Vehicles dumped off cliffs, NSW

[Tony Smith]

While Philliphastings continues to reveal all sorts of vintage/military relics in these threads:

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=31638
http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=31639
http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=31640
http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=31641

I'd thought I'd also share some other discoveries of castoffs that occur in the area around us. The terrain in this area is fairly rugged, and many small resource extraction operations (minerals, timber, etc) were common from the 1920's through to the '70s. Quite a few of them were conducted by hard, ex-Military types, who naturally found good uses for ex-Military equipment.

Most often, these industrious entrepreneurs only found enough to sustain them, and most projects foundered. When closing down, it was not financially economical to retreive the plant, and much was left where it lay, or was dumped in a ravine.

Pictured here are a number of Australian Army 2 foot gauge Light Railway wagons that are dumped at the base of a cliff below a small mine. I do know that the locomotive was recovered from here some years ago but the wagons are not worth as much effort. The Army wagons should like this: https://ilrms.com.au/rail/flat-wagons/

Also recovered was some Lithgow-made railway track dating between 1899 and 1916.

It is remarkable that this stuff has been out in the weather for decades and seen many cycles of summer/winter and the frequent bushfire, yet remains in remarkable condition.

[maple_leaf_eh]

I was watching a reality TV show recently and one segment was a character recovering heavy logging equipment from a property previously owned by a hard working old timer, now off on his well deserved eternal rest. The big brightly painted pieces were easy to find and recover. However, the workers had to clamber over and around natural obstacles to rummage under the ferns and accumulated forest floor "duff". It made me wonder just how much good gear, cables, vehicles, hardware, parts, etc will never be found in our lifetimes. Pieces that could be used and not just as scrap metal.

[James P]

I have always wondered if the Bedaux Expedition vehicles have ever been visited, no doubt they would have been pretty bent up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedaux_expedition