LIVING WITH A ROADTRAIN – R SWAIN
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Long-time Leyland operator R Swain & Sons (now Swain Group) of Rochester, Kent majors on Daf tractors and rigids in its fleet – but was previously a long-time Leyland operator, running 35 Roadtrains in the 80s and 90s, with a mix of both Cumminsand Rolls-Royce-powered models. Veteran R Swain driver of 38 years Peter Clarke (pictured) passed his test at 21, driving Leyland Badger and Comet artics for the company.
After a spell on Marathons he then spent 10 years driving a Cummins E290-powered Roadtrain with a Fuller Roadranger box and sleeper cab. Compared with his previous Marathon, he says: “I wouldn’t say the ride was much better – but you had a bunk and you weren’t looking for digs every night.
Driving position
It was quieter and more comfortable – but the Marathon was a nice motor to drive, the height and driving position was spot on.” Regarding Roadtrain’s cab nod, Peter says he encountered it but “only on the short wheelbase ones – and only when it was empty”.
There’s no disguising his respect for the 14-litre Cummins and Fuller box. “It was a good motor with loads of torque in it, the work we were doing at the time was moving oil rigs on abnormal loads.” However, he still thinks it lost out to the foreign competition. “There was no comparison, they were more comfortable, quieter – the Roadtrain was a truck you just got in and drove.” Sitting in Swain’s