Bedford Vehicles

Bedford Vehicles, usually shortened to just Bedford, was a brand of vehicle produced by Vauxhall Motors, which was ultimately owned by General Motors (GM). Established in 1930 and constructing commercial vehicles, Bedford Vehicles was a leading international truck brand, with substantial export sales of light, medium, and heavy trucks throughout the world. It was GM Europe's most profitable venture for several years.

Bedford's core heavy trucks business was divested by GM as AWD Ltd in 1987, whilst the Bedford brand continued to be used on light commercial vehicles and car-derived vans based on Vauxhall/Opel, Isuzu and Suzuki designs. The brand was retired in 1991; subsequent GM Europe light commercials would be branded as either Vauxhall or Opel depending on market.

History

Until 1925, General Motors (GM) assembled trucks in Brazil from parts manufactured at their Canadian works. This enabled them to import vehicles into Britain under Imperial Preference, which favoured products from the British Empire as far as import duties were concerned. Such trucks were marketed as "British Chevrolet".

Bedford

Coordinates: 52°08′01″N 0°27′28″W / 52.1337°N 0.4577°W / 52.1337; -0.4577

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It lies in the south of the wider Borough of Bedford, of which it is the administrative centre. The Bedford Built-up Area – which includes Kempston, Elstow and Biddenham – forms the 69th largest Urban Area in England and Wales with a population of 106,940. The wider borough, including a rural area, had a population of 157,479. Bedford had a population of 81,635 in 2011.

Bedford was founded at a ford on the River Great Ouse, and is thought to have been the burial place of Offa of Mercia. Bedford Castle was built by Henry I, although it was destroyed in 1224. Bedford was granted borough status in 1165 and has been represented in Parliament since 1265. Bedford is included in the Bedford parliamentary constituency, which includes Kempston and is represented by Richard Fuller. Bedford is well known for its large population of Italian descent. It also has an increasingly large south Asian population, especially Punjabis, and is home to the largest Sikh Gurdwara in the UK outside London.

Bedford Depot

Bedford Depot is a historic railroad depot at 80 Loomis Street and 120 South Road in Bedford, Massachusetts. Bedford was the junction of the Reformatory Branch and the Lexington Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad; it saw passenger service until 1977 as the stub of the Lexington Branch. The original 1874 depot and 1877 freight house are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; along with a restored Budd Rail Diesel Car, they form the centerpieces of the Bedford Depot Park.

History

Early service

The Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad was built to what is now Lexington Center in 1845-46, and bought by the Boston and Lowell Railroad in 1870 in order to prevent the line from building an alternate route to Lowell via Bedford. In August 1873, the subsidiary Middlesex Central Railroad opened an extension to Concord Center via Bedford. A Victorian-style passenger station was built in 1874.

In 1877, the Billerica and Bedford Railroad, a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge line, opened from Bedford Depot to North Billerica. The line built a two-stall engine house and a turntable at the Bedford terminus. The Billerica and Bedford was markedly unsuccessful, and closed down in 1878. In 1879, the Middlesex Central was extended to Reformatory station in Concord; this permitted short-lived through service to Nashua via a connection to the Nashua, Acton, and Boston Railroad. In 1885, the Boston & Lowell rebuilt the route to Billerica as part of their standard gauge network. The depot, originally west of South Road, was moved to its present location at the junction. The narrow gauge engine house was also moved and turned into a freight depot. Two years later, the Boston and Maine Railroad absorbed the Boston & Lowell, including the two routes through Bedford.

Bedford, Quebec (township)

Bedford is a township municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec, located within the Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 699.

Demographics

Population

Population trend:

Language

Mother tongue language (2006)

See also

References