Wimpey Plant re-visited

by Nick Drew | Thu 16 Jul 2015

Wimpey Plant re-visited

The response to the recent Wimpey Plant and Mining blog posts has been simply overwhelming. With that in mind I have dived back into the archives to find another trio of photos to share with the Digger Man Blog faithful.

As an ex Wimpey employee myself, back in the day when they were a massive plant outfit, I have such fond memories of my time with the once great firm. It really comes as no surprise to me that these Wimpey posts are still as popular as ever as the company was held in high regard by so many. There is not much information to accompany these shots, but the first two feature a Bucyrus Erie 480W walking dragline which I believe also worked in the opencast mines in Wales back in the day.

I am led to believe that a small number of these American designed models were actually built here in the UK at the Ruston Bucyrus factory in Lincoln specifically for the UK market, if anyone knows different I would be delighted to hear from you.

Finally in this batch of photos, a very old shot featuring a Scammell Constructor tractor unit, pulling a 140 tonne low loader out of Wimpey’s Central Plant depot in Southall, London. As anyone who had visited the depot in Lancaster Road would tell you, access down the road was very tight and it’s amazing that so many large machines were taken in and out of the depot on a regular basis along what was a residential area. It’s a real credit to the driver’s skills back in those days before power steering and automatic transmissions.

If anyone has any similar old Wimpey Plant photos they care to share with us, I would be delighted to hear from you.

The magazine for owners + operators

Digger Man Blog

Wimpey Plant re-visited

Loads more

Postcards from Intermat 2024 (Part Two)

Big Move for Xwatch at Intermat 2024

Komatsu on Full Charge at Intermat

Subscribe to Earthmovers