| London Transport acquired three Priestman excavators in 1941 and, although two survived until the late 1960s, photos are very rare. The Michael Clark collection included a couple showing GKH349, as shown in this composite image. The undated photo on the left was taken at the top end of Parsons Green depot, and it shows that these vehicles (or at least this one) had caterpillar tracks. Calling these vehicles excavators may be a little deceptive. There are photos showing them being used with drag-line buckets, but others suggest that they could also be used for more general craning duties. Both the photos here seem to show a normal crane hook fitted. The photo on the right was taken during work to repair an embankment slip at Uxbridge in late 1954, and GKH349 is being used with a bucket to load spoil into tipper lorry 956B. It is fortunate that the registration plate is visible in both photos, confirming that it is one and same the vehicle. I say this because the jibs fitted are quite clearly different. |
| Photographer: |
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Photo ID: |
8010 |
| Photo date: |
c.1955 |
Size: |
Regular. An extra large copy of this photo is available. |
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| Date added: |
28/01/2025 |
