Derelict Hino ... and an album of old trucks

Steven Holmes in the UK is an avid photographer of old trucks and other historic items as indicated by this great photo of an old Hino eight-legger found in a Lye scrapyard in the Black Country. He has a Flickr account full of photos which is well worth visiting - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fryske/

From page 15 you'll find a great selection of the old Scammell fleet owned by the Harrisons. This is a famous and legendary collection and includes more than 20 Scammell Rigid 8s (supposed to be rare aren't they?!), one of which is the second prototype, and even a Foden S80 that has never been registered and has only ever driven around the yard.

Kiwi Foden ... with a difference

Vic Hungerford in NZ reports on this different-looking Foden (thanks to Cam McFadyen for forwarding the details).

The cab on this Fletcher's Foden is a NZ-built replacement. The truck is a 1954 model FETU, I think, which originally had the export version of the S18 cab. This S18 cab was a disaster which rotted out in no time which was why it was replaced with the Kiwi one. A friend of mine had an S18 which lived up to its reputation by rotting away very quickly. He replaced it with a plastic S21 Mickey Mouse cab.

This Fletcher's truck has a Foden two-stroke engine and Foden 12-speed gearbox. It was due to be started up yesterday for the first time in years. Fletcher's had a lot of Fodens - from the S18s right through every model up to the S10s.

Thanks for the info, Vic. Any word on how the start-up went?

What a great photo. If I was still doing the magazine, it'd be a great candidate for the cover!

Manufacturers Bottle Co - photos guaranteed to make you thirsty

Murray Langford has sent in a wonderful batch of photos taken by Andy McNabb when he worked for the Victorian Manufacturers Bottle Co on the Darwin run. Sent to Murray by Zane Morrison, no background is known about the photos so any information as to the trucks, the companies and even the locations would be great please. Do any of the trucks still survive?

I've kept the original dimensions of the photos so you can see the original format of what are great archival items. How good would it be to see these combinations as restored vehicles? Lots of investment - yes - but what fun!

Above: An MBC Kenworth with a Foster's Lager roof sign. I'm hopeless with Kenworth models. Can anyone ID please? The B61 behind appears to have two stock crates hooked up with what looks like a water tank for the stock trailing the second trailer. Below: Sigh. Leyland bonnets! Super Hippos I reckon but definitely all MBC trucks. Any more details?

Another B61, this time a B61T I reckon, of Sydney Melb Transport. The tarp says DR & G Miller - Sydney (ring a bell with anyone?). The Kenworth with the impressive roobar has what looks like 'Cold Tap' on its headboard so must be another MBC beastie.

Highland Fling - The Oberon Highlands Steam and Vintage Fair 2009

The Oberon Heritage and Collectors' Club, back in February, was not even a year old when it held its inaugural Highlands Steam and Vintage Fair over the weekend of February 20-22. To achieve any event with old vehicles is always a great achievement due to the fickleness of the attendees (the vehicles, not the owners...!) so for a new club to pull this off is truly remarkable. Congratulations to Jim Hawkes, president, and the club as a whole.

Jim commented on the show in an email to me back in March.

Held in conjunction with the 109th Oberon Show the fair was well-attended by more than 200 registered exhibitors and the public response was excellent. In attendance were six steam engines, two steam portables operating working farm displays, more than 30 oil engines and a big military display including a Centurion and Matilda tank. A good commercial vehicle display was seen with an excellent turn out of cars and tractors. A tractor pull operated on Saturday and Sunday and was well utilised by tractor owners wanting to give their machines a good work out. All in all, an excellent weekend that will only grow over the next few years as we become known as an event for enthusiasts of everything mechanical.

Sounds like something worth noting on the calendar.

Above: Well known truck and bus identity, Joe Fogarty attended and had a bit of spare time to complete some essential maintenance. Below: The Vernier traction engine being driven by Michael DeBomford.

Above: Steam traction engine line up outside the Tourist Hotel in Oberon. Below: The Clapham brothers and their Allchin traction engine.

Below: Ray Millington and his Brown and May portable belted up to a chaff cutter.

Reminder - Heritage Truck Show, Beenleigh, QLD - May 16-17

This year's Heritage Truck Association show promises to be a big one so if you're in the area, check it out. As can be seen by the turn out very early on the Saturday morning last year, there'll be plenty to look at. Check out the ad to the lower right or visit the earlier post -http://oznzclassiccommercials.blogspot.com/2009/02/heritage-truck-show-beenleigh-qld-may.html - for further details.

