Recently in Australian trucks Category

It's ancient Aussie roadtrain time again on Biglorryblog, who is most grateful to Tim Giles, chief technical writer on Prime Mover magazine down-under and a man after my own heart as he's got his own blog on www.etruck.com.au which is well worth a visit.

And speaking of places that are well worth a visit I well remember going to the National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs a couple of years back and what a great museum. I was particularly struck by the lady roadtrain operator called 'Toots' who ran a bonneted MAN. Anyway I digress..click through here for more from Tim!

Now here's a big bonneted bruiser for sure from Cam in Queensland and it provides me with the perfect Biglorryblog Tuesday morning pie quiz....so what is it, what's under the hood and how old is it too?

Rufo in Oz writes to Biglorryblog to say: "Hi Brian, Further to the Berliet/Transconti thread.The last big British Fords in Australia and NZ were the D/DT 1000,also badged as 2418s.The Transcontinentals didn't get a look in. Australia went the American way with the Louisville (some of these also found their way to NZ) while NZ had a rash of badge engineered Hinos. However, in Australia,the Great Western Group, Mack importers and builders of Leader Trucks, had a brief arrangement with Berliet in the early 70s that saw them import six
TR260s.This 1978 pic (at Forbes,NSW) shows one of two TRs that Nick Banavas was running on Interstate.They were RHD ex-factory but notice that this one at least, has had the windscreen converted to dual flat pane locally." Now click through here for news from Rufo of a new book on ERF too! 

"G'day Brian," says AtkiPete Lynch in that chirpy, down-under 'good morning' manner we've all come to know and love. "Just trying out your new email address with a couple of recent photos. Two Inters still on the job and an Aussie roadbuilder who manages to fit all his gear on just one truck, grader, loader, excavator plus a container for the odds and ends. (Don't try this on the M25)  Cheers Pete." Don't worry mate...I won't! And don't forget that new Biglorryblog e-mail address for sending me pictures is biglorryblog@googlemail.com

And what's that Bulldog? Meanwhile, click through here for Pete's Inter pix and a quick pie quiz too! 

The recent post from Martin Phippard on the the US-built Paymaster struck a chord and I found myself thinking...hang on, I'm sure I featured one of those on Biglorryblog in a recent posting on SUPERTRUCK magazine--the occasional spin-off from TRUCK. Well I asked Martin and naturally he put me straight (as ever!). The wedge-shaped wonder I had in mind wasn't a Paymaster---but this thing.from a 1989 SUPERTRUCK and my doubtless BLB's Aussie readers will already be saying 'Duh! WE know all about that!"'

What I do know is that it used to run in New South Wales and was apparently based on a Ford Louisville with a 14-litre Cummins 'Big Cam' engine under the hood Now click through here for one more. But for sure this is definitely some kind of one-off wonder from Oz (unless there was moe than one!) and not a Paymaster...

If you're one of those many Biglorryblog that likes weird and wonderful mining trucks and roadtrains with powered trailers (and who doesn't?) then clearly the Powertrans website is the place for you and you can get to it via this weblink http://www.ptrans.com.au/index.htm and read all about their acvities, see some great little video clips and a decent phto gallery too--which where these great images come from.

Just love those side dumper trailers.....and click through here for one more..

Scott McFarlane (from Powertrans in Oz check out their great site on http://www.ptrans.com.au/) says :" I've been trying to work out how to submit  to your Biglorryblog and did not know any other way than direct email!" Well no worries Scott as I'm always post struff up." Especiall if it's like this!

Scott continues: "Attached are some photo's and youtube links to our latest 350-tonne multi-powered roadtrain.We are operating 6 of these vehicles at an Iron ore mine in Western Australia hauling a 350,000kg payload on a 52km lead. The trip time is just under one hr. The gross combination mass is just over 500,000 kg!" Now click through here for more.....

Thanks to the good folk at the excellent www.Aussiebigbangers.4T.com website which Biglorryblog heartily recommends I've been sent this great Convoy for Kids Hervey Bay YouTube clip link which you can get to by clicking here http://www.youtube.com/user/aussiebigbangers and a great high-speed spot that truck pie quiz too!

In my latest edition opf Volvo's Inside lane' mag there's a nice article on the Aussie Roadtrains run by Simon National Carriers written by my old mate Pete Armstrong and to back it up there's a great little video on the following weblink to get to it and enjoy those triple train monsters, driver teams and the 580hp FH16...and yes there are skippies in the film too!

http://magazine.volvotrucks.com/en-gb/Articles/International/2009/2_09/Customer_Story_video/TV_Roadtrains_in_Australia/ 

What's that skip? There's two blokes and a 120-tonne Volvo roadtrain stuck down a mine?

