Skip delivery lorry

[AndyB]

Hi, all.

 

Looking to purchase a skip delivery lorry for my 00 guage layout.

 

I browsed the usual road vehicle suppliers (Base, Oxford diecast...) and didn't spot one.

 

Anyone know of one on the market?

 

Cheers in advance. Andy

[PhilJ W]

Langley makes a skip lorry.

[AndyB]

Langley makes a skip lorry.

 

Thanks, Phil.

 

Quite pricey, but a lot of detail to justify the price.

 

Anyone know of a more budget item?

 

Andy

[87023Velocity]

Hi Andy,

 

The Langley kit is quite a nice model to build, you could either build it using glue(superglue or araldite for example) or solder as it is whitemetal. From what I can remember it only took a few evenings to construct, then the same again for painting and finishing. There are a couple of pictures in my gallery along with some other Langley lorry kits. Pictures in Velocitys Workbench Gallery.

There are parts in the kit to model either the arms lowered for picking skip up or raised for travel.

 

Hope that helps

 

Cheers

 

Simon

 

 

[AndyB]

Hi Andy,

 

The Langley kit is quite a nice model to build, you could either build it using glue(superglue or araldite for example) or solder as it is whitemetal. From what I can remember it only took a few evenings to construct, then the same again for painting and finishing. There are a couple of pictures in my gallery along with some other Langley lorry kits. Pictures in Velocitys Workbench Gallery.

There are parts in the kit to model either the arms lowered for picking skip up or raised for travel.

 

Hope that helps

 

Cheers

 

Thanks, Simon.

You've done a nice job on that, as you have with all the other items in your gallery.

Andy

 

Simon

[PhilJ W]

You could easily scratch build a body on such as a Base Toys chassis if the Langley model is too expensive. Kibri produce a few HO scale plastic kits but these can also be expensive. Skips are available from Peco but if you want to achieve the 'battered' look of a skip try the Shire Scenics etched brass one.

[jcb 3c]

It's quite surprising their are so few models of a skip lorry , as they are so common and their body shape is virtually unchanged since their introduction in the fifties. The bodies tend to outlast the chassis and are often transferred . Off the top of my head Husky did a TK Bedford and Dinky did a Leyland.

Haven't even seen any cheap chinese toys that would chop.

[edcayton]

I still have (somewhere buried in the attic) a Bedford TK skip lorry. Can't remember the make, except that it was not Matchbox, so Husky is probably right. I remember thinking it was unrealistic because the skip had two rigid hooks that hung on the jib(?) of the lorry.

Does anyone know when the use of this type of skip became common?

 

Ed

[PhilJ W]

I still have (somewhere buried in the attic) a Bedford TK skip lorry. Can't remember the make, except that it was not Matchbox, so Husky is probably right. I remember thinking it was unrealistic because the skip had two rigid hooks that hung on the jib(?) of the lorry.

Does anyone know when the use of this type of skip became common?

 

Ed

The builders skip as we know it came into use in about 1964 in the UK. They were developed on the continent a few years earlier but by about 1970 they were in common use. The skip was lifted by four short chains attached to the lifting arms that were hooked on the sides of the skip, the solid arms on the Husky model were for play purposes. If your models represent the last 25 years you could also model a 'hook-loader' type, it uses a much larger skip or container and lifts it over the rear of the truck with a single movement. The advantage of this system is that it can carry larger containers without the necessity of the driver leaving his cab, in fact it is sometimes used for carrying shipping containers. Hook-loader models are available in 1/76 scale as they are used by the military under the D.R.O.P.S. designation and there are some white metal and resin kits made. There is a diecast model of a hook-loader in 1/76 scale but the 'load' (a fire brigade control unit) is cast in one piece with the cab and it is very difficult to find. This model is in the Del Prado Fire Engines of the World series Renault 'Kerex' Command Unit.

[AndyB]

Thanks to all who have replied so far.

Sounds to me as if there's a market for a "cheap and cheerful".

I don't think we're asking for something that could be classed as "rare and limited appeal"; hope one of the manufacturers respond in due course.

Andy

[PhilJ W]

How about asking Base Toys if they would consider producing a skip lorry model?

[AndyB]

How about asking Base Toys if they would consider producing a skip lorry model?

 

Good idea, Phil.

I just Googled to see if I could find their contact details. No luck.

Anyone got a link for them?

Andy

[87023Velocity]

Hi Andy,

 

I have not got a link for Base Toys, but it may be worth having a look through this: Skip Lorry thread. Its on a forum for model trucks. There is quite alot of interesting and very nice modelling on there aswell.

 

Cheers

 

Simon

[edcayton]

Yes, I thought it was mid-60s. That makes it "new technology" for sad old gits like me, whereas they are pre-history for most of you young chaps on here. More than any other type of vehicle they benefit from being modelled with the front wheels on (very) full lock. It always amazes me the way the drivers can manouevere (sp) the things.

 

Ed

[Ragtag]

http://www.supermarketmodels.co.uk/body.html

 

Lots of options on this site although they're HO.

[RANGERS]

Base Toys are the same company as Britbus and are imported by John Ayrey Die-Casts in Shipley, I believe they're the UK distributors.