Reminder - Truck Muster, Richmond Vale, NSW - May 16-17

A little reminder of the Vintage Truck Muster being run by the Hunter Valley Classic Commercial Vehicle Club on May 16-17. If you can make it, the show promises to have a cracking turn out of vehicles and will include the first reunion of Smith's Transport's retired trucks. Their Scammell, AEC, Albion and Leyland will be together for the first time in a decade thanks to local collectors and the company itself.

Richmond Vale Railway Museum is on Leggetts Drive, Richmond Vale about four kilometres south of Kurri. You can still phone Scott Fayth on 0423 250 433 for further information. All the best guys, wish I could make it up there.

Mack R700 - Part Three or Macks make for many memories...

It seems R700s have a pleasant effect on people as Rufus Carr's photos and information on the other side of the LAD article below have stirred up Cam McFadyen's deepest memories. The Call of the Wild, one of Buntine's R700s, was featured as the header pic of an article on the company in the May 1978 issue of Truck & Bus Transportation.

If you're interested, that's Noel Buntine on the right.

They're still out there! Lovely LAD.

Graham Kircher came across this wonderful Leyland Hippo in early March. Other than the 'cage' (for sugar cane?) she is pretty much a carbon-copy of the trucks my Pop used to run in Tasmania - even down to the colour! I know they're not everyone's favourite trucks but I love 'em.

Mack R700 follow-up

Rufus Carr from the Northern Territory is an absolute mine for classic photos of trucks - particularly those that were bombing around the NT in the 1970s. Naturally, he read Cam McFadyen's recent R700 round-up and, happily, he's dropped me a line with some great photos in response. Here's what he had to say:

The City Wreckers R700 was registered 126.298 (it's on the fuel card). She was Buntine's No.16 "Call of the Wild" although the name is not on it in these pics. Taken in Alice Springs in 1979 the truck is just back from a rebuild in Brisbane after a roll-over near Mt.Isa late in 1978. She is pulling two Gitsham bitumen tankers on contract to Shell Co. She was one of a pair owned by the company, the other was (un-named) No.14. There were two other similar Cummins R700s running in BRL colours. Both were owned by subbies. Number 20 was owned by Peter Deans and was mechanically the same as No. 14 & 16 but had the rare RP cab. Number 9,"The Gentle Giant" was owned by Jim McHours and differed slightly from the others in that she had Jim's favoured transmission - a 5x4 twin-stick Spicer.

Many thanks Rufo for these wonderful pics. It's great to make these historical links.

Photo challenge - Battling the elements

Below you'll find the entrants of the photo competition which ran till the end of March or thereabouts. Which one do you like best? The winner will receive a nice little gift in the mail direct from ACC's comprehensive pile of merchandise...

Votes please to accemagATbigpond.com - replacing the AT with @ as always. In no particular order:

Above: October 1962, Cora Lynn, Victoria - what looks like a Inter K-series is stuck in the Main Drain during flooding (seriously, she didn't just empty her tank...). Stuck or, er, pumping hard?! You can see the goal posts of the Cora Lynn football ground in the background.

Above: taken somewhere on the Darwin run, a Kenworth tests its tensile strength.

Above: fed up with the weather, these blokes decided to move to sunnier climes. This is Fraser's of Newcastle, well known house movers, making their Federal do all the work.

Above: a different take on battling the elements. What's left of this GM-powered White is fighting moisture on all fronts - soft ground, moss and rust. Good thing she's a tough old girl.

Above: another flood photo. An AEC of OAK Dairies in Hexham, NSW, is perhaps lucky it hasn't floated away yet.

Above: dateline - September 1979. Location - near Hugh River, Northern Territory. The truck - April 1979 Kenworth W923AR of Buntine Roadways. The load - a double-decker and two single-deck 40-footers loaded with cattle from Maryvale Station headed for the Alice Springs railhead. The elements - heat and bulldust.

Above: Esso, oh, oh, no! Probably losing this battle is what looks like a Bedford J-type on fire in February 1967 on Pitt Road, Vervale, Victoria. One suspects the tiger in the tank was a smoker...