Conrod Campout 2012

Dear Sirs: 

     How are you? Nice to meet you last weekend and we also have big fun.
I was attachment some pictures for you.Please enjoy that and have a good time.
Best Regards
Jude

Trip to Biloela for NHMA Rally.

After getting past Tintinara, (see - you were all wrong I wasn't thrown off), we travelled to our first stop which was Pt Augusta. Here Holly "lost" his wallet causing some consternation. Pausing at Quorn to view a steam train in the old railway station.

Loco 1921

Things were getting dryer by now the further north we went, at last passing out of the grain growing areas. Noted Castor Oil plants at 1863 Kanyaka ruins and the start of Cattle Grids in the road with lignum-, blue- and salt-bush. Cattle prevailed here, and the next stop was Marree, after passing through Parachilna, Leigh Creek (Copley), and Lyndhurst. Copley open cut was large as was the associated machinery. At Farina we looked at derelict buildings. Then on to Marree - old pub, community bathrooms, and meals too large.

Bare country after Marree. Noted a couple of signs - "Rural Watch" - not a building in sight and "No Admittance" - to what?? Shining gibber plains off into the distant sandhills. Also saw the first Mesas and Mirages.

Mungerannie for lunch - all lunches consist of make-your-own sandwiches. Here saw brolgas, black duck, daddles duck underfoot cadging food, and water hens. Hit my head on a tree branch - was quiet for five minutes. Talked to some travellers returning (eventually) to Ceduna. On through sandy desert both sides of the track to the Border gate 12km before camping at Birdsville. Saw museum and later Waddi Trees Acacia peuce (rare). Head to Boulia for the night - warm, cloudless sky, gibbers and low bushes with native grasses. Some bitumen road. Saw many steaming artesian bores from here on. Across King River and speeding on our way to Bedourie. Great cattle feed and fat cattle. What drought? Single phase power lines and eagles appear. 10km to Boulia. Bus quiet, most people reading, watching roadsides or nodding. Did a bit of all this myself in between talking to seat mate. Boulia - tea, shower, rest.

Up early, went for walk and saw Brolgas marching around the streets quite tame. Dickie purchased a camel here. Saw "Min Min" light show. The bus bobbing, swaying, lurching and weaving along the track towards Winton. Visited Interpretive Centre good display of all sorts of stuff mostly not restored and missing parts. Gidgee trees here - pale foliage, dark trunks. Many dead kangaroos on roadside with attendant wedgetail eagles. To Longreach overnight, warm and sunny on way to Hall of Fame. Photos of Qantas 747 and 707.

Twin City

Early Buick

Started to see the odd "Queenslander" style houses on stilts here. Hall of Fame good and interesting but very commercial - as it should be, to be self supporting. On to Illfracombe where there was a long row of implements and vehicles along side the main street, photographed many. It must have rained here recently as the emerald green grass in showing under the dried clumps of Mitchell grass. Buckbush = tumbleweed. Anthills abound around the ground.

Trees thicker and more undergrowth among the scrub pines. Saw first prickly pear.

Jericho has the smallest drive-in theatre in the Sthn Hemisphere - 36 cars. To Emerald for Rice a la King with fish. Left motel earely next morning and returned to the gemfields where we panned some chips of sapphire, zircon and topaz. Brian Knauerhase found a cuttable stone. More and different trees - Brigalow, Blackbutt and Ironbarks. Stockfood plantings along roads - this is American import of Leucaena leucocephala or the White Lead tree. Problems with clutch on bus manifested themselves about here, and continued until we left for the trip south, necessitating replacement of master and slave cylinders.

1915 +

T-bone (large) with veges followed by B&B pudding for tea. Next day Rally. Picked up exhibitors bag and my new cap and badges. What can I say about the rally? Better than Naracoorte in that te different machinery was closer together. May have been more engines, but not sure about tractors. Lots of old machinery too. Draught horses and steam engines, vintage cars and trucks. Very large number of craft displays. Saw many people I had only corresponded with for many years. Returned following day and left early, back to Banana to do washing and drying. More food. Food and rooms very good generally.

Lost a further two hours with blocked rubber hose to clutch cylinder. Dickie organised shopping trip (or so he claimed). To Dalby for overnight stop. Visited Jondaryn on way to Toowoomba. Different crops here - sorghum, maize, peanuts, cereals and vegetables, showing that more rain had fallen, and was

Parkes

still piddling down. Millmerran to Goondiwindi boring. Read book. Seat by self today - not cramped. At Moree for tea, chicken roast. Crook throat, blood sugar 17.5, not happy. Visited Cotton

Centre on way to West Wyalong, had to leave due to coughing fit, stopped talking (almost). Downwards, ever downwards. To Parkes and the Dish. On through Forbes. Tea fish and chips. To bed early, but throat a bit better. Mallee scrub now. Quiet roads compared to previous days. Very few stock but much grain planted. Then on to Deniliquin and a full days trip home through familiar country. Good trip.

