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Club News:
2007 Trek -
Cunderdin / Sandstone / Wannamal
A short three week trek
with 10 tractors and 10 support vehicles left Cunderdin on Tuesday
18 September to travel to Sandstone to join in celebrations of 100
years of local government. Trekkers enjoyed a tour of Cunderdin
Agricultural College and saw students working and learning new skills.
Lunch was at Wyalkatchem and members visited the wheat bin museum housing a
unique collection of restored tractors and vintage machinery. At
Nungarin trekkers were hosted for dinner and morning
tea by the local Historical group during a two day camp over. A tour of the district included Mangowine Homestead, the
first CWA building in WA (from Hines Hill, now relocated at Mangowine)
and the WW2 Military Museum.
On Thursday at Mukinbudin
the ladies were taken on a town walk to view the cottage gardens
and have afternoon tea. Meanwhile the men looked at the new
machinery shed, restored tractors and machinery. Members were
invited to a Tracmac field day and we were able to see an extensive
range of restored tractors, cars, machinery and caravans. Trekkers then
travelled onto Westonia for a farm stay of two nights. The
Westonia Shire
hosted the Eastern Agricultural Zone meeting and invited club members to
join in for lunch. En-route for a station stay at Diemels, members toured the Portman
Mining
open cut iron ore mine at Mt Windarling and were guests for lunch.
Lake Barlee Station and Yuinmery Station were great campsites before
trekkers arrived at Sandstone to join in the centenary celebrations. Celebrations included a street
parade involving the local community and in which club members dressed in period costume and were followed by
the 9G tractors. Much fun and
frivolity was had by all trekkers as they participated in all the
events. During the celebration formalities the Club presented a
donation to the Sandstone Shire for a student scholarship at the local school.
Trekkers then travelled via Mt Magnet
to Boogardie Station where we camped for the night and celebrated the
50th wedding anniversary of two club members. Trekkers continued
their westward journey to Yalgoo, visiting the museum and
historic buildings. On the way to Morawa, trekkers visited the Christian Brothers Tardun
Agricultural College and were taken on a tour of the buildings and
facilities. At Morawa members took in some of the local district sights
including the Koolanooka iron ore mine. The Morawa Learning Group
provided an evening meal with a guest speaker. Trekkers then headed
south to Perenjori for morning tea courtesy of the local Telecentre. At
Buntine and Wubin club members viewed an extensive private collection of restored and to
be restored vintage tractors and machinery. At Dalwallinu the Lions Club
hosted trekkers for an evening meal. On our final day members travelled
via Wongan
Hill to New Norcia where members enjoyed a tour of restored buildings and a talk on the life and history of the Monastery.
The over night farm camp at Wannamal included a great meal and
celebrations capping off an enjoyable three week trek. No
major mechanical problems were experienced by either tractors or support
vehicles - just a couple of flat tyres.
Trekker Wedding
Kim Sturrock, daughter of
Jock, married Lee Ash
earlier this year and Kim is shown stepping out of Jock and Bob
King's 9G.
2007 Annual General Meeting
The 2007 Annual General Meeting was held in
Mandurah on 17 February. Max Smith was re-elected President, Sandra
Snook, Secretary and Vicki Smith, Treasurer.
Members voted on a proposed trip to Darwin and
surrounding area for their major trek for 2008.
One of our founding members Jock Sturrock, was the
recipient of the Tail End Charlie Award for outstanding services and
commitment to the club since its inception.
COMING EVENT - AUGUST 2007
Re-enactment
of 1957 Mobilgas Round Australia Rally
A specially prepared replica of 'Tail End
Charlie', (the first Chamberlain Champion model produced and geared to
attain 60mph) will be the main attraction in a 50th Anniversary
re-enactment of the 1957 Mobilgas Round Australia Rally, to be held in
August 2007.
For more detail, please refer to the Website :
www.tailendcharliethetractor.org
Tractors Across Australia Video
The long awaited video of the club's inaugural trip
across Australia in 2000 from coast to coast has now been released and
is available at a cost of $49.50 plus postage. Contact the
secretary or email chamberlain9g@westnet.com.au
for your copy.
The video shows highlights of our epic journey from
west to east with a convoy of 35 restored Chamberlain tractors and
support vehicles towing their camper vans as they tackled some of the
toughest, roughest tracks and remote deserts in Australia.
2006 Annual General Meeting
The 2006 Annual General Meeting was held in Northam
on 1 April. Max Smith was re-elected President, Sandra Snook
Secretary and Kerry Bywaters was re-elected Treasurer.
Hugh (Cumber) Campbell, the founding President of
the Club was presented with life membership for his contribution to the
club and community. Congratulations Hugh.
Treasurer, Kerry Bywaters was the recipient of the
Tail End Charlie Award for outstanding services and commitment to the
club. Congratulations Kerry.
Subscriptions are to remain the same as for 2005.
Preparations are well in hand for the upcoming trek
from Northam to Normanton and for some club members from Cape Leeuwin to
Cape York (Cape to Cape).
