Back to the Track

Lang wrote:

No. All the freight went by rail to Alice Springs then was loaded on trucks to be taken 1200km to Birdum south of Darwin to be loaded on the short distance railway into town or some of the trucks went all the way.

Once in Darwin they had to get the trucks back to Alice Springs for the next load hence the piggy back system with two trucks and two drivers to speed things up and save fuel.

Most of the Fords had their front guards and bodywork removed and looked like wrecks when they were new.

lang

I wonder if the Fords ever had the guards etc fitted from new, considering that they were only to be pulled off it would of seemed pointless fitting them at all

It is quite funny how we Australians measure distance and what we class as a long or short trip

Americans on American forums often mention when something is a 100 mile or so away for sale, "if only it was closer"

To me 100 mile isnt even worth think about

Birdum to Darwin, the short rail journy is nearly 600 km

Great photos and information to go with them, thanks Lang


Paul

Here are some more NT photos.



Loading for the return journey south.


Flooded Todd River in Alice Springs


Nice photo of International KS6 trucks with the army modified canvas roof and cut-off doors. Parking trucks neatly like this is not just military madness. It looks good for both the drivers and others seeing them giving a sense of pride and belonging to the unit. More importantly they can fit in half the space and are easier to count and be found by mechanics for servicing than if they were just parked everywhere like a mad woman's breakfast.

NT. 1944-01-07/08. TRUCKS OF THE 148TH GENERAL TRANSPORT COMPANY PARKED FOR THE NIGHT AT THE ELLIOTT STAGING CAMP ON THE LARRIMAH-MOUNT ISA ROAD.

Here are a couple of "defrocked" trucks. There were many of these not just the odd one or two.



Note the local sleeper cab modification. I understand a workshop in Alice Springs was churning them out for two-up driving. There were quite a lot of these seen in various photos of the period.

It wasn't all plain sailing.




This Ford Woody does not have a location caption. It could be either Middle East or Northern Territory. Blokes were almost certainly killed in what looks like a head-on.

More North/South Road photos.

To answer Cobba's question, no the Katherine River doesn't have Salt Water Crocs but it does have Fresh Water Crocs and they're considered fairly harmless. I've swam with them and lived to tell the story!

Apparently Salties have been spotted down river from Katherine below the barrage.

Now they are out of the suburbs the Berrigan boys have consolidated their load onto one truck.

Premature wear from dust would have killed a lot of motors on those roads.
Old air cleaners would have really struggled.

Lang, Thank You for this interesting history lesson.. Please keep the pictures coming.. I take it that the Ghan Railroad north of Alice was not built until after the war??? I now regret I did not do the museum when I was at the Truckie's reunion in 2015. Walked around it but not inside!!

Brocky45 wrote:

I take it that the Ghan Railroad north of Alice was not built until after the war???

The railway north of Alice didn't happen until the early to mid 2000's

Terry