Thread: Help locate a Len Beadell plaque, Gunbarrel Road

Not sure about the Gunbarrell Road Construction party being a 'company' per se, as I understand it they were actually employed by the military and this was a tongue-in-cheek moniker they adopted. In one of Len's books he mentions how chuffed they were when the Gunbarrell Highway was named with a nod to their nickname.
I took my family across the Anne Beadell Highway in 2001 and most, if not all, of the original signs were there, albeit not necessarily on their original posts. The original signs had the attaching holes shot through them with Len's revolver as he didn't carry a drill, hence the large holes.
The existence of the original signs certainly added to the magic of that trip. It's very sad that such things have to be protected from thieving morons.

I think this sign has to be at Everard Junction, intersection of Gunbarrell Hwy and Gary hwy. The distance from Carnegie HS is right, haven't measured distances to Warburton and Giles but they are in the same direction from there, and you would hang a right at the Great Central Road to get to Laverton. I don't know what the status of the Great Central Road was in 1958 but these directions and distances make sense. If this pre-dates the Great Central Road, you would have gone to Laverton via Neale Junction.

Several people typing simultaneously so my above post repeats thoughts of others.
I would be happy to head out and check the locations of these signs if the OP would like to pay for my fuel.

Originally Posted by POD

I think this sign has to be at Everard Junction, intersection of Gunbarrell Hwy and Gary hwy. The distance from Carnegie HS is right, haven't measured distances to Warburton and Giles but they are in the same direction from there, and you would hang a right at the Great Central Road to get to Laverton. I don't know what the status of the Great Central Road was in 1958 but these directions and distances make sense. If this pre-dates the Great Central Road, you would have gone to Laverton via Neale Junction.

Did some quick addition of modern road distances and came up with:
Everard Junc to Warburton 211 miles, to Giles 353 miles & Laverton 552 miles.
Everard Junc. to Carnegie 145 miles.
I only used the conversion of 1.6km to 1 mile & did the addition in my head, so E&OE. But more or less agree????

Excellent work guys. will dig up some more old photos & work this into this years trip.

cheers Don

Originally Posted by POD

Several people typing simultaneously so my above post repeats thoughts of others.
I would be happy to head out and check the locations of these signs if the OP would like to pay for my fuel.

Thanks for the offer but I think that will be stretching the budget a bit

Gday All,

Had a look back at the pics of our trip thru there a few years ago, and found this 1..The distances seem very vlose, but may be a different plaque..It is at or very near Geraldton Bore on the gunbarrel.


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There are some original plaques at the Giles weather station along with the original grader used by the road party...well worth the visit

Cheers Ean