Buzzer:
Some from down under, Buzzer.
Good photos Buzzer the Foden of Bells of Meekathara is one I haven’t come across before I will try to find out some more about them and just as a point of interest there is a massive search on at present for a 83 year old prospector who has been missing since saturday about 50kms south of Meekathara,its still a very unforgiving country at times.
Dig.
Spardo:
The 2 RTA road trains, Road Trains of Australia, were the descendants of Buntine Roadways, hence the familiar green and white livery on one of them. At some point after my time Noel Buntine sold his business to a venture capital company (I think) which eventually ran into financial difficulties, so Noel bought the business back but for legal reasons could not use the original Buntine name. Not sure when and how (DIG will know), Dennis Buntine, Noel’s son, became involved after or before he started his own business. Dennis, who I think was known to DIG, is now no longer with us also, so I don’t know the ongoing history of the business. Time for DIG to join in to correct and update.Noel Buntine wasn’t the first to develop the road train concept, but he was arguably the most important in refining it and thus, highly thought of as he was, is remembered by the highway in the NT named after him.
I wonder how many hauliers have that honour.
Jeez David Ibetter get this right.
Dennis had a company called Victoria River Transport several cattle trains plus a station it was absorbed into the RTA company and Dennis took on the Vovo and Haulmark trailer dealerships in Darwin which is where I met him a few times when I called in for trailer spares etc [no dealership in Perth] his workshop also did work for us when we needed it if we had problems when in the area a nice bloke to chat with.
Noel started RTA after a very messy failed sale of the original Buntine Roadways company the crux of which he had to go back into business or go broke as somehow it was found he still had a financial interest it possibly as guarantor to the original deal but not sure if that how it turned out but he built the company back up again and was able to sell again later and eventually sold it to a former employee of his who built up the company with a fuel agency and the cattle industry.
They now own in excess of 300 road train prime movers mainly KW and Mack plus probly a thousand trailers.
There is the Buchanan hwy in the NT which was named after a cattle Drover who did it the hard way on a horse so it was fitting to rename the Delaware hwy to the Buntine hwy a road transport drover. [A road you travelled David in your time there when going from Katherine to Top Springs and back]
I will just add I met Noel once in the Spinifex hotel in Derby and when I mentioned Mack trucks he told me he was there to only enter his race horses in the local annual carnival and if I wanted to talk trucks to p… off and talk elsewhere. LOL.
Dig
DIG:
Jeez David Ibetter get this right.
Dennis had a company called Victoria River Transport several cattle trains plus a station it was absorbed into the RTA company and Dennis took on the Vovo and Haulmark trailer dealerships in Darwin which is where I met him a few times when I called in for trailer spares etc [no dealership in Perth] his workshop also did work for us when we needed it if we had problems when in the area a nice bloke to chat with.Noel started RTA after a very messy failed sale of the original Buntine Roadways company the crux of which he had to go back into business or go broke as somehow it was found he still had a financial interest it possibly as guarantor to the original deal but not sure if that how it turned out but he built the company back up again and was able to sell again later and eventually sold it to a former employee of his who built up the company with a fuel agency and the cattle industry.
They now own in excess of 300 road train prime movers mainly KW and Mack plus probly a thousand trailers.
There is the Buchanan hwy in the NT which was named after a cattle Drover who did it the hard way on a horse so it was fitting to rename the Delaware hwy to the Buntine hwy a road transport drover. [A road you travelled David in your time there when going from Katherine to Top Springs and back]
I will just add I met Noel once in the Spinifex hotel in Derby and when I mentioned Mack trucks he told me he was there to only enter his race horses in the local annual carnival and if I wanted to talk trucks to p… off and talk elsewhere. LOL.Dig
Thanks Dig, I think I got the basics right then, I knew he had sold up and then re-started and some sort of financial complications were involved but I had completely forgotten about VRT and its history. Your experience with Noel sounds about right, he did have a sort of wry sense of humour, I had little direct interchange with him other than the first time I met him when asking for a job and completely mis-understood his accent therefore getting the job as a result. I couldn’t understand why anyone should think driving a twin steer was an important qualification, too late I realised he was talking about twin stick, but by then I had got the job anyway. 
And learned how to juggle all those gears on the job. 
Spardo:
DIG:
Thanks Dig, I think I got the basics right then, I knew he had sold up and then re-started and some sort of financial complications were involved but I had completely forgotten about VRT and its history. Your experience with Noel sounds about right, he did have a sort of wry sense of humour, I had little direct interchange with him other than the first time I met him when asking for a job and completely mis-understood his accent therefore getting the job as a result. I couldn’t understand why anyone should think driving a twin steer was an important qualification, too late I realised he was talking about twin stick, but by then I had got the job anyway.
David one of his old hands told a few of us around a camp fire one night how he had never missed a gear in his driving life, of course there was a few corse remarks and a fair amount of bull… talk then he explained how he did it,2 hands on the gear stick both feet on the dash for leverage and its gotta go in somewhere
. 
Dig
lurpak:
A couple from Birkenhead docks
1
0
Ade
Real eye catchers
DIG:
David one of his old hands told a few of us around a camp fire one night how he had never missed a gear in his driving life, of course there was a few corse remarks and a fair amount of bull… talk then he explained how he did it,2 hands on the gear stick both feet on the dash for leverage and its gotta go in somewhere
.Dig
You forgot to mention the crook of the elbow through the steering wheel.
Catching up, brilliant input and all the craic 
. Thanks to DEANB, Kempston, Buzzer, coomsey, ERF-NGC-European, lurpak, Froggy55(links), Ray Smyth, pv83 and vwvanman0 for the pics .
Had a chat yesterday at Lochmaddy Ferry Terminal, North Uist with Danny Mears of Portsmouth on a boat recovery job, some crane on the Volvo, quite a machine.
oiltreader:
Catching up, brilliant input and all the craic
Had a chat yesterday at Lochmaddy Ferry Terminal, North Uist with Danny Mears of Portsmouth on a boat recovery job, some crane on the Volvo, quite a machine.
Nice crane & great pictures, I do wonder what the axle weights on that unit are, I only ask as a local company to me after 11 years of running a 6x4 Scania unit with a slightly smaller crane without any issues on the road, which got stopped by DVSA and the front axle was almost two thousand kgs over when pulling an empty trailer, it has now had the crane moved back & has been converted into a rigid.
I remember seeing those Scania Vabis at Covent Garden with the Spaniards. Looked the dogs nuts in the day. Still not bad now either.
I believe the F16 was Andrew Coopers, prior to his Pete 359. It certainly looks superb.
This was a funny set-up wasn’t it? British Railways ran these trailers with the front part as a box and the rear half as a tilt. But why the soft front, I wonder? Or was the hard canopy a moveable item that could be slid (or lifted) into any position on the trailer?
That f88 picture is from Colin Wrights book of 8 wheelers
Buzzer:
A few more Ozzy ones and some others, Buzzer
Both working for the same company Buzzer but no panoramic views from the sleeper on the wool carter… plus a later model unit doing the same job on the wool.
Dig
Cracking set of photos as usual Buzzer.
I know I will probably regret asking, but why would you need 16 axles for two tanks ? 
Regards John.
Dan you need to buy your trucks from this lot save you a paint job
