An aged engineer passed on the basic elements of this story. He was grizzled and sunburnt and old when he told me, half a century ago, so it would not be unreasonable to assume that he has ridden his BSA Victor to the sky by now. That’s a shame, because I suspect he would have had a lot more stories. But we were going around the table with our tales, and the next one was from a younger bloke who knew a bit more about the “gross maladministration, negligence and unlawful actions in relation to the (Darling) river’s management” by Commonwealth officials than the Royal Commission let on, and that was interesting too.
We were a group of Sydney and local motorcyclists sitting in the courtyard of Maiden’s Hotel in Menindee in Outback NSW, telling tales of the Darling River both recent and long gone by. The older stories tend to be more interesting because in Outback NSW, a lot more happened back then. When we had that conversation, in the mid-1970s, it was already a backwater out there. The big attraction for us was the network of dirt station roads, ideal for our DT1s, PE250s and XL Motosports. And yes, we had a ute to carry fuel.
The shearer’s quarters, right next to the woolshed, are now popular accommodation for motorcyclists.
But I’ve managed to drift off the topic. Menindee and its surroundings, and especially Kinchega Station – now Kinchega National Park – can serve as a useful lesson in the application of engineering to the Australian Outback.
This country once created a staggering amount of wealth. Back in 1883 when Kinchega Station was at its peak, the property was running 160,000 sheep and employed 73 men. Even today, its 1875 woolshed with its 26 stands is still a prominent feature in the arid surroundings and perhaps the largest woolshed of its type remaining in the Western District.
The well-preserved woolshed is still one of the largest in the western districts of NSW.
Sheep shearing is done much the same way in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, although Australian shearing sheds tend to be larger due to the huge numbers of sheep run by any one station. As with some other aspects of animal husbandry, the difference between the history of Australia and the United States of America is more a matter of scale than anything else. Australia has some 105 million sheep while the US has 5 million. Consider also that the longest cattle drive in the US would have been what… the 620 miles of the Great Texas Trail? Australia’s longest cattle drive was 3000 miles.
The sheer (sorry) size of the industry called for mechanization even back in the mid-19thCentury. Steamboats on the Darling and Murray rivers competed with bullock teams to transport the wool clip, and in 1882, a bloke called Jack Gray was the first to completely shear a sheep with machine rather than hand-operated blade shears.
Twenty-six shearers would work here simultaneously, taking two or three minutes per sheep.
早期的机械化位于另一个例子Outback sun next to the Kinchega woolshed. Its rusted hulk belies its wonderful story. As a plaque explains, ‘This old “steam traction Engine” was originally “walked” up from Melbourne to dig earth tanks to provide stock with water. However it proved to be as costly and slow to cart water for the boilers with bullock teams as it was to use the teams themselves to dig the tanks. The steam engine was used to provide power for machine shearing in the Kinchega Woolshed until the 1920’s (sic) when combustion engines took over.’
This English-made Fowler engine was one of three “walked” up from Melbourne together. The process of “walking” involved taking a compass reading on Menindee from Melbourne, and then driving the engines the 500 miles through the bush on that reading. There were no roads, anyway. The crews would chop wood for fuel along the way, and when they reached a major river – there were at least three on this route – a carefully planned process would swing into action.
Except for a light patina of rust, the stands look as if they could still be used today.
One of the crew would swim across the river with a light lead line. He would then pull a more substantial cable across along with a block and tackle, which would be fastened to a riverside tree. Fortunately, Australian inland rivers tend to have huge River Red Gums growing next to them. Meanwhile, one of the engines would have its fire put out and be allowed to cool before being attached to the cable and pulled across the river, underwater on the riverbed, by the other two. With its fire relit it would then pull the others across, also suitably cold.
Eventually they would reach Menindee; unfortunately, I have not been able to find out how long it took them. It would have been hard yakka keeping the fireboxes glowing with eucalyptus hardwood.
(Photos The Bear)
