Bedford RL

[Unremarkable]

My Austin K9 build has turned into - well, a bit of a "Wokka" type build, if you will.
Meanwhile, those enterprising fellows at Milicast have released a bunch of Bedford RL variants.
I lack sufficient photographic references overall but can find none of the GS with winch (and where, I wonder, are Haynes?).
Do any of you, my esteemed fellow members, have anything, including memories of these vehicles?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Itainthalfhotmum]

My Austin K9 build has turned into - well, a bit of a "Wokka" type build, if you will.
Meanwhile, those enterprising fellows at Milicast have released a bunch of Bedford RL variants.
I lack sufficient photographic references overall but can find none of the GS with winch (and where, I wonder, are Haynes?).
Do any of you, my esteemed fellow members, have anything, including memories of these vehicles?
Thanks in advance.

This link is 7yrs out of date but you might be able to resurrect it or get in touch with one of the RL owners to see if they can help.

Bedford RL Light Recovery

Just a few photos of Bedford RLs kindly given to me by ex REME Recovery Mechanic Ron Stephenson. All are from around 1964, and feature vehicles in Aden. Enjoy!!

hmvf.co.uk

 

[Bodenplatte]

The old RL just has to be THAT truck.

There was a local modification in Aden where the cab was replaced by an armoured tub to protect the driver and front seat passenger against mine blast. Nothing in the back to protect passengers though, but it was normal to lay a single layer of filled sandbags on the deck, with a second layer over the rear axle. The extra layer wasn't to provide any extra protection, but was to provide a marker for where the axle would come up through the deck if a rear wheel was mined. You sat well clear.

 

[putteesinmyhands]

Also hmvf:

Bedford RL winch

I managed to pick up the PTO for my RL, I did intend mounting the Garwood winch I have in the chassis at the rear like the New Zealand RLs Id seen on the net but the chap I got the PTO from had nearly all the belly winch set up from the RL recovery truck. Ive noticed while Ive been doing some res...

hmvf.co.uk

which confirmed a few distant memories (I looked it up because I was unsure whether I was remembering or dreaming).

Not particularly exciting or detailed memories but they might fill a gap...

When I joined the TA Infantry in 1975, our Coy had 4x RL - one for each platoon and one for the CQMS. None had winches. They were replaced with MKs in 1976, perhaps 1977.

We were co-located with 50 Ord. They had several RLs, one of which had a winch. I think it belonged to their REME LAD. As a spotty 17 year old, I recall being intrigued with the winch for two reasons. Firstly because I thought that winches were electric and would be mounted on the front and/or the rear, yet there was no sign of winches in these positions. Secondly because winch cables were present at both front and rear. (Odd when there was no obvious winch). This intrigue led me to follow the cables - which terminated in a box under one side of the truck. I can't remember which side. If I'd known that somebody would ask about it 45 years later, I'm sure I would have paid more attention.

I had a chat with the REME fitter who explained that the winch was driven from a PTO and demonstrated how it all worked. I can't remember how it switched between the front and back cables but recall that the hooks were on pulleys (snatch blocks) to give a 2:1 mechanical advantage, the end of the cable being hooked onto the chassis.

A long time ago so E&OE.

 

[putteesinmyhands]

I presume you've found the Milicast photos of the model with/without winch?

Milicast Model Company :: Premiere Range (1/76) :: British & Commonwealth :: Softskins :: Bedford RL GS Truck with Mid Production style Cab

The Bedford RL superseded the Bedford QL and was the main medium truck of the British Armed Forces from the mid 1950's until the late 1960's with a total of 74,000 being produced. The RL was powered by a 4.9 litres petrol engine. It was based on the civilian Bedford SCL 7ton truck, but equipped...

www.milicast.com

And a photo of a real one:

Bedford RL military truck

www.militaryimages.net

 

[Berlin_104s]

Also hmvf:

Bedford RL winch

I managed to pick up the PTO for my RL, I did intend mounting the Garwood winch I have in the chassis at the rear like the New Zealand RLs Id seen on the net but the chap I got the PTO from had nearly all the belly winch set up from the RL recovery truck. Ive noticed while Ive been doing some res...

hmvf.co.uk

which confirmed a few distant memories (I looked it up because I was unsure whether I was remembering or dreaming).

Not particularly exciting or detailed memories but they might fill a gap...

When I joined the TA Infantry in 1975, our Coy had 4x RL - one for each platoon and one for the CQMS. None had winches. They were replaced with MKs in 1976, perhaps 1977.

