By Ian Browning
The Friends were permitted to return to duties on 26th October, and you can imagine the joy of being able to meet face to face again after another 4 months! We had a celebratory cake to mark the occasion, which we recorded with a couple of photos (courtesy of Mark).
A considerable clean-up was necessary and our first priority was to check over our vehicles and give them a run. “Annie Lorrie“, the 1927 Chevrolet, had a starter motor failure, and the following Tuesday was devoted to successfully repairing that. She has since been given a short run.
In the meantime, we had to do work on one of the tractors too, and it was eventually brought back to life a couple of weeks later. Then the Leyland was found to have a serious water leak, and it stands idle, with repairs underway as I write this. It just goes to show that old vehicles do not like standing unused for long periods, just like us oldies – use it, or lose it, as they say!
We have succeeded in acquiring a pair of carbide headlamps for our International truck project during the lockdown.
They need some work, but they will look good on the truck. These headlamps, often called ‘carbide’ lamps, pre-date the fitting of electric lights on vehicles and use acetylene gas to produce light, with a gas generator mounted on a running board. Now, of course, for authenticity, we will be on the lookout for a carbide generator.
We have a backlog of maintenance to perform before we can really refocus on the International, but a few jobs are being done for it in the background. During the lockdown, the 4th anniversary of its donation to us passed, so you can see we are very patient, knowing it will be completed one day.
Merry Christmas, everybody.
If you would like to contact us to offer your services as a volunteer, call Ian 0419 435 475, or Vern 0405 703 413.
