Fairbridge Village WA, 2011 National Rally.
Fairbridge Site layout Map, First House Cook, Second House Belfast, and Scratton Lodge.
These are some of the houses the club members have booked for 2011.
These are some of the houses the club members have booked for 2011.
http://www.nhmafairbridge2011.info/
NHMA Rally in Western Australia report –
Report and photos by Ian Browning
Our much anticipated trip to Western Australia was everything we could have wished for – perfect planning, thanks to Tim Brodie who did all the organising and booking, cool but pleasant weather for the three weeks, great company, an excellent range of natural and historic places of interest, some wonderful museum collections mostly the work of passionate individuals, a great venue for both the rally and our stay, and a very good rally indeed.
The 13th National Historic Machinery Association rally at Fairbridge was the reason 17 of us participated in what became dubbed
“Tim’s Top Tours”, doing a trip around the South West before settling at our cottage at FairbridgeVillage near Pinjarra. Numerous other SAMCI members also came over, some to exhibit, others just for a look. The transportation of our boxed exhibits went without a hitch, and surprisingly we were the only ones to take advantage of the transport arrangements from the Eastern states offered by the rally organisers.
As most members would be readers of Tomm magazine, I won’t go into detail on the rally because it would duplicate their reports. Rather, I will briefly mention some of the other highlights.
After our arrival in Perth, we motored down South in our bus, passing through scenery dominated by extensive water from recent heavy rains, and a major stop was Busselton where we walked the 1.8km jetty and visited the Butter FactoryMuseum. The normal train ride along the jetty was not available due to radiator failure. It was a bit of a let down to discover it was powered by a Honda Civic engine! Then down to Augusta where we visited the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, where the two Oceans meet (Indian and Great Southern). Then on our way to Walpole we took in the Pemberton Railway, now virtually abandoned, then the tree Top Walk on the swaying elevated walkway and marvelled at the giant Tingle trees, some of the tallest trees in Australia, yet confined to only a 400 Sq Km area. Then on to Albanyand the Whaling Station Museum, where we relived the gruesome stories of the whaling industry. Our next stop was Kulin, where our accommodation was a very new back-packers lodge, which exceeded our expectations. At Kulin we visited the local museum where the volunteers have high hopes of gaining a Government grant to enable them to better house their
fine collection. We travelled the “Tin Horse Highway”, a 20Km stretch of road with mainly scrap metal sculptures at every property, with horses the mai theme. From Kulin we visited Wave Rock, an iconic natural feature, then nea Hyden we visited ressiesMuseum, a remarkable and beautifully presented collection, the work of one couple with a lifetime of collecting. Then we had a brief visit to the York Motor Museum, cut short by a tyre problem, and then on to Fairbridge.
From our Fairbridge base we did tours of Bucyrus and Westrac Cat, seeing the assembly and refurbishment of giants of the mining
industry, thanks to member Ludi De Vries for organising. Another day a trip to Fremantle, also to the YarloopRailway Wookshop Museum, which was a snapshot in time of steam locomotive manufacture and maintenance. We also went to Dardanup Historic Village, an extensive collection largely inspired by one man and carried on by his widow. A feature was the working steam powered sawmill. Another day saw us visit Kings Parkin Perth, and take the open top bus around the city. One of the strong impressions of the
South-west is the enormous rôle the timber industry had in the region, for which local railways came into existence, including the Hotham Valley Railway we all rode on from Dwellingup to Pinjarra and return on another day. This has a 1:20 gradient, one of the steepest in Australia using conventional steam locomotives. We also visited the local Pinjarra HeritageMuseum. Many of their engines had been on show at the rally. On our last day we visited a private collection of Buick cars. What a shed!
Here are just a few of the 1625 photos I took of the trip and rally.
Report and photos by Ian Browning
Our much anticipated trip to Western Australia was everything we could have wished for – perfect planning, thanks to Tim Brodie who did all the organising and booking, cool but pleasant weather for the three weeks, great company, an excellent range of natural and historic places of interest, some wonderful museum collections mostly the work of passionate individuals, a great venue for both the rally and our stay, and a very good rally indeed.
The 13th National Historic Machinery Association rally at Fairbridge was the reason 17 of us participated in what became dubbed
“Tim’s Top Tours”, doing a trip around the South West before settling at our cottage at FairbridgeVillage near Pinjarra. Numerous other SAMCI members also came over, some to exhibit, others just for a look. The transportation of our boxed exhibits went without a hitch, and surprisingly we were the only ones to take advantage of the transport arrangements from the Eastern states offered by the rally organisers.
As most members would be readers of Tomm magazine, I won’t go into detail on the rally because it would duplicate their reports. Rather, I will briefly mention some of the other highlights.
After our arrival in Perth, we motored down South in our bus, passing through scenery dominated by extensive water from recent heavy rains, and a major stop was Busselton where we walked the 1.8km jetty and visited the Butter FactoryMuseum. The normal train ride along the jetty was not available due to radiator failure. It was a bit of a let down to discover it was powered by a Honda Civic engine! Then down to Augusta where we visited the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, where the two Oceans meet (Indian and Great Southern). Then on our way to Walpole we took in the Pemberton Railway, now virtually abandoned, then the tree Top Walk on the swaying elevated walkway and marvelled at the giant Tingle trees, some of the tallest trees in Australia, yet confined to only a 400 Sq Km area. Then on to Albanyand the Whaling Station Museum, where we relived the gruesome stories of the whaling industry. Our next stop was Kulin, where our accommodation was a very new back-packers lodge, which exceeded our expectations. At Kulin we visited the local museum where the volunteers have high hopes of gaining a Government grant to enable them to better house their
fine collection. We travelled the “Tin Horse Highway”, a 20Km stretch of road with mainly scrap metal sculptures at every property, with horses the mai theme. From Kulin we visited Wave Rock, an iconic natural feature, then nea Hyden we visited ressiesMuseum, a remarkable and beautifully presented collection, the work of one couple with a lifetime of collecting. Then we had a brief visit to the York Motor Museum, cut short by a tyre problem, and then on to Fairbridge.
From our Fairbridge base we did tours of Bucyrus and Westrac Cat, seeing the assembly and refurbishment of giants of the mining
industry, thanks to member Ludi De Vries for organising. Another day a trip to Fremantle, also to the YarloopRailway Wookshop Museum, which was a snapshot in time of steam locomotive manufacture and maintenance. We also went to Dardanup Historic Village, an extensive collection largely inspired by one man and carried on by his widow. A feature was the working steam powered sawmill. Another day saw us visit Kings Parkin Perth, and take the open top bus around the city. One of the strong impressions of the
South-west is the enormous rôle the timber industry had in the region, for which local railways came into existence, including the Hotham Valley Railway we all rode on from Dwellingup to Pinjarra and return on another day. This has a 1:20 gradient, one of the steepest in Australia using conventional steam locomotives. We also visited the local Pinjarra HeritageMuseum. Many of their engines had been on show at the rally. On our last day we visited a private collection of Buick cars. What a shed!
Here are just a few of the 1625 photos I took of the trip and rally.
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