Wigan Album

Love this photo. It’s got a lot going for it both the scenery and one for the lorry lovers.
Plus It reminds me of a bike ride 60 years ago.

Great picture Ozy, It looks like Winter time, no leaves on the trees,
and the Bedford lorry further down Parbold Hill has a cover on the
radiator grill, not all vehicles had a heater in the cab many years ago.

Ray.

You can't see, due to the photo being in black and white, but was that Atki a purple one?

Great picture. But what are the Council doing about the entrance to our Bus station, it's a disgrace it needs jet washing on a weekly basis. Who are we going to impress entering or leaving our bus station?
No market hall and stands shutting down it's not exactly Bury is it?
Town being killed off! Gets me mad just look at Prescott St it's full of rubbish and Junction 27 of motorway riddled with empty water bottles from motorway to Shevington lane. Give me strength Dirty Old Town.

Nice one Ozy, never seen the cobblestone on the hill before, nice to see the old Bedford trundling up in the background Bedford was a very reliable machine of our time, the Atki is a very beautiful and powerful truck I always remember them being favoured with fairgrounds as their robust engines would have been used to power all their needs, thanks for sharing Ozy.

Flippin' 'eck Zoonie.... you've hit the ground running with this !!!!
You'll not fit in on this forum if all you do is moan and sob for a rose tinted Wigan of yesteryear....oh, hang on......

Dave Lewis, your, right about the Atki at the fairgrounds. But it's the Gardner Engine that was the attraction. Leyland and Foden too.

Thanks for reminding me of the other massive engines Garry, they were all monsters in their time and certainly would not let you down, I used to drive a transit van back in the day with a bull nosed bonnet and underneath lived a Perkins Diesel engine and it never failed me even in harsh winters, lovely engine I think they still use them in boats & barges.

Saw what you did there Bruce

Dave, that would be the Perkins 108 engine in the Transit, York diesel engines were fitted later.

Yes it was Garry you're spot on you certainly know your machines.

I once had a Morris Oxford which had had a 4 cylinder Perkins put under the bonnet. It was such a bad starter that I rigged up a tube from the air filter into the saloon through which I could spray Easy-Start as I turned her over.
As for barge engines, I think Perkins engines were too fast running - Gardners were preferred - with Russell Newberry's and others cornering the narrow boat market. Perkins I think were widely used in sea-going pleasure craft.
The first engine I had in my narrow boat was a 1945 3 cylinder Perkins, which was a poor starter - but did me for 15 years. It was originally installed in a Trojan van. It was replaced with a 1963 model, originally in an Army JCB and re-engineered in 1993 and placed in store before being sold as surplus in 1997. It is still going strong and starts first time. They're still made as power sources rather than prime movers.

I think it was 1970 when a group of us drove down to the French Riviera and back in a Humber Pullman saloon into which had been slotted a Perkins P6 diesel engine .

There’s a photograph of the vehicle on here somewhere I believe …. In fact there are photos on here of two different Humbers that were powered by the self-same engine .

This engine had been installed in several vehicles that we’d used prior to this one , and had most likely done more mileage than the space shuttle even before we got our hands on it .

One of my many outstanding memories of the trip was that the fan belt had split and was flapping about before we even set off .

In those days , one could find a Perkins agency in practically every town throughout France , and at my insistence , a new fan belt was grudgingly purchased in Avignon but never got fitted .

On our return home 2,000 odd miles later , the old split belt was still flapping about , but apart from that we encountered no other problems with the
motor .

I have no idea what ultimately became of the Humber or it’s engine , but if anyone’s looking for a fan belt for a Perkins P6 , it’ll probably still be hanging up at the back of my mate’s garage .

I believe they call it old new stock .