622 Foden 10 ton Army truck (195464)

Here are the three variations of the marking of the 622 10 Ton Army wagon and the list of variations of the model. The different position of the ejector marks show that there were two dies for this truck. So there may be other minor differences between the castings of each die.

Here are some photographs of my 622 10-Ton Army Wagon without the centre roof ridge.

Both the 622 smooth roof and ridged roof together. The absence of the side ridges can also be seen, although these appear very faint. It is unusual that the smooth roof variation does not appear in Drawing Number 7750 unless the change appears in Drawing Number 7751 which I do not have in my collection, nor does the DTCA have a copy in its archives. Someone may have a copy of this drawing, and if so, we would like to know the date the change to the ridged roof took place. Unfortunately I am unable to decipher the rubber stamp in the lid of the box containing my example, otherwise we would have a time frame.

Bruce, The change was made in 1954, year in which the first three variations made in the first die were issued. 1) Die 1, cab with smooth roof, no driver, Dinky Toys - very rare. 2) Die 1, cab with ridged roof, no driver, Dinky Toys - rare. 3) Die 1, cab with ridged roof, with driver, Dinky Toys. The ridges may have been on the drawing from the begining but had been forgoten by the tool maker and a first batch of castings was made before somebody noticed the missing ridges which exist on the prototype truck (see photo). The ridges also appear on the drawing of the box, so they were planed from the begining. You are very lucky to have found a mint boxed one as they are very rare. Army Foden 6 x 4 at Duxford military rally on august 1st. 1990 photographed by Robin Taylor. The faint lines on the cabs without the three ridges are die partition lines. They prove that the ridges were planed from the design of the die, otherwise these lines would have been hiden in the raised line a bit lower.

I have always wondered why the Foden 10-ton Army Truck always had the ridged Dinky Toys hubs and for instance the no. 676 Armoured Personnel Carrier always had the grooved Dinky Supertoys hubs. I do not see the strict necessity in order to have a better match with the real-wold prototypes. Can anybody make sense of that? Or is this just another case of Meccano 'logics' ? Kind regards, Jan

Hello Jan, The Supertoys hubs certainly look more like the real Saracen wheels. For the Foden, I would have used ridged hubs at the front and Supertoys on the rear axle but remember that the girls asembling the Dinky were paid by quantity and they would have certainly mixed the wheels. Bruce would have gone mad with wheel variations.

Jan, you are not alone with the same question! I wonder what the thinking was from the powers that be at Meccano as it makes no sense, although the 676 does look great with the smaller Supertoys hubs. But the 622 would have looked even better with ST hubs! Another question on Jacques' great photograph of an actual example. Did the civilian models have these ridges? If not, what was their purpose on the military version, apart from strengthening the roof? Was it to enable the roof to be walked on?! The 622 is another example whereby the maker's name was not included on a military model or its box. Kind regards Bruce

dinkycollect wrote: 'Bruce, The change was made in 1954, year in which the first three variations made in the first die were issued. 1) Die 1, cab with smooth roof, no driver, Dinky Toys - very rare. 2) Die 1, cab with ridged roof, no driver, Dinky Toys - rare. 3) Die 1, cab with ridged roof, with driver, Dinky Toys. The ridges may have been on the drawing from the beginning but had been forgotten by the tool maker and a first batch of castings was made before somebody noticed the missing ridges which exist on the prototype truck (see photo). The ridges also appear on the drawing of the box, so they were planed from the beginning. You are very lucky to have found a mint boxed one as they are very rare. The faint lines on the cabs without the three ridges are die partition lines. They prove that the ridges were planed from the design of the die, otherwise these lines would have been hidden in the raised line a bit lower.' Jacques, Thanks always, as I knew you would provide the answers. One can see the drawing on my model's box to see it had the ridges. I picked up my example from eBay in 2002. I knew what I was looking for, (thanks in part from a friend in the UK at that time who specializes in Dinky Military) and the picture accompanying the auction was all I wanted to know. The final cost including getting it to Australia was far less than a hundred pounds. There was another example on eBay in recent months but I do not know if its final price matched its rarity. Finally, I think 'someone' has posted another comment on about different wheels on the 676 and 622 while I have been on this post. Nope, different wheels on the front and the rear are the province of another collector in our midst! I am quite satisfied with my model and its box thank you very much! Kind regards Bruce

Bruce, Not easy to find a good picture of a Foden type fg showing the cab's roof but on this civilian one, one can see the three ribs.

The next question that comes to mind, slightly off-topic but nonetheless dealing with Fodens, if the Foden DG had the three roof ribs, and the three ribs meant a great deal for the 622 otherwise production would have continued with its smooth roof, it is odd that the Dinky Supertoys Fodens did not also carry these ribs, or have I got the wrong model Foden prototype? By the way, great photograph of that Foden and thanks for sharing it with us.

Hi all, The British Army used very few Fodens before the 1970's, the Dinky was based on a demonstrator supplied by Foden to the MOD for evaluation, but never bought in quantity, the MOD continued to buy Bedfords in quantity until the demise of the TM. The Duxford flatbed Foden is of a type of lorry where most of the MOD fleet were AEC's. I did once however have the pleasure (?) of driving a Foden Heavy recovery tractor of late 40's vintage that was Ex MOD, crash gearbox and virtual brakes with a top speed of 25mph downhill with a tailwind, but enough torque to pull a house down. Chris Warr.

janwerner wrote: 'I have always wondered why the Foden 10-ton Army Truck always had the ridged Dinky Toys hubs and for instance the no. 676 Armoured Personnel Carrier always had the grooved Dinky Supertoys hubs. I do not see the strict necessity in order to have a better match with the real-wold prototypes. Can anybody make sense of that? Or is this just another case of Meccano 'logics' ? Kind regards, Jan' Jan At the risk of receiving another 'comment' about wheels, one other military model we have forgotten that has smaller Supertoys hubs, is the 626 Military Ambulance. Jan's point is taken as to the reason these were given ST treatment and the larger 622 did not. Just an observation! Kind regards Bruce