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Commercial Transport
Here is an abundance of goods transport, from the lightest to the heaviest. Horse-drawn, motor and electric delivery vehicles recall once famous bakeries, dairies and laundries. A 1927 lorry opens a story of development ranging through four, six and eight-wheelers to the articulated tractors of the 1970s and later. Famous heavy haulage tractors remind us of how oversize loads were transported in the past.
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As it was in the beginning |
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In the beginning...... there were horse-drawn vehicles. And no history of the commercial vehicle would be complete without a trip down those memory-lanes where the horse-drawn cart was king. |
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Trading places |
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| Ford's 1957 semi-forward control Thames Trader, is extremely difficult to describe, its most outstanding characteristic was the unusual shape of its stubby, curved bonnet. It remaining in production until replaced by the D series in 1965, It was once said that there was a Trader around every street corner in Ireland. |
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The best of Bedford |
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From their establishment in 1931, Bedford - the Luton-based British arm of General Motors - swept the boards with a series of simple, rugged and reliable lorries and buses.McCairns Motors, assemblers and distributors of Bedfords in the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland) for over forty years, successfully promoted the marque, selling them to virtually every sector of business and the public services. |
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Family Albion |
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| The Albion Motor Car Company of Glasgow (renamed Albion Motors in 1930) built their first commercial vehicle around 1905 and quickly established a reputation for quality and reliability: their motto was Sure as the Sunrise. During the twenties a number of long-lived models was introduced, and while Albions were old-fashioned, their well-tried and trusted designs were preferred by many operators. |
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Leyland Beaver’s life-saving fruit diet |
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A Only having to work when the fruit was being harvested meant one not-so-busy Beaver is still in remarkably good condition today — even before being restored. |
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The bus that became a lorry |
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| Over the years, many vehicles that began life with one type of bodywork ended up carrying something completely different. One example is this 31-seater Leyland Lion bus that eventually went on to become Ireland’s oldest diesel-engined truck |
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AEC's 1939 model eight |
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| Ireland’s oldest 8-wheeler started life with a London brick company and ended up with a fairground operator in County Fermanagh. One of the more intriguing vehicles in the Transport Museum collection, BEW 102 is a wonderful reminder of the late and much lamented AEC range. |
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Guinness brings Albion back to life |
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| Before being found in a scrapyard in 1977 this 8-legger Albion had served the Guinness brewery on both sides of the Irish Sea. Powered by the 6-cylinder Whispering Giant, it has, since being restored, carried the Guinness name through the streetscapes of a number of movies. |
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Of Atkinson and articulated tractors |
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After making several unsuccessful attempts to acquire an Atkinson Borderer for the museum, a Co. Meath family donated a variant that is, today, highly regarded by connoisseurs. |
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What a nice Guy |
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| How many truck enthusiasts know that Guy trucks were once part of Jaguar.... or that today’s Hino importer, Pino Harris, was yesterday’s Guy’s agent in Ireland? |
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Remembering the ESB’s powerful Foden |
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Rated to haul 70-ton, this DG6/70 Foden heavy-haulage tractor unit worked for 27 years bringing electricity to every corner of Ireland. It used a Ford Anglia car engine to power one of its winches. |
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A rare heavy haulage Leyland Hippo |
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| Typically bodied as tankers or tippers, Leyland Hippos were a common sight in Ireland of the sixties. CIE’s MZI-227 however was destined for something much more serious. |
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Essie the heavy Constructor |
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| Designed to operate at a gross train weight of 132-tons, Essie — the former CIE 6x4 Constructor — is still well able to handle very heavy loads |
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The D Series Ford — a reverie |
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This is one of those barely noticed vehicles that handsomely repays study – a process that starts in the manner of a pebble dropped into a pond to produce ever widening ripples.
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