this . I just told him not to get over excited, and just wire me $1,000, and I will take care of everything. He asked how I was being treated? I told him it was pretty rough, I was sitting here, playing cards, eating steak and drinking beer with an off duty cop. I called my wife and told her what was going on, and told her I would be a day or two late for supper.

The next day, I got everything taken care of. Paid all the fines, bought a brand new set of New York plates, for the truck and trailer. Then had to stop in at the transport building in Buffalo, for a permanent oversize permit, head over to a local garage and get the truck certified for NY. Then back to the office to pick up the plates and permit. From then on it was under the float laws, no running after dark. Had to park after sunset till sunrise. I was to long, and could not get shortened up to be legal in length.

I carried on for the rest of the summer, but the dragging my ass up and down the road in slow motion, was starting to eat away at me. I mentioned a number of times about how they should get rid of this rig and get into a proper tractor and trailer. Nothing happened, so I gave my two week notice, to quit and move on.

About 4 months after I had left, I ran into the office receptionist and we had lunch together. I was curious, as to how the truck was working out. She said that, they had run through 4 or 5 drivers, and none could handle the truck. They would get to a customer and could not back it in to a building for loading, in Montreal. They could not get backed in without jackknifing or hitting a pillar. One driver left the truck in Montreal in frustration and took the train back to Toronto. She also said that Carl had gone ahead and ordered a new 1000 Ford Tractor and new Brantford flat deck, for me. He never mention anything about it to me, so I never knew what his plans were.
The old Leyland was brought back to Toronto and never ran another trip.

PHOTOS, AND DESCRIPTION

I have to Give thanks to 2 friends, one in England, and the other in Australia. I never took any photos of my Leyland Hippo. I tried for better than 2 years to find the exact model of the one I drove. It was just recently that they have been able to come up with some great photos, of this hard to find model.

The Hippo was used in the mining industry and outback of Australia. It was also used by companies in the UK as heavy float tractors, as well as the truck and pup trailer combination, in Sweden. The truck was built like a tank, and would have been a great machine over here, if only it had at least 350 hp +, and another 10 to 15 mph in speed.



This Photo, above is identical to the Leyland Hippo that I had here in Canada. The straight truck and pup trailer combination as well as the side racks, are the same. These units are in Stockholm, Sweden.

Per, hoppas att du inte blir förtörnad på mig då jag postat så mycket på en gång. Jag har inget hört från Diesel Gypsy och kan inte nå hans hemsida. Verkar som att han har stängt den temporärt eller för all framtid. Hans fru har Alsheimers och hon kanske har dödd eller så lever hon. Har fem wordfiler som han skrivit och berättat hur sjukdomen påverkar honom och henne. Verkade mycket jobbigt. Frälsningsarmen kommer till honom så att han får lite socialt umgänge. De har inga barn vilket ju inte underlättar precis.

Here they are in 2004 in Good health. Nick, William Weatherstone was a long-time trucker for 50 year on the road. He had driven different makes such Leyland, White, Ford, Kenworth and Western Star as was his last truck and his own.



I miss them because we have exchanged many E-mails, and he had two times sent me truck magazines from Canada.
Lars-Gunnar

[skandiahamn]

That is a fantastic piece Lars-Gunnar, when you read that kind of story you realise how small the world really is, and how lucky we are to have the trucks we now drive....lots of power, and as easy to drive as a small car.

The Leyland Super Beaver and Hippo were made for export, they mainly went to the old British Commonwealth countries and South America, I didn't know they came to Sweden......especially with local Swedish cabs, the picture is really superb.

Thanks for posting the 'Special entry', very interesting. I'll see what I can dig out about the Super Hippo.


Hälsningar
Nick

[Fredrik Klint]

Vet inte om jag skrev det i ursprungsinlägget angående de två Super Beaver som rullade i Stockholm men A2480 & A16794 hade motoreffekt 154hk och en totalvikt på 16.200kg, enligt reg-bevisen.

[Lars-Gunnar]

Vet inte om jag skrev det i ursprungsinlägget angående de två Super Beaver som rullade i Stockholm men A2480 & A16794 hade motoreffekt 154hk och en totalvikt på 16.200kg, enligt reg-bevisen.

Jodå Fredrik, mina uppgifter är hämtade från ditt inlägg. Det är översatt till Engelska.

Some interesting facts has come to be known through Fredrik Klint about two ASG trucks as ran in Sweden from the county administrative board. They were fitted to 2-axles trailers with flat beds and side beams

They were of the Super Beaver model whish mean 4x2, and they were equipped with Rydhs bogie and were named Super Hippo 6x2 and no tandem driven.

Year model: 1954
Horsepower: 154
Gross weight: 16,200 kg.

Se mitt inlägg högre upp på sidan efter Thompsons inlägg.

Det är möjligt att den Kanadensiska Hippon hade 154 hk. Det är lätt att minnas fel 50 år bakåt i tiden. Weatherstone skrev ju 140 hk.

Lars-Gunnar

[Kjell T]

De Scania-Vabis bussar som tillverkades med Leyland motor finns nämnda i bla Scania fordonshistoria 1891-1991, Björn-Eric Lind, på sidan 136. Bussarna hörde till P20 serien och 7st tillverkades 1948-50 med Leyland 0.600 motor.
Att enhetsmotorn som kom 1939 i 8 cylindrig version skulle ha något samband med Leyland innan den blev direktinsprutad är för mig okänt. På samma sida i boken nämns också samarbetsavtalet som undertecknades mellan Leyland och S-V att gälla utveckling av direktinsprutade motorer under tiden 1 januari 1947 till 31 december 1951.