ANYONE REMEMBER THESE RIGS

Trip over to MT Gambier to visit a few old friends, I was presented with a photo album belonging to an a retired driver, amoungst his photos of his old beloved Dodge with the 160 that he has fond memories, he also had this photo of another of his old favourites he piloted,
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folowed by a photo of his first diesel powered rig, a little F86 Volvo in K & S colours with RADEX sign writing across the front of the cab.
Does anyone remember the J & J Ward fleet running out of Mt Gambier to Adelaide, Melb & Syd. We spoke of several drivers, some not able to hear us now :'(, Memories

The 90s were a very popular truck and I also wonder why Mount Gambier was home to so many trucking fleets in its day. Was it to do with cheaper SA rego or even an ideal spot for border hoping.

The timber industry really gained some momentum in the 50!s. My family history shows moving from dairy farming in nth vic to the pine plantations where big money was able to be earnt for good workers, pine felling & timber extraction to the mills at Mt Burr, Mt Gambier, where the State Mill as was called then, sub mills at Penola, Nangwarry & Tarpeena. Timber from raw flitch as it was called, through to finished quality flooring etc, was transported to major cities for distribution. Then Panelboard began operation using waste chip that once fired the boilers for power generation, making particle board as we now know it.
Other industries such as dairying, cheese production, potato growing etc, all called for transport of product, & as far back as I can remember, J & J Ward, general carriers, Kain & Shelton, Lake City Freighters,( used to have a big log painted on the doors) a division of Scotts livestock transport, Telford & Hood, Commer Knockers, running Sydney, all made up the fleet running out of the Lake City.All the names mentioned, eventually absorbed to make K & S Lake city Freighters as known today. They even manufactured ice cream sticks at Nangwarry back then, so trucking was pretty big back then out of the old Mount Gambier, I remember well when my father drove a C Line, No45, the Cummins 160 had been extracted, a black diamond petrol replaced it, as the workshop manager hated the 160!s with a passion. Des just has a wry smile if you mention this to him today. Information as best as I can remember, however, IDSTBC..
Gilly

Thanks for the info Gilly...

It sure was a busy part of the world..
Appreciate the infomation you have provided and more than willing to hear more stories of the district.
I ran that end late 70's early 80's and was always amazed at the quantity of trucks each night, let alone up the Coorong heading toward Adelaide....

thanks again
chocs

That is VERY nice 190 Gilly, it must have been flash in it's day. Most truck were pretty basic then!
From my limited memory The Mount was big time for trucks, I used to watch all the Kain and Shelton's trucks coming through Geelong. I reckon as time went on, the SA rego was very cheap too, so lots of trucks were registered there, but no necessarily FROM there! My dad had "RI" (South Aus Interstate) plates on quite a lot of his trucks, but they never went to South Australia! So there must have been a very good reason. (Financial, I'm guessing!)
I reckon he and a lot of other blokes must have just ducked over the border, got the rego, then off to wherever they actually were from.
Matter of fact I took a drive over there for a day too, and got an SA license....
Got any more pics, Gilly?
Cheers
Richard

That is VERY nice 190 Gilly, it must have been flash in it's day. Most truck were pretty basic then!
From my limited memory The Mount was big time for trucks, I used to watch all the Kain and Shelton's trucks coming through Geelong. I reckon as time went on, the SA rego was very cheap too, so lots of trucks were registered there, but no necessarily FROM there! My dad had "RI" (South Aus Interstate) plates on quite a lot of his trucks, but they never went to South Australia! So there must have been a very good reason. (Financial, I'm guessing!)
I reckon he and a lot of other blokes must have just ducked over the border, got the rego, then off to wherever they actually were from.
Matter of fact I took a drive over there for a day too, and got an SA license....
Got any more pics, Gilly?
Cheers
Richard

From memory Prospect SA was the place to register your trucks at....cheaper rego than NSW and no questions asked.

newto

Have split out the road tax stuff as it's interesting in it's own right.

Keep the photos and Mt Gambier history coming please Gilly.

Picture I took back in the late 70s at the Bayswater Kenworth open day

Chassis number on the winscreen reads 403432

My chassis number is 403235 so its later than mine, they look so pretty when theyre new.

g'day Peters104 and welcome to the forum .. nice TNT piccy and please keep 'em coming.....cheers and regards...Phil