Recent Road Trip to the Snowy & Cooma

Lang the Birdsville setup hasn’t been running for a long time now. Not sure what happened as it still steams and looks like something is working, but it’s not. Even has a sign saying it was an experimental plant. Shame.
Likewise at Windorah. A big solar concentrator idea, 3-tracking large parabolic mirrors cooking some poor thing at the focal point. Again the sign says it was an experimental plant and now not working.
I do like the deep hole/hot earth concepts, but the brains tell us not profitable? Seems to be still working in NZ and has been for donkey’s years.

My old boss Phil Coleman had told me a few stories about delivering equipment for Allied Constructions from Wollongong to the Snowy Mts Scheme. This is around the 50's one of their cranes had to be disassembled for transport to the snowy. Too often drivers got stuck there overnight but usually they tried to be there early into the day. Coleman's were still carting Allied's equipment until 2000 when the yard closed.

Oddly enough, power stations in the Snowy can be turned on and off and they are. Guthega Power Station is kept in sleep mode until required. It can be remotely controlled from where ever head office is and that is possibly Tumut, not sure. Or it can be manned when it is a planned run day/s. But it is a total loss system meaning this water that passes through here is on a one way trip further down the line and does not get pumped back. The same can be done at all power stations one at a time or more for maintenance as well.

Some pics from the Snowy Scheme

Rennix Gap 1953


Moving the Commercial Bank building, Adaminaby, 1957


Sawyers Hill, 1960

One time when I was shifting my brother sent me the photo of the bank on the Federal truck as reckoned it could of been me as I have the same model Federal

Always reckoned a Dodge Power wagon would of been a great ute for me, a baby Federal in my eyes


Paul