After being drenched by around 80mm in the days leading up to the event, it did little to dampen the spirits of those making their way to the small town of Trangie for a celebration of trucks, tractors, cars and more.
Located in the Orana region of NSW, Trangie has a strong history in transport and agriculture, with wheat and irrigated cotton being among the main crops to come out of the town.
To celebrate its links with transport and agriculture, a committee came together to launch the inaugural Trangie Truck and Tractor Show in 2019 – and it was a huge success. The town of Trangie is home to about 800 people and that show had around 2500 people come through the gates.
Due to be held every two years, the second instalment was originally slated to take place in August 2021 – but Covid restrictions put a hold on that. Instead, the event was held on Saturday April 9.
Determined to see the event go ahead, organisers vowed it would go ahead rain, hail or shine.
“Thursday it started to rain so on Friday we had a meeting and decided cancelling wasn’t an option,” said organising committee member Rob McCutcheon. “By Saturday morning, it was still raining and we had about 80mm by then, so we made a plan to shift a lot of the static displays to the main street rather than the showground.
“We decided on the Saturday morning that we weren’t going to charge an entry fee at the gate. It wasn’t as big as 2019 but would have been between 1000-1500 which is pretty special given the weather we had. People came from the east coast, and even Victoria and Queensland.
“It was just great to see so many people coming from all over to visit Trangie. Some people arrived on the Wednesday and stayed through to Monday and really supported our town. It was good for small businesses and good for the community.
“At about 10am it stopped raining and stayed that way until about 3pm which was enough time for all of the main activities to go ahead, including the Show and Shine event. The tractor pull had to be cancelled though as it was too wet and couldn’t be done on the bitumen.”
Trucks began to roll into town, with those old and new filling up the main streets and its surrounds. There were approximately 40 trucks registered for the Show and Shine awards, however many others made their way to Trangie too.
Show and Shine awards winners were:
- Best Restored Truck – Phil Campbell
- Best Classic Truck – Larry Briggs
- Best Working Truck – Bowers Heavy Haulage
- Best Presented Truck – Phil Campbell
- Best Fleet – Magill Transport
- Best Kenworth over 10 years – Jimmy Norman
- Best Mack over 10 years – Graeme Hoy
- Overall Grand Champion/Truck of the Show – Phil Campbell
“We had a really good roll out of trucks, and a good mixture of old and new trucks,” McCutcheon added.
Other highlights of the day included the demolition derby, market stalls, kids activities and the inaugural Trangie Truck and Tractor Show Hall of Fame, where six people were inducted.
The Hall of Fame aims to showcase and recognise those who have operated within the Narromine Shire and made a recognisable contribution to the transport and agricultural industries. Those inducted at the recent event were the late Len Hilder who owned Trangie Transport and purchased the first road train for the area; Malcolm Radburn who ran MC & HJ Radburn Carriers; the late Brian Rees who was one of the founding truck drivers of Narromine Carriers; the late Peter Gaffney who carted fuel before purchasing his own truck, a 1970 R model Mack in 1993, which is now owned by his son; third-generation truckie Suzanne Bone-Perry; and Jeff Ryan who started Jeff Ryan Transport in Trangie.
Though this is the first time the Trangie Truck and Tractor Show has run the Hall of Fame awards, there are plans afoot to expand it into something much bigger. “Our first Hall of fame was to recognise people from within our shire, but the ultimate aim is for it to become a hall of fame for all of NSW. We’re trying to establish a hall of fame for the east coast,” revealed McCutcheon.
“Our intention from 2019 was to build a Hall of Fame, similar to the one in Alice Springs, but one for NSW. Ultimately, we’re hoping to grow that and eventually build a museum to recognise those who have made a significant contribution to the transport and agricultural industry over many years. If we can get the funding, we want to build a big enough museum to house many of the vintage trucks and tractors that the district has. It would become a focal point for visitors who come to visit the town.”