[PhilJ W]

Several people have mentioned toy skip lorries. Could one of these be used to create a skip lorry using the 'toy' body on a Base Toys or similar chassis? I have just googled 'skip lorry photographs', plenty of inspiration there!

[37114]

I made a Herpa one some years ago and was nice model but definitely HO in appearance. They wouldn't be the hardest scratchbuild, and was tempted to do one myself as I have a spare Langley D Series cab in the spares box.

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

The builders skip as we know it came into use in about 1964 in the UK. They were developed on the continent a few years earlier but by about 1970 they were in common use. The skip was lifted by four short chains attached to the lifting arms that were hooked on the sides of the skip, the solid arms on the Husky model were for play purposes.

 

The skip loader was also capable of tipping a skip load. Two chains were connected to the two skip ears closest to the cab and the skip slid rearwards and down a slope. Two hooks were lifted from the ramp and engaged in two purpose built rods in recesses on the base of the skip and hey presto the skip was up ended.

 

These lorries were/are not cheap as the hydraulics needed were frequently routed to a valve bank on the side of the lorry. All this was powered with a gearbox driven PTO off the lorry gearbox. The skips are a standard size and the whole lot runs on a 16 ton chassis, the biggest 2 axle available. Mini skips came later as did mega skips. These last are what were replaced by the single hook loader mostly on 3 and 4 axle rigid chassis.

 

It also has to borne in mind that all these hydraulics and sheet steel was heavy and a skip lorry with a standard skip and a level load of brick and mortar rubble was pretty close to overload. These lorries never go far and it is true that re-using the body was an attractive option but only where an identical chassis is available. It is still cheaper to repair rather than replace and the only option for a new chassis is where the old chassis has become bent, not an infrequent occurrence caused by tipping and loading on uneven ground with heavy loads.

 

Like everything else the newness and convenience and flexibility and earning power was soon blunted and you see less skip loaders now than in the seventies.

[AndyB]

Base Toys are the same company as Britbus and are imported by John Ayrey Die-Casts in Shipley, I believe they're the UK distributors.

 

 

Well, if you don't ask, you probably won't get. So, I'll email them later in the week and ask.

Andy

[jcb 3c]

http://www.supermarketmodels.co.uk/body.html

 

Lots of options on this site although they're HO.

 

The Skip bodies look the business, might have a go at one myself . Would probably fit on a Base Toys etc Leyland or Albion . I find 'modern' 1.87 bodies often sit well on 1.76 old Brit trucks because they were smaller vehicles anyway.

Had some success buying cheap Kibris off ebay and fitting with Base/Pocketbond/Oxford British cabs.

The Leyland/Albion LAD cab is particularly small and was very popular as a skip / tipper / mixer truck .

[AndyB]

As promised I contacted Base Toys and got a quick response from Norman Hinchliffe.

 

Norman is happy for me to share this:

 

"Many thanks for your suggestion regarding a skip lorry.

 

There have been thoughts about this, and plans drawn up, so I hope that there may be one introduced in the future.

 

One problem is that many of the cabs are unsuitable because they were in use before skip lorries were thought of. There are, however, several more modern cabs that could be utilised....there are various other projects underway with Base Toys, the latest being the incorporation of loads with some of the lorries."

[kevblokey]

As promised I contacted Base Toys and got a quick response from Norman Hinchliffe.

 

Norman is happy for me to share this:

 

"Many thanks for your suggestion regarding a skip lorry.

 

There have been thoughts about this, and plans drawn up, so I hope that there may be one introduced in the future.

 

One problem is that many of the cabs are unsuitable because they were in use before skip lorries were thought of. There are, however, several more modern cabs that could be utilised....there are various other projects underway with Base Toys, the latest being the incorporation of loads with some of the lorries."

 

They do a D series don't they?

 

They do a Roadtrain don't they?

[37114]

They do a D series don't they?

 

They do a Roadtrain don't they?

 

The Roadtrain is too wide to be a skip chassis, it would be the narrower freighter cab as per the Langley kit. I can see what Base toys mean if the D series is the only suitable cab then they will be a bit reluctant, I would have thought they could have got away with an FG cab as well as the D series.

[Fat Controller]

The Roadtrain is too wide to be a skip chassis, it would be the narrower freighter cab as per the Langley kit. I can see what Base toys mean if the D series is the only suitable cab then they will be a bit reluctant, I would have thought they could have got away with an FG cab as well as the D series.

I've never seen an FG skip wagon- they weren't meaty enough, as you'd need something in the 7.5t.10t range at least. There were, however, LAD-cabbed skip lorries, though I'm not sure if the ones I remember were Albion, Dodge or Leyland. The earliest vehicle I've seen photos of with the typical 'gallows' fitting was an eight-legger Foden S21, used by BR in container handling trials in the very late 1950s/early 1960s- there's a photo in one of the Larkin series on Wagons of British Railways. The first time I saw skips were on internal traffic at an RT&B plant in South Wales- this would fit with something my father said about it being someone at RT&B Landore who came up with the idea. I wonder what wagons they might have used- Leyland Comets, perhaps?