Beck and Pollitzer

[modelman093]

While sorting through some slides to find one of an old Scammell for another contributor I found some others that may be of interest - all taken in the mid 60's. Some taken in their Burnham Road Depot, Dartford and others outside their offices and "railway arch" depot in Hercules Road, Lambeth, London SE1
Angus

[Neversweat]

Doesn't seem that long ago the Scania 110 was "modern" technology compared with British trucks at the time

Steve

[Jeremy Rowland]

Doesn't seem that long ago the Scania 110 was "modern" technology compared with British trucks at the time

Steve

Yes Steve indeed you are correct and I can recall seeing many Beck and Pollitzer Scania's on the road too.

Jeremy

[modelman093]

Doesn't seem that long ago the Scania 110 was "modern" technology compared with British trucks at the time
Steve

Yes Steve indeed you are correct and I can recall seeing many Beck and Pollitzer Scania's on the road too.
Jeremy

Beck and Pollitzer were on of the first users of Scania (Vabis) vehicles in the UK. The then transport director,Charles Oliver, was the instigator of the early adoption of these "foreign" vehicles .I think that I am correct in saying that at that time Scania did not have their own set up in the UK and sold through agents - all Beck's earlier vehicles were supplied by B & W Motors of Wolverhampton.
The first 110 (no Super) was non - turbocharged, the later Supers had turbos. The two 6 x 2 units in the enclosed pic were Beck's first and one has the original Scania Vabis badging. One of them, fleet number 3 (LKM103F) featured in a full page Scania ad in Commercial Motor. They were used as both artic units and ballasted tractors and could out perform anything on the road other than specialist heavy haulage tractors. I remember sitting in the cab and being confronted with a huge, near vertical, white steering wheel and two gear levers - one for the main box and one to shift between high and low ranges!
Becks used to reuse their fleet numbers and used to try to get registration numbers relevant to the fleet number so fleet number 3 carried LKM103F and no 4 LKM104F etc. In the days before Swansea this involved "talking nicely" to staff at the local vehicle licensing office - County Hall in Waterloo SE1 and County Hall in Maidstone - to get a suitable number!

[Jeremy Rowland]

Yes Angus you are correct that early Scania's were supplied by B & W (Bradburn & Wedge) motors. B & W had a unit on the Pennsnett trading estate and were one of the main Scania agents until Keltruck took the dealership for Scania.

Jeremy

[modelman093]

Yes Angus you are correct that early Scania's were supplied by B & W (Bradburn & Wedge) motors. B & W had a unit on the Pennsnett trading estate and were one of the main Scania agents until Keltruck took the dealership for Scania.

Jeremy

Phew, the old brain cells have not all atrophied! Was prepared to be told that I had got it all wrong!
Angus

[XS650]

Links to a few more Beck and Pollitzer trucks pics (scroll down pages), is the truck crane a Smith ?
and gone with the captions for truck types .

Crane

http://www.transportphotos.com/road/photo/VS01518

Volvo F107

http://www.transportphotos.com/road/photo/JSc00303-07

Scania 110

http://www.transportphotos.com/road/photo/VS01692

Albion Clydesdale

http://www.transportphotos.com/road/photo/HuG0454