In Pictures: Shell Rimula Wall of Fame ceremony

Alice Springs’ population grew markedly in late August when thousands of people from all over Australia attended the annual road transport reunion and the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame ceremony.

 

Of the thousands of road transport industry personnel flocking to Alice Springs in the days surrounding the last weekend of August, Viva Energy’s Max Lane possibly shook hands with around 280, or more.

Viva is the licensee for the Shell brand in Australia, and Max is marketing manager for the company. With Shell Rimula sponsoring the Wall of Fame for the 15th year in succession, and Max fronting the Shell/Viva team during this year’s Road Transport Reunion, he congratulated each of the inductees or their representatives during the three-hour induction ceremony.

This year marked 20 years of the Wall of Fame, which is held in the grounds of the National Road Transport Museum at Alice Springs.

The importance of the occasion meant a larger number than usual of devotees making the trek to the central Australian town to not only join in the festivities, but to celebrate the induction of the wall’s 276 new inductees.

“A typical year is around about 100 inductions, and this year being the anniversary year, people have seen it as a milestone year to come along and get involved,” Max says.

“”It’s great to come up here — great people, a friendly sector and it’s good fun.

“You hear lots of great stories, a lot of emotional stories, and a few teary eyes there of people getting inducted.”

As in previous years, there were a sprinkling of posthumous inductions, with friends and relatives accepting the medals and certificates on their loved one’s behalf.

Adding to the occasion, and as in previous years, there was no shortage of surprised individuals. More than one third of this year’s inductees were initially caught unawares, sweet-talked into making the trip to the Alice for reasons other than attending the induction ceremony.

Brian Watts from Echuca had never been to the annual Road Transport Reunion, although he’d driven past the museum plenty of times, hauling machinery on his way north through the Northern Territory.

Unbeknown to Brian, his former employer Jim Hoffman of Green and Gold Contractors in Hamilton, Victoria, nominated him, and with the help of Brian’s family, began writing his biography for the ceremony.

“I’m very proud,” Brian smiles. “It was a surprise; they’ve been planning it for ages. I didn’t know until a couple of nights ago.”

That was when Jim Hoffman organised a barbecue at their Alice Springs motel, presenting Brian with a watch for his years of service. “A real good company to work for,” he says.

Brian, now 72 and retired, says he’s been driving trucks since he could “stand up”. He went from carting hay and cattle around Gippsland, to driving buses in Melbourne.

He owned a couple of Scanias from the mid-1980s onwards, before linking up with Green and Gold.

Gary Baldry was another to be initially caught unawares, until a letter arrived in the mail confirming his induction. “A mate of mine from Goulburn, Gary Heat, nominated me,” he says.

Gary’s job for the past three and a half decades has been delivering News Limited newspapers mainly between Sydney, Canberra and Jindabyne. He’s still driving now, behind the wheel of an Isuzu FRR.

“This is the first time I’ve been up here; it’s great,” Gary says. “It’s just the logistics of getting here.”

Gary got into trucking almost by accident. His younger brother Mark had tow trucks, but became ill and asked Gary to take over.

“I went out and got my truck licence, and from then it’s history.”

 

It was a first trip to Alice Springs for Terry Mumford, who was there to represent his late father and 2015 inductee George Mumford.

 

On behalf

Terry Mumford went the other way, starting out in trucking with his father’s business Mumfords Removals & Storage.

He opted out of the industry when it came time to update his old Kenworth W model log truck. Terry is now one of the managers at Austimber Harvesting and Haulage in Morwell, Victoria.

“I look after all the bush crews,” he says.

Terry was in town accepting the medal for his father, George Mumford, who passed away three years ago.

“I worked for dad for a long time,” Terry explains. “I started off driving a Thames Trader, and then I drove a Commer, and a 180 Inter with a Cummins in it. I did a bit of interstate in that.”

Terry says George would have loved being inducted, his father having visited Alice Springs years ago during his retirement.

“My sister brought dad and mum up here, and dad read every word on every wall in every room,” Terry says.

“They couldn’t get him out of here then, so he’d probably be smiling down now.”

One of the true characters present during the Road Transport Reunion was Graham Tomkins, better known as Mouse, who was also of the new inductees to the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame.

Sporting a terry towelling hat with the label of ‘Mr Mouse, Transportologist’, Mouse says his nickname came about years ago, thanks to “a bloke from Dubbo”.

“He said you had to be a rat to drive a truck, and I only weighed 47 kilos when I got my licence.

“They said I wasn’t big enough to be a rat, so that’s where Mouse came from,” he smiles.

“And it’s been Mouse ever since.”

But ‘transportologist’? “Well, that sounds better than a truck driver, doesn’t it? You get biologists, archaeologists and all that, and I just became a ‘transportologist’.”

Although he retired from being an owner-driver two years, Mouse is still working, driving for Craig Goodwin near Penrith, hauling dirt, clay and granite to fill an old quarry near the Nepean River.

