Thread: Where am I? Competition.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

A bit of history please.

The Washington Winch is a steam-powered logging skidder, or cable winch. It was imported to Australia in the 1920s and was initially used to move the large Jarrah logs from the forests of Western Australia. It was later sold to the Forests Commission of Victoria for salvaging timber after the 1939 Black Friday fires.

The Washington Winch operated either a high lead or a skyline system. The high lead system was not often used as it only partially lifted the logs off the ground, which caused the logs to become caught in rocks, and left behind a "snig track", which deepened over time. The skyline system involved two large spars (trees) used to create a "flying fox" to lift logs over the rough ground. Riggers climbed 60m up a large tree and headed the trunk, which would cause the tree to sway violently. They then secured the spar with guy cables and attached the tackle. This operation was dangerous and physically demanding, often taking a full day, with lunch sent up on a rope. The Washington Winch was used to harvest Alpine Ash which would then be used for high-value products such as furniture, flooring and architraves.

The Washington Winch at Nugong is the only high lead/skyline logging system in Victoria which still retains a winch engine and the associated spars and cables. The massive logging engine and winch drums were manufactured by the Washington Iron Works in Seattle, USA, and imported to Australia in the 1920s. Ezard Enterprises purchased the engine in 1959 from the Forests Commission of Victoria, and employed it at the head of the Little River catchment for the 1960/61 logging season. Logs were hauled up from a gully using the winch engine in a high lead system, while the skyline system adjacent to the road was used for loading log trucks. The site consists of a twin cylinder, triple drum winch engine, boiler and water tank, all mounted on a large log frame. In addition, two bare tree trunks opposite the engine acted as head and tail spars, each still supporting an array of steel cables for log hauling and spar bracing. A skyline cable suspended between the spars supports the carriage and fall block. Large trees stumps are used as anchor points for both the skyline cable and the bracing cables.

The Washington Winch, Nugong, is historically and scientifically significant as the only intact high lead/skyline logging system within Victoria. The site includes a rare Washington Iron Works Yarding Engine, the only one known to exist in the State, and possibly Australia. The integrity of the winch engine, spar trees, cables and anchor points demonstrate well how the system operated, which facilitated logging in difficult terrain.

A few more pics of the system here:-

http://applications.doi.vic.gov.au/I...67.jpg/vhr.jpg

http://applications.doi.vic.gov.au/I...65.jpg/vhr.jpg

Next one -



Photo was taken in 2002 so not sure how much of the truck is still left.

ohh thats a good one Rodger
It looks like a truck that I seen near Maree S.A?

Just on the Washington winch theme there a show I saw on Cable TV whilst visiting with someone , called Axe Men I think, anyway some yank tv show about competing loggers, one of the teams still used the high lead system , fascinating stuff. well worth watching just to see the equipment at work, if you can just ignore the dumb yanks. Here is a pic of my great uncle working a Washington Winch at Spion Kopje in Vic . (I think the winch is still there) There is/ was also another in the bush near powelltown, at least was when I saw it 25 years ago.

Originally Posted by Leigh 110

ohh thats a good one Rodger
It looks like a truck that I seen near Maree S.A?

Wrong state Leigh - the surrounding terrain indicates which state it's in.

Heres a photo of it when it ran out of fuel, since then its been flooded a few times, washed over and had all the good bits taken by souvenir hunters, but I don't know where it is , other than I do remember seeing a similar 15cwt near Halls Creek WA

Originally Posted by goingbush

Heres a photo of it when it ran out of fuel, since then its been flooded a few times, washed over and had all the good bits taken by souvenir hunters, but I don't know where it is , other than I do remember seeing a similar 15cwt near Halls Creek WA

Nice truck and correct state but need to go further west.

The rusted chassis is only a few kms from quite a significant historic building that is only two years short of celebrating it's centenary.

Well it's been more than 24hrs since anyone has had a go at this location so maybe another clue is in order so here's a photo of the historic building referred to in the previous clue.