Bedford RL

A AFS mobile control room from the collection of The Friends of Rougham Airfield on Bedford RL 4x4 chassis on show at the Woolpit Steam rally 2009

The Bedford RL was the British Army's main medium lorry (truck), from the mid 1950s until the late 1960s, built by Bedford Vehicles in the UK. Originally conservatively rated at 3 tons all RL GS (General Service) trucks in British Army service were at a late stage in their service lives re-rated at 4 tons without any mechanical modifications. The weight referring to its rated cross country payload weight. The last one rolled off the production line in the early 1970s, a total of 74,000 being produced over a 20 year period.

Variants

Many specialist variants were also built including recovery vehicles, mobile workshops, radio vans and cable layers. The Green Goddess fire engine was also based on the RL.

The RL and variants continued to serve alongside the later Bedford MK and Bedford TM trucks until well into the 1990s.

The Home Office also purchased a large number of these vehicles, kept in reserve for any national emergency. All have now been disposed, many having less than 2,000 miles on the clock.

Engines

The RL was powered by a 4.9 litre petrol engine producing 110 bhp, although some were fitted with diesel engines.

Preservation

Several well kept examples are still in private hands, having built up a cult following.

Please add all known examples to the list below. If More photos or info is available for an individual trucks history please create a linked article from the reg number.

List of Known examples of Bedford RL trucks in preservation

Registration No.	Make-Model or type no	Build-Year	Weight/class	Chassis/Body type	Owner (if known)	Photo	Were seen/Featured	Other info
? 52 EL 20(Army reg)	Bedford RL	1964	4x4 GS	Dropside Canvas Tilt	?		Lister Tyndale Steam Rally 2009	Logistic Corp livery
?	Bedford RL	?	4x4 GS	-	?		Lister Tyndale Steam Rally
HAS 389+	Bedford RL	year ?	Weight / class	Recovery	Owner		At Carrington Steam and Tractor Rally 2011	Ex Mod
RYX 491+	Bedford RL	year	4 ton / GS	Mobile Control room	Rougham Airfield		At Woolpit Steam 2009	Misc
Reg no.?	model	year	Weight / class	Chassis / body type	Owner		were seen	Misc
Reg no.?	model	year	Weight / class	Chassis / body type	Owner		were seen	Misc
?	Bedford RL	?	4x4 GS	-	?		Steam fair 2009	RAF Livery
Add more	known	vehicles	to this	list	please		Is your	truck here ?
Reg no.?	model	year	Weight / class	Chassis / body type	Owner		were seen	Misc
Please add any truck with known reg or serial no. with Photo if possible.
Create a page (link) for an individual truck by linking the reg or serial number using [[Truck make-model-reg no.|reg number]] or [[Truck make-model-serial no.|serial number]] in the relevant column. Then once saved click the red link to start the new page and add info on that truck.

See also

• List of Truck Manufacturers
• Military vehicles
• List of Vehicles by registration number

References

Based on wikipedia article.

External links

• Bedford RL truck photos