Six individuals and one trucking company have been added to a growing list of industry legends, honoured as part of the Deniliquin & District Transport Industry Wall of Fame.
Inductions for both 2020 and 2021 were completed at the special ceremony at the Deniliquin RSL Club on Saturday night.
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Honoured for their contributions for 2020 were Helen Dann, Peter Clark, and Seymours Transport.
The 2021 inductees were Robert Pearse and Ron Brown, with father and son Harry and Phillip Meadowcroft who were inducted together.
Deniliquin Truck Show committee president Evan Whitbourne said all honourees have spent decades in the industry, with some demonstrating the generational importance of the industry to the region.
‘‘Seymours Transport, for example, were pioneers of the industry,’’ he said.
‘‘The company started at the turn of the last century — starting with a horse and cart at the start of the 1900s and then progressing and updating right up until the 1980s.
‘‘And then you have people like Helen Dann, who after breaking through to become a female driver also went on to become a pilot and do other great things.
‘‘Each of our inductees is unique in what they do, and have made it (transport) a lifestyle — it’s not just a nine to five job.’’
The double induction was necessary after the 2020 and 2021 Wall of Fame Dinner and Truck Show events were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Whitbourne said it was great to come together again, and to celebrate the industry.
That celebration included the launch of the book, Deniliquin & District Transport History: Volume 1.
It has been in production since 2018, when the Deniliquin Truck Show Committee received $3000 seed funding from the Deniliquin Community Group.
Over the last four years, 13 stories about local transport companies, transport families and drivers have been painstakingly researched and collated for inclusion.
‘‘We have a lot of trucking families in our district, and you can read about just some of them in the book,’’ Mr Whitbourne said.
‘‘The book has been well received already, with more than 80 sold on the night. Copies will now be sold at The Depot in Hardinge St, Deniliquin.
‘‘Overall, it was fantastic to catch up and get our inductees honoured.
‘‘We had about 160 people at the dinner, which is good considering there was no actual truck show attached to the event like in other years.’’
Mr Whitbourne said the committee hopes for a similar turnout when it comes time for the 2022 Wall of Fame induction, with a ceremony to be held later in the year.
More about the 2020 and 2021 inductees:
Helen Dann:
Helen was drawn to trucks from an early age. Despite there being no truck drivers in her family, after she got her driver’s licence at 17 ‘‘I could not wait to get my truck licence’’.
‘‘The sound of trucks grinding through the gears as they struggled over the Bargo Bridge south of Tahmoor NSW and up the winding old Hume Highway had ignited my fascination with trucks,’’ she said.
‘‘During my childhood and early teens I spent some holidays with my favourite aunt whose property faced the old highway.
‘‘After working in offices when I left school in Sydney at 15, I moved to Melbourne to work at Ansett ANA. Now in Victoria, because I had a NSW licence, I changed it to Vic and still 17 went to a semi driving school in Nicholson St and obtained my semi licence.
‘‘Now, to get a job driving!’’
‘‘First, I asked someone where I used to watch mechanical work and they suggested I ask Eddie Smith Livestock in Niddrie.
‘‘I charged around there and asked if he wanted another driver? I don’t know whether he’d been drinking, but he said start Monday.
In an old Ford long wheelbase semi, Helen headed off to Dandenong stock market to pick up her first load of cattle.
After some time she moved up to a TK Bedford, and would take some of Eddie’s kids — ‘‘piled in, no seat belts then’’ — on some of the trips to South Melbourne abattoirs.
The female driver caught the attention of journalists and cartoonists alike.
After a short return to teleprinter operator at a stock and share brokers office, Helen’s longing for driving saw her back in the driver’s seat.
Despite some hesitation from the sons of AR Neats, she was given the chance to work for the company which was subcontracted for Australian Paper Mills. She would pick up clay near Essendon.
Now 19, Helen started saving for her own truck, and in 1964/5 picked up her first TK Bedford from GMH in Dandenong.