Now here's something you don't see everyday... A VW Constellation fire engine! And I have my 'travelling cloggie chum' Tim de Jong (he's a crazshee guy) for it. Indeed Tim tells me: "Hi Brian, sometimes the Dutch cloggie chum isn't travelling 'physically', but he does remain simply at the office, surfing the interweb. It's there where I found this rather special fire engine if you ask me." Now click through here for more...

Biglorryblog's 'Man at Mack down-under', Gary Richards, has sent me these super shots and says: "Hi Brian, Aussies really like their 'big bangers' and thought you might be keen to see the extent some Bulldog operators go to with their V8 Macks!!"

Gary adds: "Even the Toyota has been transformed to become a next generation Mack Junior !! Cheers, Gary." Presumably it hauls a 'pup' trailer mate? Now click through here for more Mack magic...

Howard Pettigrew has fired this classic Aussie battler over to me and says: "Brian, on my way a job one wet morning and came across these two old girls working away cleaning the weeds out of a small river."

Howard adds: "Sorry couldn't get closer to get a decent shot of the Ruston and didn't have time to move the trees! The Kenworth is a 1973 (actually registered on Jan 1st 1973!) 923R surprisingly with only 560,000 kms on the clock. It only averages around 3,500kms a year so it must sit around on jobs a fair bit of the time. Hope it is of interest, cheers H." Nice shot Howard and here's a question (well two actually). Was Ruston a local manufacturer... Or an import? And is it a 'walking dragline'... Or have I got my construction kit mixed up?

Cam in Oz has obviously been delving in hios archives to come up with this lot. "Hi Brian,I was e-mailing Vic about a bus-driving escapade the other night involving a dunny (in the bus) and a quick bit of defensive driving which had the a passenger on his arse (pants down) sitting beside the driver resulting in a skid mark (not on the road)...." Aussie humour there--BLB! (And for a pie what's the microbus above?)

Anyway,these are some pics of some buses my grandfather owned.The Inters were called side loaders,there was a series of doors down the left hand side.They were all the go at the time. Most of these pics are probobly taken mid-to-late 50`s,possibly early 60`s.See Ya,Cam.

And for a couple ,ore what are these?

Looks like the first abortive attempt at a stretched limo!? Now click through here for more...

've been chatting via e-mail with Cam McFayden, not least about Toowoomba, the town in Queensland where a lot of big transport and roadtrain companies are based including Bill Baskett, who I did a story on in Truck & Driver back in 2001. Well Cam tells me he knows Bill and he's sent me a couple of Bill's old-timers. So fo a pie what's this one above?It's not one I've seen before and looks a bit of a rare beast to Biglorryblog's untutored eyes.

I've certainly seen this one before...but what is it? Now click through here for one more...

Newly-arrived (but most welcome nevertheless) aussie correspondent 'Ray jay' has sent me these pictrues---which should please AtkIPete Lynch who's right now having a rare old time with Vic Hungerford visiting various Oz truck shows. Anyroadup Ray jay says: "Hello Brian, trust all is well for you at the other end of the planet, I am new to the blog and enjoy it a lot, hence I have these few pics of my new restoration project that the lads my like to see. This is a MK 1 Resin cab 1970 Atkison, noteworthy for a number of resons thus I will be proud to display it even as it is now.

Ray jay continues: "It was ordered new by Ian Cootes as his first tanker truck tractor. At this time issues with engine repairs and pressure from US makers had the local lads working on a tilt set up for this the 14th resin cab to be used as the English timber frames where failing in service.. Ian has just sold the tanker business as the largest fleet in Oz so many more trucks passed through his hand in the years to date, He has restored an International AL180 and the first S2 Kenworth from the fleet but can't handle the Aki in spite of his fondness for it and being the last truck he drove pulling fuel."

Bigloryblog finds the Aussie Atkis fascinating, not least as there seems little evidence of the work done down-under ever having filtered back into the UK. And by that I mean that seeing as this is a 70s truck the cab looks way ahead of the UK equivalent -- the 'Borderer'. Indeed I wonder why it never made it over here. On that note--question to 'The Brochure King' and Bob Tuck. Do you have any shots/brochure pics of the ultra-tall Atki with the massive windscreen that they made for a limited period in the (I guess late 70s). RTITB used to have one for a training artic up at High Ercoll What was it called? The View-line'? 'Hi-line? Euroline? I'd be fascinated to blog on that....

Meanwhile, click through here for the history of Ray jay's Atki and picture of a rather nice Aussie Atki Roadtrain too...