Outback Truckers.
- Thread starter luka
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luka
Well-known member
A road train, land train or long combination vehicle is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of two or more trailers or semi-trailers hauled by a prime mover.[1] Long combination vehicles[2] are combinations of multiple trailers on tractor trucks as compared to standard 5 axle semi trailer-trucks with one trailer.
In the 1930s/40s, the government of Australia operated an AEC Roadtrain to transport freight and supplies into the Northern Territory, replacing the Afghan camel trains that had been trekking through the deserts since the late 19th century. This truck pulled two or three 6 m (19 ft 8 in) Dyson four-axle self-tracking trailers. At 130 hp (97 kW), the AEC was grossly underpowered by today's standards, and drivers and offsiders (a partner or assistant) routinely froze in winter and sweltered in summer due to the truck's open cab design and the position of the engine radiator, with its 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) cooling fan, behind the seats.
Australian Kurt Johannsen, a bush mechanic, is recognised as the inventor of the modern road train.[11][dubious – discuss] After transporting stud bulls 200 mi (320 km) to an outbackproperty, Johannsen was challenged to build a truck to carry 100 head of cattle instead of the original load of 20. Provided with financing of about 2000 pounds and inspired by the tracking abilities of the Government roadtrain, Johannsen began construction. Two years later his first road train was running.[12]
Johannsen's first road train consisted of a United States Army World War II surplus Diamond-T tank carrier, nicknamed "Bertha", and two home-built self-tracking trailers. Both wheel sets on each trailer could steer, and therefore could negotiate the tight and narrow tracks and creek crossings that existed throughout Central Australia in the earlier part of the 20th century. Freighter Trailers in Australia viewed this improved invention and went on to build self-tracking trailers for Kurt and other customers, and went on to become innovators in transport machinery for Australia.
This first example of the modern road train, along with the AEC Government Roadtrain, forms part of the huge collection at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
In the 1930s/40s, the government of Australia operated an AEC Roadtrain to transport freight and supplies into the Northern Territory, replacing the Afghan camel trains that had been trekking through the deserts since the late 19th century. This truck pulled two or three 6 m (19 ft 8 in) Dyson four-axle self-tracking trailers. At 130 hp (97 kW), the AEC was grossly underpowered by today's standards, and drivers and offsiders (a partner or assistant) routinely froze in winter and sweltered in summer due to the truck's open cab design and the position of the engine radiator, with its 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) cooling fan, behind the seats.
Australian Kurt Johannsen, a bush mechanic, is recognised as the inventor of the modern road train.[11][dubious – discuss] After transporting stud bulls 200 mi (320 km) to an outbackproperty, Johannsen was challenged to build a truck to carry 100 head of cattle instead of the original load of 20. Provided with financing of about 2000 pounds and inspired by the tracking abilities of the Government roadtrain, Johannsen began construction. Two years later his first road train was running.[12]
Johannsen's first road train consisted of a United States Army World War II surplus Diamond-T tank carrier, nicknamed "Bertha", and two home-built self-tracking trailers. Both wheel sets on each trailer could steer, and therefore could negotiate the tight and narrow tracks and creek crossings that existed throughout Central Australia in the earlier part of the 20th century. Freighter Trailers in Australia viewed this improved invention and went on to build self-tracking trailers for Kurt and other customers, and went on to become innovators in transport machinery for Australia.
This first example of the modern road train, along with the AEC Government Roadtrain, forms part of the huge collection at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.
luka
Well-known member
luka
Well-known member
The term road train is used in Australia. In contrast with a more common semi-trailer towing one trailer or semi-trailer, the prime mover of a road train hauls two or more trailers or semi-trailers. Australia has the longest and heaviest road-legal road trains in the world, weighing up to 200 tonnes (197 long tons; 220 short tons). They transport freight across some of the harshest environments on Earth.[1
luka
Well-known member
Sludge & The Phantom Truck
A Phantom themed truck owned by Paul ‘Sludge’ Andrews in Australia. The Truck GCM: 140 Tonnes Engine: CAT C15 Power: 650hp Torque: 2780Nm Transmission: 18 speed Eaton Roadranger Rear Su…
thephantom.fan
I watch Aussie Gold Hunters and Outback Opal Hunters, so I might give this HGV version a go.
IdleRich
IdleRich
There was a programme about Finnish rescue people pulling crashed lorries off the road in ludicrous conditions that was pretty compelling when we came in really fucked one time... I think maybe we watched a few in a row and that was probably enough for a lifetime. Liza did start saying stuff like "this makes me wish I'd never had an education and had dedicated myself to a local worthwhile trade - good honest work - in the place where I'd grown up and been content with that never knowing that the outside world existed." which was a commendable sentiment for the programme to induce while at the same time obviously being total bollocks.
yyaldrin
in je ogen waait de wind
whenever my brother is visiting my parents he watches this stuff all the time, there's also a variant called ice-road truckers. another one of his favourite shows is border patrol. i guess there's a tv-channel that broadcasts these kind of "reality" television series 24/7. i can't stand it. it feels to me it's the kind of content your brain doesn't really process.
IdleRich
IdleRich
I dunno though they are often filming in inaccessible places in savage conditions... surely it must cost more than reality shows and the like. All these TOWIE and the like and spin-offs with reality 'personalities' (who came up with that cruel name?) are at least one rung below.
All these extreme place driving things at least teach you something, though you only need to watch one or two episodes to get it all, problem is they churn them of an endless pipeline and that does sort of devalue them.
There was a film called The Secret Life Of Cranes (I think) a few years ago that was sort of similar but more contemplative, musings of crane operators who sit all day alone staring down at London. It was almost like one of these docs as if done by Patrick Keillor perhaps - well not quite but with a shove in that direction.
luka
Well-known member
luka
Well-known member
The Outback Truckers are doing journeys over thousands of miles and obviously nothing really happens so they are forced to make the most of what drama there is. For example, a tyre change. Once they stopped at a level crossing and waited for a train to pass while the dramatic music kicked in and they pretended it had been a narrow miss. "Imagine if we hadn't have waited."
IdleRich
IdleRich
And then no doubt watching programmes about sophisticated sexy urban types going clubbing and wondering 'what if?' - you can never win...
(And happy Christmas mate, how you doing?)
IdleRich
IdleRich
Apparently it's Eva Weber (and I got the name wrong)
m.imdb.com
The Solitary Life of Cranes (Short 2008) - IMDb
The Solitary Life of Cranes: Directed by Eva Weber. Part city symphony part visual poem, 'The Solitary Life of Cranes' explores the invisible life of a city, its patterns and hidden secrets, seen through the eyes of crane drivers working high above its streets. Within the loose structure of a...
m.imdb.com