Budgie Miniatures
No.25 Bedford Cattle Truck
The last of the Bedford TK models in the Budgie Miniatures range was No.25 Cattle Truck which was issued in late 1963.
As with previous Bedfords, the cab and chassis were one casting, the base was a second one, the body a third rivetted onto the chassis behind the cab, and finally the rear door was a fourth. There were two versions of the body section, the first with no number and the second with '25' cast inside behind the cab.
The first body casting seems to have not been a good one because it placed the securing peg underneath too far back which, when rivetted onto the base, resulted in a very tight fit to the rear of the cab.
This was later corrected with a new casting (which also had 'No.25' added inside) along with a change to the chassis with a strengthened cross-brace. This enabled the body to be positioned further back and rivetted directly onto the chassis and long base together.
On the base, 'A Budgie Model' and 'Made in England' were cast which on early versions was asymmetric or 'off-centre' but later revised and centralised. For more details about the castings of the Bedford models, see the Budgie No.21a Tipper Truck page and the listings below.
There were four cab colours used for the Cattle Truck. The main colour was white, the second yellow, then a small issue with red cabs, and finally orange.
The cattle transporter body was always brown but the full-height opening door at the rear could be brown or pale tan or beige, and these appear to have been interchangeable on all cab colours. The rear door was hinged at the base with a clip-fit system.
The final orange variation was fitted with a scarce type 4 base, a new casting with an open centre and revised lettering which was secured using a clip-fit method via newly added holes in the chassis behind the cab (type 4 chassis). With this base, the rivet for the body was only fixed to the chassis. There was also a small change to the underside of the body with the addition of an alignment bar to assist in assembly.
No.25 Cattle Truck was sold in a variety of boxes and packs and is still quite easy to find in the white versions although the first issue with the type 1 chassis is scarce. The yellow variation is quite hard to find and the final orange one rare.
Variation 2 : White cab, type 2 chassis, beige rear door
MODERN Vehicle Series (type 2) box
No.25 Bedford Cattle Truck
Model Variations
All models have a
BROWN body with a BROWN, pale TAN or BEIGE rear door
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(1) WHITE, chassis 1, base 1 (short/asymmetric lettering)
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(2) WHITE, chassis 2, base 2 (long/asymmetric lettering)
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(3) YELLOW, chassis 2, base 2 (long/asymmetric lettering)
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(4) WHITE, chassis 3, base 3 (long/symmetrical lettering)
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(5) RED, chassis 3, base 3 (long/symmetrical lettering)
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(6) ORANGE, chassis 4, base 4 (clip-fit/revised lettering)
Variation 3 : Yellow cab
Variation 4 : White cab, type 3 chassis, brown rear door
Variation 5 : Red cab
Variation 6 : Orange cab, pale tan rear door
No.25 Cattle Truck : Rear door colours - brown, pale tan, beige
No.25 Cattle Truck without & with inner numbers
No.25 Cattle Truck : cab base & chassis variations
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Left : type 2 chassis type 2 base asymmetric lettering
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Centre : type 3 chassis type 3 base symmetrical lettering
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Right : type 4 chassis type 4 clip-fit base
No.25 Cattle Truck
Boxes and Packs
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1963-64 Yellow Budgie Toys blister-packs (Guiterman)
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1963-66 MODERN Vehicle Series (type 2) boxes
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1964-66 Blue Budgie Blister-packs (Guiterman)
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1963-64 Budgie 'Collectors Models' boxed Set (USA)
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1965-66 Budgie No.97a Truck Set (triple blister-pack)
No.25 Cattle Truck - yellow and blue blister-packs
Budgie Miniatures triple-pack No.97a Truck Set
Budgie 'Collectors Models' Set
(Distributed in the USA by Flare Industries, NY)
The real Bedford TK Cattle Truck