Federal road train in N T

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Wondering does anyone no about Federal road trains that were owned? operated? maybe only drove in N T by by Ron Dingwall purchased one approxamently 20yrs ago came from Katherine just like this one found it on "Truck Photos" web site has same chassie extension as mine person I bought mine from had no history on it and have never found any thing close up until now. Not sure on how to put up direct link thing"o" will dig out some pictures of mine when I bought as it might help still have old tucked away in shed

I can't help you there, but that is a big log!, and looks like it is being lifted off the bolsters by a big crane???

those federals look a tough old truck..id guess on the back (if there were any left by the 1950s) mitebe some "red gold" a red cedar tree?

Maybe this will help this is what it looked like last time it was in the N T

g'day mrsmackpaul .. i have the photo ad out of an early 90's deals on wheels for this very truck...it reads

''FEDERAL PRIME MOVER 1942 Model, original road train unit, Cummins 6 cyl. diesel, 5 speed splitter box, Timken bogie drive on 6 rod suspension. All complete, incl new injectors & gasket sets. ph (089)52 2275, AH (089)52 6481 NT'' ...price

photo from left side with rusty spots in door and lower corner

hope that helps...as it may have been an earlier owner.....cheers

I never saw no photo add for it writing sounds familure though

this is image and coment printed then scanned so people maybe able to get what I'm waffeling on about

Sailorv is the expert on these trucks, drove them for years from Tennant to Alice.

"Sailorv is the expert on these trucks, drove them for years from Tennant to Alice."

I don't know about being an expert,although I did log a few miles in the Baldock units in the early 50's. They had a couple of Federals and a Diamond T.They were identical to look at ,but the Bumper bar on the Federals had a hump in the middle and the Diamond's was straight across. The Federals had a 250 Cummins whilst the Diamond had the Hercules diesel.Both had 5 speed main boxes with a 4 speed auxiliary box which in overdrive could sustain a whopping 26 mph (about 40kmh) . I believe they were designed to haul the Centurion tank which weighed about 60 tons,but had no trouble hauling the 100-120 tons we used to load up with copper ore from the Peko mine at tennant Creek.
These trucks were hot in the summer and cold and draughty in the winter but were fairly reliable.Fuel usage was around 2-4 mpg but as diesel only cost about 2 shillings a gallon it was not a great problem.
The prime movers were body trucks with a short tray.The first trailer was a bogie,probably about 30 foot long ,followed by up to 6 ex-US Army bow trailers at 24 feet each.Dave Baldock did try hooking up 8 trailers once,but there was too much sway,so the usual configuration was the rigid prime mover followed by 7 trailers.
Interestingly enough,none of the trailers had any braking system and relied on the trucks foot brake for stopping. Also there were no sidelights or clearance lights on any of the trailers. The last trailer had a 6 volt battery and a single red light which had to be switched on manually at dusk (if you remembered!)
It took 12 hours for each leg of 315 miles (Alice-Tennant-Alice) and I usually did two or sometimes three round trips a week. The trailers had to be hooked up and unhooked at the Twelve Mile outside Alice,much the same as the road trains of to-day.
As far as amenities went,there was no air conditioning,driving lights,bullbar or indicators! They did have however a mechanical arm for turning right!
The ringfeder had not yet been invented so all the trailers were connected by pintle hooks.The play in the hooks generated so much sway that the last trailer was cracking like a whip. It was pretty well impossible to pass one of these road trains,going in the same direction,but remember that most of the other trucks weren't going much faster either,so overtaking didn't happen all that often.
The good ol' days,when life was so simple.
cheers,Pete

Great stories SV, keep em coming....