Early Days Transport

These old-timers sure had faith in their gear! They drove to places where modern man in today's air-conditioned trucks wouldn't dare go!

Thanks for finding and sharing these!

Dave

Great find love watching some of the really old stuff

Trevor

These old-timers sure had faith in their gear! They drove to places where modern man in today's air-conditioned trucks wouldn't dare go!

Thanks for finding and sharing these!

... to these blokes, i 'spose it beat walking....

Hope this link works, It is the same film but 23minute version as presented by Kaye McGrath of ch7 Brissy.
Has the full vision and audio of Ians AB and lots more of TooTs and audio of her.



Reading some of the story above and looking back at my fathers diary titled "My experiences while in Australia" started April 1923. I realise now both he and his mate who had arrived from Scotland a few weeks before, took on a real adventure! While they were loading bags of wheat on Brisbane docks, staying at 'The Peoples Palace' they were conned by the owner of a property, Lou Lou Park, to come and work for him.

87 years later, I was lucky enough to go through the same property, it wasn't quite the same as the picture that i had in my mind, from all the stories i had heard as a kid listening to them yarning 50 years after their time there.

To start work they had to travel by train to Jericho and then go the remaining 200km to the station. As part of the job there, they went well digging and burning charcoal west through qld and into NT up through Katherine and on to Darwin. All at 12-18 miles a day, when shifting camp and the trials and tribulations of the Ford and Chevy trucks they were using, made the horses they also used sound heaps more reliable. Springs breaking, head gaskets being made out of canvas and painted on. Needless to say blowing again very quickly.

Some of the photos he took were put in an album and it was taken back to Scotland in the 30's. Fortunately it was found in someones cupboard and brought back out for him to see in the mid 70's. I should put up a pic of a truck, chain drive which got stuck on a railway line and is just smoking em up. They left the "job" as they used to call him "Old man Peacock, the gentleman with the big corporation" and are photoed with a chevy car with a destination board under the windscreen Darwin to Melbourne" and all the luggage on the running boards and bonnett.

Found this information only this year, his mate Bill Gall started Premier Motor Garage in Brisbane and was on charges by the Federal Government for selling fuel when it was still on rations in 1949. He fought and with the support of Service Station proprietors of australia they were instrumental in getting the Petrol rationing system removed Australia wide. That as well as starting a bus company in Ipswich around the same time, they didn't seem to sit on their hands too long.

Thanks Mate, that is great. Looks like a big part of Channel 7's research was a phone call to Mack Trucks. LOL.
There is some great footage in it though.

Great story there Merckeepsmeinajob . The photos sound interesting .

...does mercskeepmeinajob come from near whykikkamoocow?

Nah I'm from across the river about 15 miles before the end of the road, after going though Wheelabarraback.

Have scanned those photos I spoke about and will try to put them up here over the next few days.
Looked more closely at the chain drive thing and it may have been somewere in Europe in the late 30's with a couple of military uniforms in the photo trying to tow this thing out.

...went through that way recently...on my way to didjabringyagrogalong....