NEWS OF SURVIVING VEHICLES.
OUT & ABOUT THIS SUMMER.
Paul Nicholls has informed us that his TZ Reg. No. JNN
463 K has been displayed at a number of rallies this Summer. The TBN
Pakamatic owned by Keighley Bus Museum has also been seen at several events
this year including the Bronte Gathering at Cullingworth.
The 1972 TN Pakamativ is owned by the Keighley Bus Museum and is in the livery of the Keighley Council Reg. No. FBU 227 K
Keighley Bus MuseumTrust NEWS
The Summer 2023 issue of the News magazine from the
Keighley Bus Museum carried a letter that I had submitted, along with three
photos showing the replica Tramocar at the Amberley Museum and the airport
transfer bus.
Dear Editor,
When I received my copy
of KBMT News Spring 2023 edition I was absolutely delighted to see the cover
photo was of the 1972 Shelvoke & Drewry TBN Pakamatic Reg. N. FBU 227 K
which is part of the Museum’s collection. I was an apprentice at S & D in
the 1950’s and for the past twenty years I have been running the SD
Enthusiasts’ Club.
Shelvoke & Drewry
were a fairly small manufacturing company but their products were highly
respected. Founded in 1922 by Harry Shelvoke & James Drewry in Letchworth
Garden City, Hertfordshire, to produce a very unusual light lorry. Instead of a
steering wheel the lorry was controlled by a handle termed a ‘tiller’ and the
clutch pedal was replaced by a second tiller. It was said that anyone could
learn to drive the lorry in just 30 minutes. The lorry attracted many customers
as a refuse collection vehicle as the small diameter wheels allowed a low
loading height. Some 50 chassis were purchased with bus bodies mostly for sea
front duties, a replica is exhibited at the Amberley Museum in West Sussex.
After the Second World
War S&D produced more conventional vehicles and the Pakamatic was launched
in 1960. For twenty-two years the company also produced heavy duty fork lift
trucks (1952 – 1974). From 1974 they produced a range of special purpose
vehicles of which one was an airport transfer bus which sadly didn’t generate
any further orders. The company encountered difficulties in the 1980’s and
finally closed in 1991. Further details about the company may be found at www.shelvoke-drewry.co.uk
RVO 157 1954 ‘W’ type now a flat bed lorry owned by Martin
Milmoe from Nottingham originally a Gully Emptier.
Stephen Harrison posted this photo on Facebook of ‘W’ type
Reg. No. RVO 157 at Newark Showground earlier this year, with a vintage tractor onboard.