Peter Squire's Tractor Pull

We started in the morning a little damp after overnight rain. The track was a bit heavy for the under 20hp rubber tyred tractors. The pull crew decided to go on with crawler tractors which would dry the track out for later in the day. Well, THAT was the thought!!!

However, down came the best shower of rain the district has had for four or five years, water everywhere. It was decided to carry on with the crawlers, but the track was so cut up and slippery the drivers could not stop them. Mud everywhere. But they seemed to enjoy the challenge.

The track improved after grading etc - then more rain and that was the trend for the rest of the day. Things were really bad - with the sled slipping everywhere and almost running on and hitting the Pull Back Tractor. Having some trouble with not enough weights for the sled, the operators left the Pull Back Tractor hooked up to create more drag. They even had to put the blade down at times.
Most of the crawler tractors competed, and then the steel wheeled tractors had a go, but it was much too wet for any of the rubber tyred wheel tractors.

Although everyone got wet, the day was enjoyed by all - and the spectators were given plenty to look at. There were a record number of entrants, some coming from Adelaide, Jabuck, Naracoorte, Padthaway, Coonalpyn, and visitors from Horsham and Portland. Trophies were presented to the various class winners. The Lions Club did a marvellous job with the catering, and thanks to all other helpers.

©2007 Deane Makin.

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The Car Club supplied gate keepers, and after the $200 guaranteed to the Lions Club and the $100 to pay the Merry-Go-Round we ended up with approximately $170. Of note that the following weekend they held another day for the rubber tyred tractors and Club member Ray Phelps gained a prize. Editor.

Pinnaroo Campout

The Pinnaroo Conrod Campout Weekend has been running since 1983 as an annual event hosted by the Bordertown, Murray Bridge and Riverland Restorer's Clubs.

The weekend of entertainment is organised by a different club each year, and incorporates the 'Conrod Games' which boasts such events as frisbee throwing, cross dressing and hoola hooping.

The picture below is of Kathy being toilet-papered for an event in the Conrod Games at the 2003 Pinnaroo Campout.

The 1928 Essex, now owned by Gordon Creaser and known as Alfie, was owned and restored by his older brother Ken. The following story is a copy of the article written by Ken which was printed in the Bordertown Vehicle Restorers Club's 26th Newsletter in June/July, 1988, and reprinted in the 86th Newsletter in October/November 2002.

'In 1974, Mr McLellan gave my brother Gordon an old car, and Gordon asked me if he could put it on my block, as he had no room for it at home. I gave him the OK. The following weekend he turned up with a trailer load of rubbish, which turned out to be the old car, an Essex.

Rubbish was the best way to describe it, as it had no radiator or side lights, the doors were off, and the whole body had rusted out at the bottom from about 9" up. All the woodwork had rotted out - including the wheel spokes, and there were not tyres or rims.

It lay on the block for more than a year. I (Ken) then asked Gordon what he intended to do with it, as I thought I'd have a go at restoring it. He told me I could have it. So, on December 20, 1975, I made a start on the restoration.

First, to a going chassis, which I tested by driving around in the block - but that wasn't good enough for Gordon - he had to take it onto the road. Up Green Street he tore, and back again, changing through the gears. OK was the verdict.

I then made a start on the body work, followed by the painting which was applied by brush and taking 30 odd coats of paint.

When the body was completed, it was bolted to the chassis and the seats and interior were upholstered.

Then came the hood. I found that to be the biggest challenge of all - it really tried out my patience.

After completing the restoration, which was done over a period of 11 years, I made enquiries to try to find some history of the car. The first approach was then Jenny Marshall (nee McLellan), who got in contact with her brother. He found that Mr O. Merrit had lived on their property for a short time and had left the car there. Jenny made further enquiries to Mr Lionel Merrett, and found that O. Merritt now lived at Aldinga Beach. I wrote to him and learned that he had bought it from Lionel Hutchings of Wolseley in 1952. Mr Hutchings had bought it for the Ford V8 engine which was in it at the time. Mr O. Merritt put the original Essex engine back, and used it until 1955. It is believed that Mr Hutchings bought the car from Mr Albert Williams of Lillimur (Victoria), who had installed the V8 engine.

Due to the impatience of the printer - and Mr Williams being away until September - we were unable to complete the trace-back'

The following note was added to the 1988 Newsletter article by the then editor, Geoff McRae and printer Jeff Holly:

'Ken, I think you deserve a lot of credit for your achievement. It is believed that you made all the woodwork by hand, which included the spokes. Did all the metalwork except a small bit of welding. All the upholstery using a treadle sewing machine - and the hood too. And it is all right for people to say "Oh yes, we put on 30 coats of paint too." BUT BY HAND? The mind boggles. All that rubbing back. An excellent effort.'

The following note was added by the editor, Kathy Creaser, in the 2002 reprint:

Gordon and Kathy bought the car two years ago (2000), after Ken suffered a stroke and was hospitalised at the Bordertown Memorial Hospital.

They have been on a couple of outings in it. The paintwork and upholstery are still as good as ever, a real work of art. Gordon hopes to do some work on it in the near future as it has developed a knock. Sounds bad, but it hasn't let us down yet.