Peter Murray in Oz has sent in this curious selection..."Hello Brian, some more Aussie pics to share. The 8 x 8 Man and float (low loader) are the new heavy lift vehicles for the Australian Army. The order was for 14 units (I believe) - and supply commenced in 2006. This was one of two being readied for delivery by the Townsville MAN Dealer in June 2007."
Peter continues: "These new units replace some of the Armys aging fleet of S Line Internationals. The S Lines are tipple road train rated as well as set up for float work - tank and heavy equipment transporting."
"And they replaced a fleet of Scammells. The Scammells pulled standard bogie (2 rows of 4) floats that carried the Centurion Tanks. The S Lines came with new quad axle floats (4 rows of 4) and bogie dolly's (2 rows of 4) - which was OK for the Leopard Tanks. Now we have the heavier Abrams Tank - more wheels are required. So the new floats are quad axle (4 rows of 8) and bogie dolly's (2 rows of 8) with the 8 leggered prime movers. The photo of the S Lines was taken back in 1998 when the Army were moving gear from Townsville to
"The Dennis Fire Truck pictured above - has been restored by the local Townsville Fire Service - and is used for parades and other special occasions. This photo was taken in 2000 - not long after the restoration was completed. It is still in great condition today. I'm not sure of its vintage - but it was supplied new to the local Fire Service - and worked on the front line up until the mid 1960's."
"See the period shots of it in service. There is a second similar unit here - fully restored in a private collection. It gets the occasional run for wedding and the like as well as in heritage vehicle runs etc."
And here's another historic shot..
Peter R Murray
The Army has certainly had a good run from those S Lines, a pity they could not have gone to another Aussie built product. The Inters will no doubt go on to commercial operators who will work them into the ground.