G,day....the pictures of those old Tournapull scrapers reminded me of my old Dad. In 1942 he was a sergeant in the Australian Army training tank operators in Brisbane. Because of the shortage of operators in the private sector he was released from duty to go and help open new coal mines at Muswellbrook. He along with Bert and Stan Thiess picked up 2 Tournapulls at Blair Athol and towing a extra pull scoop each, drove to Muswellbrook via Brisbane. A distance of just over 1000 miles. Back then most of the roads were not much more than dirt tracks. The machines then were clutch steering (no such luxury as hydraulics). On the way down they spent some time doing work on the Heifer Creek Road which was being constructed as a defence road, on this job was Thiess's first D8. It had been walked from Brisbane to the site as there was nothing capable of transporting it available at that time. Some of the mountain ranges they had to cross were so steep and the load they were pulling so heavy, they didn't dare touch the steering clutches, so one person walked along side and placed cactus leaves under a tyre to spin the wheel and get them to turn in the desired direction. They had to carry all fuel, spare parts and personall provisions needed for the trip.
A couple of years back a memorial was dedicated at a park about halfway along Heifer Creek Road thanking the workers on this project. Among photos on display are a couple of the scrapers.
And myself, I still have traces of calluses between my index and middle fingers of my left hand from many years of that electric steering (111a)
Have a good day....John Baxter.
