A favourite workhorse for Robert Cross at his Denman district quarries for more than 40 years, a Scammell 4 x 4 Mountaineer tip truck, has been returned to its original home in the Snowy Mountains.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Having sat for more than 20 years in a paddock at Dalswinton near Denman the truck was transported on a low loader last week to Adaminaby where it will be housed in the Snowy Scheme Museum.
The Scammell 4 x 4was used during the construction of Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme.
One of the first 4WD trucks to arrive in Australia and one of 10 used on original scheme started after WW2, the Mountaineer was built in 1951 by Scammell Lorries Limited, a British manufacturer of trucks.
Mr Cross purchased the truck after he saw it advertised in Deals on Wheels and it was brought up to the Hunter Valley where it was operated by him in his Hunter River gravel quarries.
According to the Cross family only Robert operated the 'ugly beast' as it required a fair amount of 'Aerostart' to get it going before the engine kicked over with a huge bang and plenty of blue rings of smoke coming from the engine.
It was an excellent workhorse on the quarries - never missing a beat.
Since its retirement it has been host to grass and weeds on the Wolfgang family's property at Dalswinton before being donated and moved back to Adaminaby.
A special welcome was held upon its arrival in Cooma last week and it will eventually be cleaned up, not fully restored, before going on public display in October this year.
Of the original Scammells that worked on the scheme only two have survived, one is fully restored and owned by a private collector, and the other was the one owned by the Cross family.
Colleen Cross could not get over the interest in what she described as an ugly old truck.
"Its been amazing the interest and how keen people were to help get it back to Adaminaby," she said.
"It was moved free of cost by Leed Engineering which was marvellous. "And the enthusiasm of the Snowy Mountain people to have the truck back in their community was great to see."
She said a special event will be held when the truck goes officially on display and a representative from the manufacturer Leyland UK will be in attendance.