‘‘I started a livestock cartage business.
‘‘After a while I decided I wanted a bit more excitement and began interstate work. I bought another bigger truck with and began sub-contracting for Hartridge Transport and doing a bit of other independent work’’.
Peter Clark:
Peter came to NSW in February 1950 and went to work on a farm at Jimaringle, in the Wakool district.
He had his first drive in a truck on the property in a 1926/27 Chevrolet 30 CWT. In 1952 while still working at the property he met Ron Landini, a transport operator from Wakool who came to the farm to load wool. He had a 1952 Ford tray body truck.
That meeting would lead to a job offer six years later, after Peter spent a season with John Wilson of Tullakool in a Commer truck gaining experience carting stock and grain.
It was with Landini in late 1956 that Peter was given the opportunity to get his semi trailer licence, and stock, wool and grain were regularly transported.
Peter then had an offer to cart redgum logs for Fitzpatricks saw mills at Darlington Point, with regular trips supplying Melbourne customers starting his interstate driving experience. It continued until the recession, when noone could afford the interstate fire wood.
It was back to Wakool and Landinis, until 1970 when Peter took a job with Ludvick Lumbar at Lumbars Transport Deniliquin.
Between 1975 and 1997, Peter drove a fleet of SAR Kenworth trucks for the Rice Growers Cooperative, carting bulk rice from all rice areas to the Deniliquin rice mill.
With the fleet redundant, Peter had virtually retired when he was approached by Eddie Lumbar (Ludvick’s son) to get a fuel carting operation on the road. And he carted BP fuel to Bendigo and Deni for the next two years, until ‘‘age caught up with me and I retired again’’.
Seymours Transport:
In the 1920s Daniel Seymour sold his horse team to purchase a T Model Ford truck, with a carrying capacity of five bales of wool. It was one of only two trucks in Deniliquin at the time.
Dan’s four sons — Frank, Jack, Kevin (Coddy) and Lance — became experienced drivers long before gaining their driver’s licences.
The firm, Seymours Transport, quickly cemented its place within the transport community. The T Model had long been replaced by bigger trucks including Diamond Ts, Chevrolets, Dodges, Commers, Internationals and the powerful USA imported Side Valve White. The White was to carry a record 104 bales of wool.
With this expansion, extra drivers had to be employed.
Following his discharge from the army after World War II, Frank branched out with his own trucking business until his death in 1961, aged 44.
Seymours Transport had the motto ‘We carry anything, anywhere, any time’ and lived up to this claim. Apart from the usual transportation of livestock, wool and fuel, there was the more unusual feat of two trucks travelling in tandem with a house suspended across the two tuck trays.
More extraordinary was the contract with Wirths circus, to transport elephants from Deniliquin to Koondrook — Coddy at the wheel and four elephants standing on the flat tray.
Dan, founder and pioneer of the firm, relocated to Melbourne, leaving Jack, Coddy and Lance to continue the business.
The 1950s and ‘60s saw many long haul trips to Longreach, Queensland carting sheep for FS Falkiner.
Jack, a handy engineer, designed and built all Seymours stock crates and trailers, including their first triple decker crate. Hundreds of trips were made to Newmarket Saleyards in Melbourne, backloading whatever was available.
After being an integral part of the firm Coddy was forced to retire from driving due to ill health. Jack, too, began to drive less. In the late 1970s, Lance branched out on his own. When Lance passed away in 2011, aged 81, it was the end of an era!
Harry and Phillip Meadowcroft:
Harry was born in Formby, England and came out to Australia as a ‘little brother’. He worked as a dairy hand and at a gold mine near Wangaratta before marrying Marion and moving to Deniliquin to cut wood.
Harry purchased his first truck, a Fargo, and then a C-35 International.
After the floods in 1931 and was contracted to cart the wood to the sawmill. This was the start of Meadowcrofts Transport.
After a time he gave away the wood cutting and put trailers on his trucks, and started into general carrying.
