So there were these two Albions in a paddock...

Earlier this year Ian Storrie recovered a couple of Albion six-wheelers from the paddock where they had sat for eight years. Both very complete and solid, Ian had them carted home by the same guy who delivered them to the 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!

Through The Fence

We headed up to Parkes on Friday and while Jodi was seeing the physio I decided to go hunting. Well, I wouldn't really call it hunting since I already knew what I was looking for. Having found the trucks several months previously, I had the chance to stick the camera through the fence ... since I had remembered to bring the camera! The Inter K5 and the solid-tyred gear below (Albions, Karrier etc) were in the same yard in the LIA. It turns out the owner is an Albion nut and I'm hoping to see his collection when I tag along with a club run towards the end of February. The Karrier was a particular surprise as we had not seen it when we first stumbled upon the ancient Albions.

Below: the Karrier.

The owner of the crane below said she is "a bit of a mongrel". I was unable to identify the chassis because, as you can see, the truck is surrounded by sheet metal and other scrap. Since I was wearing shoes that were as suited for scrambling over scrap as newspaper is for water-proofing - I had planned to go truck hunting yet didn't wear my boots - I erred on the side of caution despite my tetanus shots being up to date. I was also making a bit more noise than usual for the purposes of making any of the locals living under the scrap aware of my presence! So, that's my excuse for not getting better photos.

I first spotted the crane on the way out to the airport. During the war Parkes airfield was used by the RAAF as a navigation school. I was looking for a memorial plaque but was disappointed to find a specific memorial lacking. It was interesting to see the foundations of the classrooms, admin buildings and dormitories though. Anyway, on the way back I stopped at the water tank fabricator's yard that housed the crane. The owner was a friendly bloke and I would have liked to have had a good chat with him but didn't want to interrupt his work. It occurred to me the Ford part of the truck - the cab and front-end - was about the right age for a wartime vehicle so, at a bit of a stretch, it's possible it might have served locally with the RAAF. Like I said, a bit of a stretch!

On the way home we stopped at Forbes for a late lunch (check out The Mezzanine if you're passing through - great food). On the edge of town is a couple of paddocks with a mix of machinery including a Bedford D-type and this van. My first thought was she is an old outside broadcast van. I asked Bruce Gunter whose Dad drove a Bedford OB van for Channel 10. He recognised this as a Grace Brothers removalist van. Either a Bedford or a Leyland, there were quite a few of these on the road in the '60s/70s.

On the subject of the Bedford OB van, I'll be posting a story by Bruce about his Dad's experiences over on Bedford Trucks Worldwide - http://bedfordtrucksworldwide.blogspot.com/ - shortly.

A visit to Bob Addison's collection

On August 30 (I told you there was a lot of catching up to do!), members of the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club travelled to see Bob Addison's massive collection in Beaufort, Victoria. Spread across a couple of sites and numerous sheds, the members were able to spend many a happy hour admiring the trucks, crawlers, tractors and vintage machinery. The Peter Lynch photos below are just a small selection of some of the trucks seen on the day.

Above: early pair - D-series Inter and a K4 or K5 at rest in the paddock.

Above: as always the LAD-cabbed truck gets pride of place as per my perogative! A good looking Albion on what appears to be a Reiver chassis. She would be most useful around the home. Note the AEC Mammoth Major Mk III in the background recently purchased from restorer Ken Whitworth.

Above: marvellously original-looking Atkinson in Midland Milk colours. If I had Peter's Atkinson book handy, I'd be able to identify the model for you but I'll guess and say Mk I? Midland Milk, and its Shepparton plant, was acquired by The Dairy Farmers Co-operative Milk Co. Ltd in 1993.

Above: slap some plates on this Ford F8000 and she'd look ready for a day's work.