Wednesday 2 November 2016

A Break for Commercials


458 ERF Earth Dumper


453 Commer 5 Ton Refrigerated Van

Adding to one of the groups that I had been ignoring, two more commercial vehicles from the old days arrived last week. One was the ERF Earth Dumper, a long-running model that lasted from 1958 to 1966. This example is one of the earliest with its fixed smooth wheels and it does look pretty dated. It is in good condition, many of these got a lot of use moving real earth or other stuff that left them chipped and generally messed up. The rear section lifts and stays up on the ancient supports, not bad after nearly 60 years.

The other is one of the first batch issues in 1956, a Commer Refrigerated van, although that's one big van. With lovely fresh transfers for Wall's Ice Cream on the sides and really clean cream paintwork and a darker blue cab, this is quite a good find. It is always satisfying to find some of these very early items in good condition and I am slowly filling the blanks.

The main item still outstanding is the ERF Moorhouses Jam lorry which looks similar to this one. There are a few around but it's a matter of finding a good one. There are also some Karrier Shops that have passed me by and I still can't get excited about. I sort of hope they'll just appear one day. The blue Karrier Bantam I shall have to get, and there's a Bedford Tipper truck that replaced the ERF shown here. They're very common but no doubt there'll be some variations to confuse me. I also see the Ford Thames Ice Cream trucks at very high prices so they'll be a while appearing here I fear.



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