Old Photos

[nomadpete]

Aaah I had forgotten about those darn metal hand-on-a-stick turn indicators.

 

Dreaded by motorcyclists. Never knew when one might shoot out the side of a truck at you!

 

That's one more thing about the 'good ole daze' I won't miss.

 

I recall pushing a few back in when I trickled down beside a truck.

Edited December 9, 2022 by nomadpete

[onetrack]

You know, I never even though about the old metal truck hand indicators as being dangerous to motorcyclists (and cyclists, too, I guess).

 

All I can remember is what a PIA they were to use - juggling hand signal operation with two-handed Armstrong steering effort, along with double de-clutching and gearchanging, made you busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger in a strong wind.

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by onetrack

[Yenn]

Funny thing it didn’t seem busy at the time. We just didn’t know any better.

[onetrack]

Quote

I've never seen a Federal truck

I actually own a 1935 Federal 1.5 ton truck (single rear wheels). Or should I say, the remnants of a 1935 Federal truck. The sad story is, is that it was a complete truck, and a bloke started restoring it, maybe 15 years ago. He stripped it all down to the cowl, reconditioned the brakes, put new tyres on it, sent the engine and gearbox out for reconditioning, placed all the panels he removed somewhere, built a new wooden tray for it - then dropped dead.

 

No-one else was interested in the truck. It seems maybe he had no close relatives, I don't know what happened. But the truck was in a rented factory unit, and the rent stopped getting paid.

So the landlord simply scrapped everything in the factory unit so he could rent it again. I only found this out, because a scrappie neighbour picked up the truck chassis.

 

He has no idea what happened to all the panels - the cabin, the bonnet, the doors, the grille, the headlights, the radiator, and the controls such as the clutch and brake pedals.

He kept the truck chassis for about 8 years and tried to sell it, with no interest. Then, one day an engine reconditioner visited him, and told him he had the engine and gearbox, but money was owing on it - and if he paid the money owing, he could have them. The scrappie declined to pay him the money owing, and the engine reconditioner left, and the scrappie lost his contact details.

 

Then one day, I was looking for a tyre to fit to my old AS-160 International, so I could get it rolling. The scrappie had the Federal truck chassis on display out front of our factory units as an advertising promotion. I drove past it every day for months and months, not taking much notice of it. I actually thought it was an old International.

Then, I went to see the scrappie this day, to see if he had a useable 8.25x20 tyre for my Inter. He said, "You can take one off the Federal, if you want to, I'm going to send it to scrap next week".

 

I went and looked at the Federal, and realised it had 4 new 7.50x20 tyres on it, that are worth about $200 each. So I said, "What are you going to get for the whole truck for scrap?" And he replied, "$200".

I said, "I'll take it off your hands for $200!" - so we did a deal. Then he promised he'd find the engine reconditioners details - but he'd only kept them on his phone, and his phone system had deleted the engine reconditioners number, because it had been over 6 mths since he'd contacted the scrappie. 

 

The tray the restorer bloke built had fallen to pieces over the years that the scrappie had the truck. It appears the restorer dug up some crappy imported U.S. packing crate wood - some rubbishy type of pine - and all his hard work on the tray was for nothing, it had just rotted and crumbled into nothing, so I had to scrap the tray.

 

So now I have a very incomplete Federal truck - and no matter how much I advertise, I have had zero success with finding missing parts for it. I found there was a complete identical truck in NSW that had been sold about 3-4 years ago - and there's a couple in museums. I wish I could find the original restorers name, or the factory he worked out of, but none of that information is available.

 

I did get a call from a bloke in Sandstone, who saw my ad wanting Federal truck parts - and this bloke was a retired Victorian, prospecting in Sandstone just for something to do in retirement.

This bloke was interested because he'd done his apprenticeship on Federal trucks, and worked for a bloke in Victoria who owned a number of them.

He said he'd keep an eye out for anything he saw in his travels, but I don't hold much hope of him finding anything.

 

I just hope that someone saved all the Federal parts when they saw them at the tip. I know, when I spent a few months working in a tip, we would set aside stuff that looked too good to bury.

I don't know what my chances are of ever finding the missing parts, but I think I've probably got more chance of winning Lotto.

 

The last photo is the identical truck that was sold in NSW several years ago. These trucks were exceptionally well built - rubber bushed springs, good brakes, a massive Timken differential and axles, 4 speed gearbox, an engine specifically built for Federal by Hercules, and they did 90kmh top speed. They competed with Diamond T trucks, and Diamond T's were revered in the 1930's and 1940's.

