Hello again!
We are again trying out this new way of hosting a weekly coffee run. Last week we had an excellent post from Doug of a virtual tour of his shed, which was very comprehensive and entertaining.
What have you been up to this week? Any interesting ways of passing the time during the lockdown? Or have you made any progress on your cars? Please feel free to share below.
Today it will be 29°C and sunny in Camden, a lovely day for some virtual Veteran motoring! P.S. If you are having trouble with logging in or setting up an account, contact me at abbeypnewman@gmail.com
Well I am signing off for the present. Maybe next month we can have a real coffee run but if not we can meet up here again - and hopefully a few more will join us.
But please use the forum in the mean time. I think it's a great way to communicate.
And a big thank you to Abbey for setting it up.
Doug
Hi Doug & everyone. Looking forward to getting back to our regular Coffee Runs. Just filling in time today upgrading my solar low voltage household lighting system. I built it about thirty years ago with an imported small solar panel & made my own control panel & switch gear as nothing was readily available in Australia at the time. Have bought a much larger solar panel, regulator & some heavier wiring. This will keep me busy for a few days. REMEMBER! Stay isolated & keep your batteries charged. Take care, Les Watton
And as a veteran motorist you had to slow down to 6 miles per hour (about 10 kph) when passing a school with the children coming out and 15 miles per hour (about 24 kph) within the boundaries of any city,
I have a 1914 print of "The Motor Traffic Act (No 5 1909) and Regulations". Remember how right hand turns had to be made going past each other rather than under each other as per now? Remember those blessed silent cops?
Or the old joke when someone hit a bump. "Was that a silent cop? Not sure but it is now."
I was looking at some old maps yesterday which reminded me that there was no direct road to Newcastle for many years. Here's a bit about the bridge across the Hawkesbury from Wikipedia:
Peats Ferry, a ferry operated by George Peat from 1847 until the 1890s, provided a local crossing of the Hawkesbury River: at that time there was no direct road between Sydney and Newcastle. The ferry service was made redundant by the completion of the Sydney-Newcastle railway in 1889 with the opening of the first Hawkesbury River railway bridge. Between 1925 and 1930 the New South Wales Public Works Department, and subsequently the Main Roads Board, undertook construction of the road between Hornsby and Gosford, in order to provide a direct road route between Sydney and Newcastle. Upon completion of the roadworks in 1930 Peats Ferry was reinstated between Kangaroo Point and Mooney Mooney Point, pending construction of the bridge.
Construction of the bridge commenced in 1938 but it was not completed until May 1945.[1][8] Prior to construction of the Hornsby-Gosford road via Peats ferry the most direct road route between Sydney and Newcastle was via the Old Northern Road via Wisemans Ferry and Cessnock, built in the 1820s.
The Sydney-Hornsby-Gosford-Newcastle route was named as part of the Great Northern Highway in 1928, and renamed as part of the Pacific Highway in 1931.
Ther's an old DMR video about the bridge on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwnnamyZwcY
Some of our older members may remember going on the punt before the bridge was finished.
Working on a 1937 Daimler Light Straight Eight belonging to a friend. I have had the water pump on and off many times to fix a leak. It was not the seal. Made up a pressure test which I should have done first and found the problem. Should be OK this time - I hope!
Hi9 everyone
Normally I would be arriving at Curry Reserve at about this time wondering how many will be turning up - and thinking about what goodies there might be - Robyn's slices, Jan's cup cakes, and Bruce will have either fruit cake or a jam roll. In stead I was sorting Edison Diamond Discs.
I wonder what you are all up to
I should be spending the day varnishing the artillery wheels on my Oldsmobile, or at least mowing the weeds! But I'm spending today drinking coffee and finishing off a video of old photos sourced online that shows some of the vehicles used by our ANZACs in WW1 and WW2, I hope to upload it to Facebook tonight. I figured if we can't use our heritage vehicles for Anzac Day parades etc. I'd find another way to show the cars and trucks were used by our defence forces.
I've also been doing another line of research this week into one of my old favourite topics - charabancs, and along the way stumbled on to this fantastic photo of a chain drive FIAT at Deniliquin, caption says after a 45 mile journey from Murgha Station. Wonder if it's still in the Deni area?
Image online at https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1ocrdrt/ADLIB110311031