Any ideas on this one.

I know this picture is under the Lake Goldsmith banner is the Events section, but this is probably a better spot for it. No, I don't know what it is.

As with all things nowdays the memory " :-[aint what it used to be", seems to be like the "mechanical horse" the railways used back in the 50's(?) There was something along these lines (excuse the pun ) at Sydney station used for bagage off interstate trains. but as always IDSTBC
Gary :-X

Blokes, I'll put you all out of your misery in the head scratching, for the tipping tractor ID.

It's an Opperman Motocart. It was built by S.E. Opperman of Hertfordshire, England in the 1940's, and it's powered by a JAP (J.A. Prestwick) engine.

tractors.wikia.com/wiki/Opperman_Motocart

There's only a few left in existence. If you Google "Opperman Motocart" (spelt exactly like that), you'll get a heap of info on them.

I was wanderin 'round the workshop........
The lights dimmed.......
I thought yep....thats gotta be Onetrack's search engine crankin up!

you blokes were too slow....

Done well Ron!!

PS.. i saw this pic on another site..
ID of the unit was given by none other than:
Joseph Hupp Opperman Autocart!
October 30 at 10:30pm

According to one of the Pommy forums, there's only 11 registered Opperman Autocarts in the U.K.

Here's some more interesting details. They were originally designed for picking up the likes of sugar beets and spuds, and the sales market was aimed at horse and cart owners.
The sales blurb pointed out that the Autocart could work 3 times as fast as a horse & cart, and all on 1.5 gallons of fuel a day!

Interestingly some of the Autocarts were powered by Douglas motor bikes engines, besides the standard JAP. Not sure if that was an option, or if it was due to engine supply problems.
The manufacture of Autocarts ceased in 1952, due to more powerful (and probably more comfortable) tractors becoming available.

The driving position is unique, in that they were designed to be driven standing up .. or standing alongside it! (not sure what Worksafe would have to say about that, nowadays!)
Accordingly, there's no seat. You could get pretty tired in the legs, after a long day behind the wheel, I'd imagine!

The tipping body is a "Lincoln Tip Cart", which seems to indicate it was built by another manufacturer, or incorporated a system or patent held by Lincoln. And yes, it's a manually-operated tipping arrangement.
The steering box appears to be the weakest part of them, most seem to have steering box damage of some kind.

Here's a French bloke with one, and he's got some good info on it ..

kivafaucheuse.perso.neuf.fr/crbst_27_en.html

Grace's Guide - The Opperman Autocart .. www.gracesguide.co.uk/Oppermann

Fascinating material, but I have zero recollection of them being used at Sydney Central for luggage collection. There were smaller motor tugs pulling long rakes of trolleys (as there were at Melbourne, and probably Adelaide & Brisbane).

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

All that I ever recall being used for baggage collection was carts and trolleys pulled by hand! You blokes in Sydney must have been way up there, with all the new-fangled inventions!
Let me guess .. you blokes even used those new-fangled steam locomotives, too??!!