Australasian Classic Commercials
Showcasing the preservation, restoration and operation of old trucks and buses in Australia and New Zealand with occasional stories from further afield.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Monday, September 26, 2011
So there were these two Albions in a paddock...
Ian has done a bit of research and discovered the trucks were well known in the area.
“From talking to old timers that know the vehicles from their working days, they were well looked after and worked their arses off with max bin capacity and no regard for weight limits”, he said.
“The older one has a tare weight of 6T and aggregate of 14T but they were capable of carrying well in excess of that due to the bin sizes ... and always did!”
The previous owner has been of considerable help with spare parts and also confirming the work the two trucks did. Ian continues:
“They were only ever used by Paul and his father for grain cartage during the grain harvest. The rest of the time they were shedded at a suburban street address in Gunnedah. His father, a talented mechanic, couldn't read or write and did have a job as a mechanic but the trucks were registered in his wife's name until Paul was old enough the have them registered in his name.
“Paul told me the standard load for the [FT37EL] was 22T and the [FT103L] carried 16T and that, during harvest, both he, also a mechanic, and his dad took holidays from their jobs to cart grain and make good money.”
The older FT103L previously worked for Chadwick’s in Newcastle and the name can just be made out on the driver’s door still. The FT37EL – ‘the big one’ as Ian calls her – started out on a farm at Mullaley owned by a chap called McBurnie. He sold up to a K Evans and the truck stayed on the farm until Paul and his Dad acquired her.
Paul’s Dad, an Albion man through and through, used to drive one of the older models for the coal mine at Werris Creek in the early days and used to swear by their reliability.
Neither truck has its original drive unit as both now have a lazy axle. The rear axle in both trucks had the diff centre moved and was plated over while the other axle had her guts replaced by an Eaton No. 3.
Lovely old iron in anyone’s book!
Lake Goldsmith - a quick look
Back in May Peter Lynch, author and Dodge owner, sent me the photos below. While completely out of date now they do give an idea of some of the trucks that attend to support the steam activities. The Dodge in the second photo is Peter's truck and only had 28,000 miles on the clock when he bought her from a farm at Winchelsea.
Above: The ever-popular International comes in many guises, each as classic and as well-loved as the other. The truck with the bar work is a Perkins-powered ASD-182 owned by George Pyers. Below: Peter's Dodge in good company. Note the 'dome' on the roof of the Austin camper!
Above: this early White is, I believe, a Lake Goldsmith resident. She featured on the rear cover of a recent Vintage Trucks And Commercials Magazine issue but do you think I can find it to provide more detail?! She's got Lake Goldsmith bales of wool on her back. Below: the late-1930s Chev is one of the more 'classic' looking trucks on the scene. This one has an Australian-built Holden cab.