He built his first stock crate himself out of wood. What a sight it must have been to see Harry with two decks of sheep being brought to the market on his truck and homemade crate, instead of having to walk them in.
Harry had the carrying contract when they were building the Lawson Syphons — cement, steel pipes, pylons, he carried the lot.
The C-35 International was Harry’s pride and joy as it towed the first trailer ever built by Stecco trailers in Melbourne.
When war broke out in 1939 they stared to build the Tocumwal aerodrome, Harry was contracted to cart all the materials.
As well as carting wheat, wool and stock, Harry had the job of carting all the engines of the planes that crashed at the Deni pilot training facility to Melbourne.
In 1941 the Allied Works took Harry and his trucks up to Queensland working around the Longreach and Charters Towers area, again transporting all sorts of freight and war equipment. He was up there for a number of years.
Right near the end of the war he had a fallout with the Allied Works about the way they were treating his trucks, so they took them all off him and sent him home.
He arrived home with no trucks and then started the battle to get the government of the day to pay him for them.
Geo Lawson, Member for Riverina, got involved and Harry ended up with two brand new Internationals from the factory in South Melbourne. He was back in business.
Harry sold the business in the 1970s and moved to Batemans Bay, where he died in 1975 at the age of 69.
The Member for Riverina also played a role in Harry’s son Phil’s trucking career, helping him get his licence early at the age on 18 in 1955 so he could work for his father.
After one training trip to Melbourne with Harry by his side, he was fully trained.
‘‘Sink or swim’’ were Harry’s words, and Phillip was making three trips each week from Deniliquin to Melbourne in a F600 — referred to as ‘‘the death trap’’ by Phil.
In 1958 Phil had a terrible accident near Echuca which nearly claimed his life. He carried these injuries with him for the rest of his fife.
Phil went back into trucks after his recuperation and worked at Meadowcrofts until the business was sold. He continued in the industry after as a tow truck operator, coach driver and driving during harvest until he became secretary/manager at Tomago Social Club.
Phil spent about 30 years in the industry and passed away in 2010, aged 73.
Bob Pearse:
Bob Pearse started driving at 14 and continues to drive now — at 70.
Bob had his own trucks for many years and one of his main customers was John Elliot — which kept him busy for up to 9 months of the year.
In the year 2000 he co-ordinated, with the help of 22 subbies, 52,000 tonne of rice in one harvest. The value of this rice was in excess of $1 million.
When Bob got out of his own trucks he worked for companies that included WESCOMBS, McAleese Transport and Stribleys in Wangaratta, Woods in Tabbita, and Carmichael's in Ivanhoe, among others. He currently works for Lachlan Crossley, from Crossley Transport.
Bob's longest stint away from home was six months. He’s been to just about every corner in Australia except Tasmania, including 10 trips across the Nullabour in his 60s with oversize up to 9m.
Bob is a fully qualified escort pilot, however his love is hopping into a truck and driving across the countryside.
Ron Brown:
Ron started driving at the age of 16, carting red gum to Moulamein timber mill. He was under age for a licence in NSW, so went to Victoria to obtain one.
Ron has been in the industry for 60 plus years, during which time he’s served in many avenues of the transport industry — driving interstate, managing and supervising and acquiring many skills.
He even had his own heavy vehicle driver training/assessor business — RDT Driver Training for several years — whilst still driving for other companies.
Ron has driven for Leitchs, Selwood, Seltino and John Nash in Melbourne in earlier years prior to moving to Sydney, where there he spent 15 years driving interstate for Arnotts.
After taking a redundancy from Arnotts he started RDT Driver Training, and carried it on with him when he and wife Margaret moved to Finley 12 years ago.
Ron is now semi-retired, but still works as a bus driver for Dyson Group which he is enjoying.
Ron and Margaret have two sons also in the industry, Greg and Dave.
Ron was inducted into the transport Hall of Fame at Alice Springs in 2014.
Senior journalist