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Details: This very interesting photo turned up on Facebook recently and I have been given permission to reproduce it here. Taken in about the mid-1970s, it is part of a set of photos showing activities at Acton Works. Taken from Quadrant House looking almost due south across the end of what is now the DSM van yard, several of the structures are still recognisably in place today. These include the skylighted building at the rear, the famous 'pipe bridge' and the small building in the foreground (which is adjacent to the old weighbridge - the buffer stop for the track over this is just visible at the far left). The buildings on the far left have changed, with the location of the wooden shed now being occupied by Portacabins. Three regular service vehicles are visible, though none can be identified. Two are Ford D open lorries, most likely examples of the 10-ton bolster lorries numbered 1655/7/9F and 1661-1663F. An interesting aspect of these is that the tailgates are not as tall as the sides of the bodywork, and that they seem to include a metal framework which forms an access step when the gate is lowered. The third vehicle is also a grey Ford D, this one being an artic tractor unit coupled to one of the single-axle dropside trailers. The trailer has cradles inside, most likely for the carriage of wheelsets. One of the bolster lorries is loaded with wheelsets, and probably had similar cradles. Slightly more mysterious are the two cranes visible. The yellow one is clearly marked as being a Coles product, and it does look very similar to Parsons Green's WYL724. There was another Coles crane in the service vehicle fleet, this being SLT49 new in 1956 (three years before WYL724). I have never come across any photos or even information about SLT49, though Clive advises that it was based at Acton. So, it seems quite likely that it is SLT49 seen here. The red crane on the right is to a different design, which Clive reckons is probably built by Jones. It is not thought that this was part of the service vehicle fleet or, if it was, it would have been part of the non-licensed 'plant' fleet, as would have been the yellow dump truck visible towards the left of this photo.

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Posted By	Comments	Date/Time
Clive G	The red crane may be the new Jones Super 22 crane I saw in Chiswick Works on 22/4/69,that bore the asset number 89/215 on a small brass plate. I would like to know a lot more about the administration of these asset numbers as it is IMHO problematic to view a newer Jones crane differently to its older brother 968R which was also a Super 22!	Thu 06/05/2021, 14:29