Anecdotes and Memories of a Driving Instructor
I attended a Driving Instructors Course at Leconfield, near Hull in 1976, and passed after three weeks of intense training, returning to my unit ( I SQN. Royal Corps of Transport) in Colchester, to become the new training N.C.O.
As nearly all of the unit already held a class 3 H.G.V license, I was able to specialise in upgrading the drivers to class 2, and ultimately class 1.
As a combat unit, 1 SQN. only used class 2 & 3 vehicles on a daily basis, but we did keep one artic for training purposes, as the policy was that as many drivers as possible should pass their class 1 test, even though it was unlikely that they would use it.
The artic in question was a Bedford TX with a 15' trailer. Yes. You did read that correctly FIFTEEN FEET, and believe me, that trailer could be a pig to reverse. It was fitted with a Scammell semiautomatic coupling (same as British Railways used on their 3- wheeled mechanical horses). For those of you who do not remember, or more likely for the younger of you, don't know what I'm talking about, these trailers typically had a maximum capacity of about 3 tons (before metric weight) and used a totally different coupling system, whereby when the tractor unit was reversed under the trailer, the trailer legs were automatically lifted. It was vitally important to make sure that the trailer parking brake was applied. Because there was no air in the system when the trailer was not coupled, you could quite easily push the trailer backwards. The air system was also different in that there were THREE air lines (RED - emergency, YELLOW - service and BLUE - auxiliary, which allowed, by use of a lever on the steering column, known as a "Deadman" the trailer brakes to be applied independently of the main brakes. This was very important on hills as these lightweight, very short vehicles were prone to "jackknife", and it was very difficult, if not impossible to stop once started. Also, the airlines had taps fitted, which must be turned on, to allow the air to pass into the air tanks on the trailer as the air lines used at the time did not have constant pressure, as you have today. Just to complicate matters further, the trailer was un-coupled by pulling a lever INSIDE the cab. This meant that it was possible to drop the trailer WHILE DRIVING.......more
