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Found amongst scrap at Staverton

Languishing amongst other rusty bits and pieces at Staverton is this 'thing'. It clearly had sack truck type handles, is strongly built and carries a plate

Kent Engineering and Foundry, Phoenix works, Tovil, Maidstone
M/C 3596  1955.

My guess is that it is for handling stone slabs [there are plenty along the edges of railway platforms…] but does anyone have knowledge? By pressing down on a rear mounted foot pedal the centre strap is raised which in turn moves the 'horns' inwards. The pedal may be held in the depressed position by a latch.The horns remain at a fixed height in relation to the wheels.


Last edit: by Chubber


'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil…'  Aesop's Fables

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin


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The sharpened lugs on the ends of the arms, remind me of the old trucks used to lift and carry blocks of ice, Doug.

Probably way off, though.   :lol:
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I hadn't thought of ice…but they are only sharpened with a top bevel, as though they are meant to slide under the edges of something hard and heavy.

Ice!

Cor, you have woken a memory of Cyprus in the very early 1950s, the iceman dragging big slabs into the kitchen and putting them in the lead-lined icebox. Our landlady's kids used to drink the cold drain water from the 'box, the only time I did it I got the screaming ab-dabs….

Doug

'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil…'  Aesop's Fables

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin


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Like, I said - just a guess, Doug.   :lol:

We also had a similar device for picking up and carrying 44 gallon drums.

Yes.  We had horse drawn vans for bread, milk, ice, vegies, etc.

To show you how old I am, I used to work weekends for a milky who had a horse and cart; when on weekend leave from the Police Academy.  (Age 17 years).   So that was in 1963!   :oops:
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Sol
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Sol is in the usergroup ‘Super-moderators’
[user=269]MaxSouthOz[/user] wrote:
Yes.  We had horse drawn vans for bread, milk, ice, vegies, etc.



like wise & what the horses dropped, made ideal garden fertilizer.


But I can't offer any suggestions Doug…

Ron
NCE DCC ; 00 scale UK outline.
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I would go along the lines of carrying 45 gallon drums.

Tilt the drum forward, engage the centre strap end under the drum edge, press the peddle the drum raises and the lugs go underneath to support it, the centre strap locked off secures the drum to the barrow.

Just a guess though….

Cheers

Andy
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There are holes in the flat bar linkage to the horns to allow adjustments for different sizes.
I have no knowledge of such a device but I’m going to guess stone blocks were it’s primary load.

Marty

Last edit: by Marty


Marty
N Gauge, GWR West Wales
Newcastle Emlyn Layout.
Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction"
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That's what I thought, Marty, but after another look at it, despite it being adjustable for various openings, it would be a right fiddle to do so, say, half-a-dozen times a day for different sized blocks, I can think of easier ways of doing it. Have spent another half-hour or so googling all sorts of 'possbulls' with no result.
Maybe it was used in a concrete slab makers where it moved several hundred of the same sized slab each production run.
I'd love to know!

By the way, later this month I shall be on a caravan site very near to Newcastle Emlyn, small world, isn't it!

Doug

'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil…'  Aesop's Fables

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin


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Lovely part of the world around Newcastle Emlyn. I hope that the weather is kind to you all. Have a wander over and around the bridge at Pentrecourt Halt if you get the chance. You can walk along the line to the tunnel. Picturesque, in my opinion.
And then there is the narrow gauge Teifi Valley railway at Henllan if they are still going. It uses the old GWR branchline route and for me was quite evocative and a reminder of days gone past.

Enjoy.

Marty



Marty
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Newcastle Emlyn Layout.
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Doug, pm sent.

Shaun.
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Marty,
I think they had to start again after the landlord went broke and ripped up the tracks in 2014?

Doug

'You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil…'  Aesop's Fables

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" - Benjamin Franklin


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Thanks Doug, 
I find the ebb and flow of this little railway fascinating and hadn’t been aware of the developments over the last few years.

This from Wikipedia
“As of May 2016, track relaying had reached as far as Forest Halt, and train operations had resumed.”


Best of luck to them.


If I had the money…. 


Marty

Last edit: by Marty


Marty
N Gauge, GWR West Wales
Newcastle Emlyn Layout.
Newcastle Emlyn Station is "Under construction"
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I have no idea what the picture is, but offer this information.  The company made agricultural equipment, in particular water sprayers - but it doesn't look like anything related to that.  Tovil did have many paper works, perhaps it is related to  that?
Michael
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