 

 

[old man emu]

Shoulda been here last week. There was one here last week.

 

I knew of a complete one on Fourth Avenue Austral, near Liverpool NSW. Went past it for years. I just had a look on Google maps and, since the suburb is being sold off for late 21st Century slum development, the original owner has cleared his block up a bit and the truck is gone.

 

As Robert Herrick in To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time 

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
   Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
   Tomorrow will be dying.

[red750]

i need something like this to get around in, although I might have difficulty getting in and out.

 

[facthunter]

Don't think so. The whole top folds over if I recall correctly. it's a Messerschmitt 3 wheeler. You might get squashed under a big truck tho.  Nev

[red750]

I know, Nev, but my old knees have difficulty standing up. I find it hard to get out of a low armchair. I saw one of those around quite a bit in the late 50's when I lived at Deniliquin, a guy had one and it was around the street quite a bit.

[facthunter]

Yes it happens. I do an exercise every day to address that and you have to take it in stages to gradually build up the strength. I used to be able to do it on ONE leg but that's LONG ago. It's Fine balance between gaining strength and causing a new injury. .  Good luck.  Nev

[old man emu]

Perhaps you should go for an Isetta

 

 

[facthunter]

Everything's passing it and I would too.. Really BAD way to get in and out.. A Morgan "aero" about 1930 would kill it for appeal. Nev

[old man emu]

Then: 

 

and now: 

[facthunter]

The TOP one looks OK from a distance but the Motor is suss. It looks like a modern attempt. They had various JAP  (Made in London at Tottenham) or Blackburne and maybe AMC aircooled OR water cooled in the later ones. Some pre  1918 ones had MAG motors (Swiss).  Thanks for the help OME...   Nev

[facthunter]

Blackburne also made Cirrus aero engines. Nev

[onetrack]

The Cirrus engines story is one of the most convoluted histories of any engine maker, I've ever come across. Lots of corporate wrangling appears to have been involved with the companies involved, and there was no direct or continuous lineage anywhere. They all obviously just liked the Cirrus name.

 

I was surprised to see the Renault V8 aero engine of WW1 was highly thought of. They also built a V12 which looks like a real beast. But it only ran at 4:1 compression ratio, so the power output was a very modest 130HP.

The Renault WW1 tanks were exceptionally good, too - so much so, the Americans took some back to the U.S., and copied them. I wonder why Renault had such good engineering in that era, but failed in engineering leadership after WW1? More interest in wines and cheeses, and exotic French cuisine, than in developing engineering leadership?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_aero_engines

[old man emu]

12 minutes ago, onetrack said:

I wonder why Renault had such good engineering in that era, but failed in engineering leadership after WW1?

When the bones of nearly a whole generation of your population are strewn all over your reconquered countryside, it takes a while to get over the shock. 

[willedoo]

This is the 1962 BMW that Gina the barmaid drove in the TV show Heartbeat. It's at the National Motor Museum, Hampshire.

 

[facthunter]

Dangerous at any speed. The trikes have to have a large proportion of mass over the dual wheel supported parts or they tip over easily. The Morgan 3 wheelers had the motor in front of the paired wheels although like many 3 wheelers of the time, the single driven wheel was the rear one.  It's pretty hard to justify having a 3 wheeled car. There's plenty of disadvantages. Nev

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

Dangerous at any speed. The trikes have to have a large proportion of mass over the dual wheel supported parts or they tip over easily. The Morgan 3 wheelers had the motor in front of the paired wheels although like many 3 wheelers of the time, the single driven wheel was the rear one.  It's pretty hard to justify having a 3 wheeled car. There's plenty of disadvantages. Nev

The Tuk Tuks in Thailand can be a bit scary at times. If you want a safe ride, choose one with an old driver. Old blokes are generally trying to make sure they live a bit longer. If you want some thrills, pick a young driver.

[facthunter]

Those yellow and green things have been around  in these places for ages. They probably do a good job in the chaotic traffic and don't actually GO that fast. (Justas well)... Nev

[red750]

A bit of thread drift from old photos, but this video has a tenuous link to the last couple of posts, particularly the apparent chaotic traffic..

 

 

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Time to revive this thread. I took this photo about 1980. Who can pick the location? Hint…it ain't there anymore.

[old man emu]

11 minutes ago, pmccarthy said:

…it ain't there anymore.

Australian manufacturing?

[onetrack]

That's the Golden Mile at Kalgoorlie, the richest patch of ground on Earth.

[pmccarthy]

If you were there today you would be in mid air, above the super pit.