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Loading of Milk Tankers.


Benbow
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Does anyone know of a good photo showing Milk Tankers being loaded in the 50s/60s? I assume it must have been via an overhead gantry with pipes leading to the tank tops but can't seem to find a good picture.

Thanks in anticipation

Roger

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Depended on the location, the tanks could be top loaded or have the milk pumped in from road tankers at the bottom.  I know less about unloading, which happened in 'that London', but imagine it was done through the bottom pipes by gravity with the top open.  They were then flushed through with clean water, but the amount spilt made them stink anyway!  Memory of the smell has always prevented me from wanting to model the traffic.

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Has anyone any evidence of tanks being top-loaded? The only time it seems to be mentioned is on threads like this one!

Apart from the obvious frothing issues (real milk froth, not Interweb style!) the filler pipes would leave a huge amount of open air around them, for anything floating in the air to get into the milk supply.

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I agree, the Torrington photos show top loading equipment.  The only other thing it could be is a water or steam supply for cleaning, and that could just as easily have been done from ground level with hoses.

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Even if it is "LOADING" equipment, the more I think about it the less likely I see it as "TOP" loading.
The setup would certainly be ideal for piping into the tanks pipes with the gravity effect.
The logic of having a top hatch open for loading is fraught with danger with regards to contamination.
If it is pissing down rain and the hatch is open imagine all the that could get in there!

 

Khris

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I agree, the Torrington photos show top loading equipment.  The only other thing it could be is a water or steam supply for cleaning, and that could just as easily have been done from ground level with hoses.

It shows cleaning from the top, not loading.

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Agree, you clean the tanks from the Top. I spent a day on a milk tanker(coincidentally in the Torrington area) and all loading was done by pipe at the bottom inlets. At the creamery once unloaded the tank was washed out from the top which was an automated process. We had to attach a spinner inside the hatch to ensure cleaning fluid reach all corners of the tank, the process took 20 minutes in total. Fitting and removing the spinner was the only time during the whole day that the tank was open to the atmosphere.

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Try typing "loading milk tankers" into the search box top right, it will give you a list of threads all about the things you want to know.

There seems to be lots of material out there. I tried 'Vauxhall milk depot' in Google and came up with this http://www.svsfilm.com/nineelms/torr.htm

Edited by phil_sutters
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Thanks for all the info. I still don't seem to have that elusive photo of tanks actually being loaded, especially from the bottom as suggested. Did the pipe go from the inlet up inside the tank to the top?? If not I would have thought any pump would have struggled to fill a tanker against the back pressure.

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Thanks for all the info. I still don't seem to have that elusive photo of tanks actually being loaded, especially from the bottom as suggested. Did the pipe go from the inlet up inside the tank to the top?? If not I would have thought any pump would have struggled to fill a tanker against the back pressure.

No, it would be pumped in against the pressure (which is not as strong as you think. There is no internal vertical pipe as You don't want to have the milk falling any height as it will froth, which will overflow the tank through the vent valve.

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I'm pretty sure that the filling took place in the shed at Torrington ...... I should know for sure, having been there once on a rail tour when milk was still transported, but honestly can't claim certainty, and what that gantry thing was for ....... er, dunno!

 

K

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No, it would be pumped in against the pressure (which is not as strong as you think. There is no internal vertical pipe as You don't want to have the milk falling any height as it will froth, which will overflow the tank through the vent valve.

I understood that as milk would froth it was always loaded from the bottom.

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