Proposed 2006 Tractor Trek
Itineraries for the proposed
trek from Northam to Normanton and Karumba to Cape York and return to
Musgrave are detailed in Trek 2006 Itinerary tab. Some trekkers will
commence the trek at Cape Leeuwin in the south-west of Western Australia
and will join other trekkers at Northam thereby crossing the continent
from Cape to Cape. Trekkers can join and exit the convey at
designated points either Cape Leeuwin, Northam, Alice Springs,
Normanton, Cape York or Musgrave Any comments or feedback should
be directed to the President, Max Smith or Committee members.
2005 Wildflower Trek
Trekkers headed out on 2nd
September for a three week Wildflower extravaganza commencing at Moora
through to Sandstone via the Goodlands Road, onto Wiluna and Granite
Peak Station where volunteers undertook repairs to
Well 5 on the Canning Stock Route. Trekkers then meandered through
to Meekatharra, Glen, Boogardi, Yuin and Woolgarong Stations to Galena
and Nabawa and finished at Cervantes. Many thanks to Terry and Sid
Bell for organising such a wonderful trip and to John and Margaret Nunn
for this contribution. Thanks also to Georgie Dodge for her
knowledge on the flora and to our poets Kerry and Rob Lee who
added much humour to the trip.
2005 Annual General Meeting
The 2005 Annual General Meeting was held in Albany on 3rd August
2005. Max Smith was re-elected as President along with Ron
Bywaters as Secretary and Kerry Bywaters as Treasurer.
Ken Taylor received the Tail -end Charlie Award for 2004.
2004 Canning Stock Route Well 5 Restoration
In accord with the club decision to restore Well 5 on the Canning
Stock Route (CSR), Ross Smith (leader), Patsy Smith, Ivan Siviour, Stan
and Noreen Snook together with volunteers (and technical advisors), Les
and James Masters from Gingin arrived at the site on 18 May 2004.
Well 5 is located on Granite Peak Station 254 miles north east of
Wiluna.
It took three long days of hard work to complete the restoration work.
Ross transported a new well cover, windlass, bucket and barrier fence
and other material required to complete the restoration work.
Station owner Jim Quadrio provided cement, sand, aggregate and concrete
mixer. He also generously provided a front-end loader to shift
material and clean up the site on the final day of the restoration work.
On arrival at the site it became apparent that it would be a big,
risky undertaking. One side of the well had washed in below ground
level apparently from a flash flood some time ago. A number of timbers had
suffered severe termite damage and in some places had fallen into the
well. To add to the drama there was also a large King Brown in the
well and most unhappy to be swimming 10 metres below the surface.
Day 1
The first task was to dig
down as far as possible to allow positioning of corrugated iron as form
work for a concrete pour. During the digging rocks and soil fell
into the well and disturbed the unhappy snake even further.
.
Day 2
A large quantity of concrete
was poured behind the existing well timbers. The
concrete surround that rises above the ground, will now ensure the well
top is above possible flash floods.
Day 3
Resulted in the finishing
touches of putting the well cover, windlass in place and setting the
bucket in operation. More concrete was prepared and put in place
to secure the well cover and frame. The "Cat" front-end loader
arrived mid-morning and enabled site clean up and soil placement on the
well surround. The pre-fabricated fence panels and entry gate were put
in place with the commemoration plaque secured to the original well lid
cover.
All in all, the team worked
very hard to achieve the club's objective of restoring Well 5.
Throughout the days Patsy and Noreen ensured a regular supply of
refreshments and prepared a diverse and excellent menu. In
addition they assisted with rock picking, shovelling and some crow bar
work.
Day 4
The final touches of the
restoration were put in place for Well 5 to enable travellers to draw
good water at this point on the Canning Stock Route.
Special thanks to volunteers
Les and James Masters for their excellent technical advice and on the
job expertise. Ross lead by example and mixed all the
concrete required for the project. Meanwhile Ivan and Stan
provided the shovel power until Ivan expertly took control of the
large front-end loader and achieved in minutes what would have taken a
day.
Thanks and acknowledgement to
the following people is appropriate for their contribution of time or
materials towards the project:
Mal and Trish Taylor, club members who with Ross and
Patsy Smith carried out the initial project assessment of Well 5.
Bill East - East’s Engineering Services, Hazelmere
Nick Di Candillo – Di Candillo’s, Bellevue
Don Prince – Drafting and Design, Wannamal
2004 Annual General Meeting
Club fees have remained the same as for previous years with a $25
nomination fee to be introduced for new members. If members allow
membership to lapse a $25 nomination fee will be imposed to rejoin.
All subscriptions will become payable by 1 June of every year.
Tail -end Charlie Awards were presented to:
Hugh Campbell for 1999: Joan Snook for 2000; Sue Leighton for 2001;
Brenda Dorsett 2002 and Peter Nunn for 2003.
2003 Trek Calendars: The club has again arranged for special calendars
featuring photographs and snippets from the 2002 Trek. A limited number of
calendars will be available so order early to avoid missing out. The price
is $25 each plus postage.
2003 AGM
At the 2003 Annual General Meeting awards were presented and a new
president elected. The images below are only viewable in this small
version.
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