Milk Floats

I remember milk being delivered in an Express Dairies milk float as a kid. There used to be a line of three of them parked outside the nearby pub (itself a work-in-progress) after they had finished their rounds.

D6 Electricar

This is a D6, which is I think what I used to see, though I have not found much evidence Express Dairies used that model.

It is kind of the classic model of milk float, and has appeared in numerous TV shows and movies, including Father Ted. Nevertheless, I have not found out much about it at all.

It was built by Morrison Electricar in 1966, and possibly as early as Septemer 1964, at their factory in Leicester, which later moved to Tredegar, Monmouthshire. The company went through a number of name changes, including Crompton Leyland Electricars Ltd. but was still making them in 1974. 

The earlier D5, which seems to have been the model in 1964, had a flat windscreen, but was otherwise quite similar. The D4 looked quite different and may date from 1954? As far as I can tell, the D6 was the last of the series.

A few are still around, using modern batteries, rather than the one tonne acid-lead batteries that originally powered them.

You can see some images here.

Smith Cabac

This was a similar design, built by Smith Electric Vehicles in Gateshead. The cab was accessed from the back, and is a much boxier design.

Even less on the internet about this design.

Wales and Edward

There seem to have been three big manufacturers and this was the third, so is included for completeness. They were based in Shrewsbury, and won a big contract with United Dairies. Their designs were usually three-wheeled, and had exceptionally small turning circles.

A change in legislation allowed garages and supermarkets to undercut dairies, and deliveries dropped dramatically in the mid-eighties. Wales and Edwards was subsiquently sold to Smith in 1989.

I started with the D6, but then switched to the Smith Cabac as being rather easier - no complex curves.

I did three versions, with creates arranged differently on each. The photos really show the poor paint job, but the model turned out great. I printed a couple out in 4 mm and it looked good at that scale too.