Commer-time blues

Sir,

Your Warhorses article on the Ecurie Ecosse Transporter brings back memories of the late 1960s when, as a Field Service Engineer for Dodge Bros, Kew, I was soon brought into contact with the Commer TS3 two-stroke engine, which was either loved or hated by operators in equal measures.

In the days when diesel engines were notoriously bad starters in cold weather, the TS3 was an ‘on the button’ engine and gave a fuel consumption no other manufacturer could match. Your article on the Transporter was therefore of interest and extremely readable. However, a couple of statements need correcting:

1. The engine was not supercharged. Granted it had a Roots-type blower, but this was for scavenging the exhaust gases when the pistons opened the air and exhaust ports in the cylinder liners.

2. Engine capacity was 3261cc, to be precise.

Unlike early two-stroke motorcycles, the TS3 engine did not normally require decarbonising unless non-recommended engine oils were used when, due to a rising blower pressure and fall off in power, the correct procedure was to remove the exhaust ports. Drivers soon learnt that an easier method was to thrash the engine up a long gradient and many a “night trunker” on Shap or Beatock experienced his own firework display out of the exhaust as the engine decarbonised itself.

I AM, YOURS ETC,

David Bryant, Churchtown, Southport