| From 9079VW in 2020 to 979AS in 2021, except of course that this photo was not taken in 2021! Evidently cropped from a larger photo, this was taken in July 1962 by the late Bill Taylor, and reached me via his son Bernard and Clive Greedus. It shows unique Austin BMC 'tin-front' van 979AS parked outside Embankment Station, as viewed from the Charing Cross bridge footways. The quality is not great but colour pictures from this era are always of interest. 979AS was new in 1957 and initially used by the Lifts and Escalators section before transferring to CDS Group 3 in 1960. Note the sliding hatch in the roof, presumably to allow long loads such as poles to be carried. There were also hatches in the front of the body for the same reason. Service vehicles were often to be seen parked at this location. There was a large substation (or similar) nearby, plus it seems to have been used by some drivers as a place to take a lunch break. Indeed one of the two other photos of 979AS on this website shows it at the same location. I would have liked to have seen more of the Pepsi-Cola truck in the foreground, while it is notable that there is still a flower stall nearby today. |
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Photo ID: |
6569 |
| Photo date: |
07/1962 |
Size: |
Regular |
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| Date added: |
14/01/2021 |