We were co-located with 50 Ord. They had several RLs, one of which had a winch. I think it belonged to their REME LAD. As a spotty 17 year old, I recall being intrigued with the winch for two reasons. Firstly because I thought that winches were electric and would be mounted on the front and/or the rear, yet there was no sign of winches in these positions. Secondly because winch cables were present at both front and rear. (Odd when there was no obvious winch). This intrigue led me to follow the cables - which terminated in a box under one side of the truck. I can't remember which side. If I'd known that somebody would ask about it 45 years later, I'm sure I would have paid more attention.

I had a chat with the REME fitter who explained that the winch was driven from a PTO and demonstrated how it all worked. I can't remember how it switched between the front and back cables but recall that the hooks were on pulleys (snatch blocks) to give a 2:1 mechanical advantage, the end of the cable being hooked onto the chassis.

A long time ago so E&OE.

We had a single RL which belonged to the SQMS. It didn't have a winch but as a similarly spotty 17-year old, I remember being hugely impressed with the cold start arrangement one wintry morning at Westdown during the mid-80s. From memory, something akin to a large cartridge was inserted into a receptacle situated between the seats in the front cab. A cover was screwed in place and then something was done which fired the cartridge; this caused a huge bang, a fcuk-off cloud of white smoke emitted by the exhaust and the engine to rev and then settle down to idle. It was left to run for 5 mins and off we went to do the ration run around the dets on SPTA (they had a mixture of Bedford MKs and Austin K9s - unlike the Troop from Exeter who were Landrover-borne and therefore dead to us). Happy days!!

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[bobthebuilder]

This old beast was still operating as a fire truck at Cumborah near Lightning Ridge a couple of years ago. It’s now out to pasture.

 

[putteesinmyhands]

View attachment 523511
This old beast was still operating as a fire truck at Cumborah near Lightning Ridge a couple of years ago. It’s now out to pasture.

Such a versatile vehicle. A helicopter in the British Army. A tank in the Australian Army. An absolute Goddess.

 

[bobthebuilder]

Such a versatile vehicle. A helicopter in the British Army. A tank in the Australian Army. An absolute Goddess.

An absolute Goddess on which Godiva rode for a Climax in Coventry?

That fire service RL would have started life as one of 800 built under licence as a fire tanker for the Victoria County Fire Service. I think they were the first purpose built rural fire trucks in Oz.

 

[Bodenplatte]

Such a versatile vehicle. A helicopter in the British Army. A tank in the Australian Army. An absolute Goddess.

The Green Goddess was the RL-based Fire Tender which the Auxiliary Fire Service had, and which was used by the army during the Fire Brigades Union national strike in 1977-78.

 

[Unremarkable]

I presume you've found the Milicast photos of the model with/without winch?

Milicast Model Company :: Premiere Range (1/76) :: British & Commonwealth :: Softskins :: Bedford RL GS Truck with Mid Production style Cab

The Bedford RL superseded the Bedford QL and was the main medium truck of the British Armed Forces from the mid 1950's until the late 1960's with a total of 74,000 being produced. The RL was powered by a 4.9 litres petrol engine. It was based on the civilian Bedford SCL 7ton truck, but equipped...

www.milicast.com

And a photo of a real one:

Bedford RL military truck

www.militaryimages.net

Indeed I have; when I ordered two of the GS variants and a gun tractor. The latter will provide the cab* for a late production GS lorry, and the chassis will be found under a binned stores body (with the left over cab) from Road Transport Images.
The winch variant: Milicast use the same body mounted further back on the chassis, but I am wondering if it should have a shortened body as in the crane fitted variant.

*the instructions speak of cabs being available as extras, but are not yet on the site.

 

[robinrocket111]

Best truck British Army has ever had, passed my Car/HGV lll in a RL.

 

[Unremarkable]

Ready to start the builds. When purchases are complete, the line up will be:
GS and GS with winch, late cab
GS with 4 panel body, mid production cab
Flat bed, cab undecided
Binned stores, early cab.

The 4 panel and binned stores bodywork will come from Road Transport Images.

I must say that, for such a popular and ubiquitous vehicle, good references were a bit sparse. I have a good selection for the GS body with 6 panels and late cab, one for the 4 panel version with a xxBRxx number, enough for the stores and flat bed, and a partial shot of the GS with winch, which does confirm the full length body.