The old Albion Reiver 6 wheeler was a double drive type which was very sensitive to tyre wear and size, if these got too uneven or the pressures were uneven the drive bogie used to overheat and sometimes caught alight. I have had a Chieftans engine of that vintage go into reverse and I have then pulled into the side of the road, going forward in reverse gear.

IIRC, there were two prop-shafts to two (single) rear axles rather than it being a tandem bogie with an inter-axle differential.

ALBION REIVER (LAD) Dropside Lorry
Corgi CC11607 ROAD TRANSPORT HERITAGE – THE GOLDER YEARS Series Die Cast Limited Edition – 3,100 produced
Scale 1:50 / O gauge, approximate size L 7 1/4”; W 2”.
http://www.notatoy.com/images/produc...e_richards.jpg


DDAD (Detroit) 2-strokes would quite happily (!) run backwards (especially if you botched a hill-start) but the throttle-control had no effect and, if not 'choked' with the emergency flap (that cut off the air-supply) they would run away until they burst. The first sign (apart from continued difficulty in hill-starting as the engine was running backwards) was the clouds of white smoke from the exhaust as the sump oil was sucked up and burned. Time to pull the big red T-handle or get out and run . . .

The Gardner 5 Pot was another engine that would happily run backwards and also if left in gear with no handbrake applied it would start and drive itself into the nearest obstruction, building etc. The Leyland 600 as fitted in the old Octypus, Steer etc. could throw its Governor weights and then they would runaway with themselves and if not stopped, not very easy, you had one ruined engine at the very least.

That is a familiar scenario, we had a meadows or a Cummins in a grader, and that started in reverse one day and sent a plume of oil lke a well strike, well not exactly, it had oil bathed air filters and it shot out from around the cap in all directions. good old Pete, braved the oily precipitation to shut it off.
It also happened with the large, drag mounted, compressor which had the other of the two aforementioned engines.

It sounds like trucking was really good fun in those days Gents!!!

Great fun ,would`nt have missed the experience for the world, no cab heaters, sleeping across seats, poor wages,putting a fire under the diesel tank to thaw the diesel out in a morning at winter, towing truckers up Shap when their lorry had`nt the power to get up (those were the days that truckers stopped if another trucker was in difficulty), changing your own wheels when you had a blow out in a gale, the truckers of today drive wagons that are better equipped than some homes, yes lads, great fun in the good old days.

And rubbing half a potato on the inside of the windscreen to try to stop it misting up.

I didn't know about the potato, though I had heard that if you peed on a cloth then rubbed the cloth over the windscreen that that would stop it misting up.

Rubbing half a potato on the outside of the windscreen will get you home if the wipers pack in. anyone know how this works? :confused:

Somethink to do with the starch in the potato putting a waterproof coating on the glass i expect.
However, although a very poor substitute for a demister it leave you a bit glass that you just about see through. Imaging it, a cold dark night, poor headlights (in those days) and a very noisy misted up cab. My the fun the modern trucker misses...LOL