However, his trusty FL Volvo 420 remains in Alice Springs, which he donated to take up a permanent place in the National Road Transport Museum.

Meanwhile, Craig Membrey collected two induction medals, one for himself and the other on behalf of his late father Jack Membrey.

“I’m still kind of a bit blown away,” Craig says. “My father passed away about 18 years ago, so it’s a bit of an honour to have both of us on the wall.”

However, it was Craig’s Kenworth T904 that he had on display at the Kenworth Hall of Fame’s new extension, which was of equally significant importance.

Craig lost his son Rowan to suicide in 2011, and the T904 has become a well-recognised tribute, at the same time promoting the BeyondBlue support service.

“That truck’s a Kenworth, an Australian-built truck, and my son was an Australian-built boy, so we decided to promote it,” Craig says.

He says in recent years he’s come to realise how important BeyondBlue is in dealing with depression and anxiety and preventing suicide.

“It’s a taboo word, suicide. People think it’s a weakness, but it’s not. It’s something you’ve got to share with people and get help early in the piece before it’s too late.

“I don’t like wasting one second of my life, I’m a goer, and I will definitely keep going,” Craig states.

“That truck’s going to be in the family for a long time to come.”

 

Steve Grahame, who drives a Kenworth C501 through remote WA, was a 2015 inductee.

 

Outback Trucker

Western Australia’s Steve Grahame was one of the most recognisable of the 2015 inductees due to his appearance in the television show Outback Truckers.

Steve says it was while he was greasing a turntable at Wubin that he was initially approached by one of the crew.

It led to a trip to Kalumburu at the end of the Gibb River Road becoming one of Outback Truckers’ highlights, although the boggy conditions tested the staying power of the film crew.

“That was a nightmare trip,” Steve says.

He was taking power stations off Arnhem Land out to Elcho Island, returning by barge.

“That took me weeks to get that load in. They had a sound man and a gopher, and in the end they flew them all out,” he recalls. “There was just a cameraman with me in the end.”

Steve’s job, which he has stuck with for the past 35 years, mostly involves hauling building materials and machinery to remote aboriginal communities with his Kenworth C501.

“It’s an old girl,” he smiles.

He was nominated for the Wall of Fame by Doug Kitts, himself an inductee in 2010.

“I’m greatly honoured,” Steve says. “People have said to me it’s getting diluted by the numbers that they’re inducting, but I don’t care.

“When you’re in there sitting in the ceremony and feel the emotion of it, it’s an honour.”

As well as the mammoth task of honouring the almost 280 new inductees, three important figures were recognised at the Hall of Fame, celebrating three icons of the industry.

Legendary truck importation pioneers Max Winkless and Ed Cameron, along with National Transport Insurance affairs manager Owen Driscoll, each received the commendation for their years of service across the industry.

Max Lane says Viva Energy was particularly pleased to recognise their efforts over more than 50 years in Australia.

“We are excited to celebrate the achievements of Owen, Max and Ed, hear their stories from across a lifetime of road transport involvement, and reward their service with the Icon of the Industry award,” he says.

However, the biggest cheer came during the gala dinner with the announcement that National Road Transport Hall of Fame CEO Liz Martin was honoured with the inaugural Special Recognition Award for lifetime service and contribution to the Australian road transport industry.

Fittingly, Liz was also inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame.

“I don’t think I should be up there, but I’m honoured to be there with you blokes,” Liz said upon receiving the award.

Around 8,000 people had flocked to Alice Springs to be part of this special reunion, and while it is an annual event, this was arguably the largest turnout to date.

“There’s approximately 40,000 transport businesses in Australia, so it’s a big sector,” Max says. “A lot of them are just owner-drivers, one or two trucks at most, and they cart for someone.

“We have supported this for 15 years, and we’re proud of our association here, and we look forward to it every year.”

 

 

The new extension to the Kenworth and Dealer Hall of Fame was named after Jim JJ Hurley.

 

Jim Hurley honoured

Matt Wood

The Kenworth Pavilion at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame is a popular attraction for visitors.

Kenworths old and new stand on display including the very first K125CR to roll out of the Bayswater plant gates.

This year Paccar Australia decided to nearly double the floor space of the display and extend the pavilion to 4,000 square-metres.

The new extension is now known as the JJ Hurley Pavilion and it was officially opened at this year’s Truckies’ Reunion.

Paccar Australia managing director Mike Dozier was positively beaming as he addressed the crowd on the night of the opening celebrations.

The American MD expat who now stands at the helm of Paccar locally said, “I’ve never seen anything as amazing as this anywhere in the world, it’s absolutely astounding.”

“The Kenworth and Dealer Hall of Fame provides a fantastic venue for truck lovers of all persuasions to reflect on the long history of the Kenworth brand, and just some of the characters that have played a part in our journey: employees, suppliers, dealers, customers and drivers alike.

“This opening marks the culmination of many months of hard work from a dedicated band committed to creating and curating a lasting record of Kenworth’s long history in Australia,” Dozier says.

“Congratulations to JJ Hurley. This Pavilion is a fitting tribute in recognition of his long and illustrious career.

“Hopefully many visitors will enjoy the stories the Kenworth and Dealer Hall of Fame displays have to tell.

“Without doubt, there can be few more dynamic, challenging, yet ultimately rewarding industries in which to work,” Dozier says.

 

The opening night of the new extension to the Kenworth pavilion.

 

National Road Transport Hall of Fame CEO Liz Martin also spoke at the official opening and reflected on an evening in the late 1990s that saw both Martin and Hurley first discuss the pavilion over “a bottle of red wine or two”.

Martin says, “It’s just a little humbling to be here over 20 years later.”

An emotional Hurley was taken by surprise when it was announced that the new 2,000sqm hall was going to be known as the ‘JJ Hurley Pavilion’.

“That’s just an honour, I just have to get myself together a bit,” he said before taking the microphone.

“There’s a lot of people I’d like to thank, the Kenworth management for joining with the dealer group to fund this facility, the Hall of fame committee.”

He then adds, “But Liz Martin is the Hall of Fame; it wouldn’t be what it is without her.”

JJ Hurley and former Paccar Australia MD Andrew Wright first conceived building the pavilion during a dealer trip in the United States.

What started out as a proposed fishing lodge for the dealer group soon became the Kenworth Pavilion at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame.

The Kenworth display is supported by the Kenworth Dealer Council and a small part of the sale of every Kenworth truck goes toward putting a new truck on display every year.

“I just got this idea that if we put new trucks here, we won’t have to restore them.”

The Brown and Hurley Group is celebrating 50 years in business this year.

That first K125CR which was restored for the museum, cost four times its original purchase price to bring back to its former glory bringing Hurley to the realisation that it would be more cost effective to put new trucks on display as they are built rather than restore older vehicles.

Recent additions to the display include a Limited Edition T909 Director and a tri-drive C509. There are now over 25 Kenworths on permanent display in the Pavilion.

 

 

This immaculate S2 belonging to the Travis family took out truck of the convoy trophy and prize pack.

Sunday drive

Matt Wood

The last weekend in August is always about trucking in Alice Springs.

This year was no exception, during this 20th anniversary year the air above Alice reverberated with the rumble of old Detroits, the hiss of maxi brakes and the squeal of air start Macks.

The celebratory atmosphere of the event this year was palpable among the diesel and dust as trucks old and new turned up for Sunday’s Cat All Truck Parts convoy.

Final numbers were hard to define, but close to 1,000 vehicles turned up for the drive through Alice Springs.

Vehicles as diverse as Champion tractors, Clipper busses and classic pick-ups joined the seething throng of heavy breathing haulers and vintage bangers of days gone by.

New Cat trucks and old V8 Macks stood shoulder to shoulder with modern T9 Kenworths, screaming Detroit powered Whites, Internationals, Dodges and even ’Benzs.

There was even an ancient century old Thornycroft.

This was truck geek heaven as the convoy roared into life and a timeline of Australian trucking history rumbled through town under the central Australian sun.

 

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a 3070 this clean. This T-Line Eagle owned by Charlie Grima of Grimtrans, on the runner-up truck of the convoy trophy and prize pack.

 

Convoy winner

I pity the poor bugger who had to pick the truck of the convoy prize this year. But numerous laps of the paddock over the previous couple of days did little to crystalise a stand-out winner in my mind.

However, among the dazzle and chrome one oldie but goodie really caught my eye.

The immaculate 1982 Kenworth S2 belonging to Kyneton Victoria based G & J Travis Transport looked and sounded every bit the Australian transport icon.

The restoration of the old banger was a family affair, Greg Travis credits the resto to his three sons, Leigh, Jamie and Matthew who painstakingly rebuilt the S2 in a shed over a two-year period.

The short-nosed Kenny is powered by a completely revamped 692TTA Detroit and back by

a venerable 9-speed Roadie, and that V6 bird scarer has an awesome note to it.

Greg confesses that the truck was “completely flogged out when we got it”. However, while it’s been a family project it still turns a wheel occasionally for the family business.

 

Craig Membrey’s T9 is a tribute to his son Rowan who died as a result of depression. The BeyondBlue livery spreads awareness about mental illness .

 

Runner up

The absolutely stunning International 3070 Eagle belonging to Sydney based Grimtrans was a real head turner to say the least.

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard anyone refer to a T-Line as a head turner but necks positively swivelled whenever the striking orange and white Inter rolled past.

Owner, Charlie Grima started his Marsden Park based business back in the 1980s with two Acco trucks. Looking for a project for himself and his son Damian they found this rare Eagle in the Victorian town of Leongatha.

The two-year resto saw it returned to exact factory specifications right down to the original colour and wedge brakes.

A naturally aspirated V903 Cummins nestles under the cab and the 320 gee gees of V8 power gets to the ground via a 15-speed overdrive ‘box and Rockwell 38 diffs.

 

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