WHITE Muster - Kyabram, Victoria - March 2015
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Travelog and photos by Noelene West
After leaving home in the dark at 6.45 am Friday, daylight greeted us at Douglas Park with a beautiful sunrise. We stopped at Yass for food and fuel and, met up with Peter Hand. We also had a surprise meeting with Boris Satara who we know through the RCA car club. Boris was on his way to one of the Salt Lakes where his son races his car and Peter travelled with us as far as Gundagai where he was going to visit his son. After Yass there was a strong head wind which got stronger the further we travelled towards Kyabram. We stopped at Albury for fuel before arriving in Kyabram about 5.00 pm. and booked into our cabin, dinner and bed.
The “early bird” was up and gone by 8.00am to take the truck to the showground. Trevor Supertrucker had arrived early - about 1.00am. It was another beautiful day. I had a lazy start and got to the showground about 10.30am.
There was a great display of trucks (see Ray’s report at the end) and some vintage and classic cars.
The White Muster wasn’t just about White Trucks it was also a vintage machinery show. So as I was approaching the gates the familiar putt, putt, putt, knock, knock, knock, phhhht, phhhht sounds came to my ears. It was unbelievable the number of steam engines, Villiers engines and very clever inventions using steam. A working display of a very old hay baler, shearing by hand and mechanised clippers, a steam driven log saw, just to name a few. It was quite an interesting day. I counted 261 different steam driven machines and inventions, and Villiers machines being demonstrated.
There were some wonderful and varied collections on display. - Washing pegs, buttons, cyclops bikes and cars, oil cans, wooden toys, old radios. There were also working demonstrations including wood machining, morse code, leather working, sewing – the list goes on and on! - Something for everyone.
There was choice of great tasting hamburgers, hot fresh chips, cold drinks and, the ladies provided, sandwiches, cakes and hot drinks. The toilets were well kept and clean. The PA system was great. The trucks and cars were sited very well. It was a very organised but laid back muster. Full credit must go to Ray Grima, Michelle and family.
The Saturday night dinner was held at the Kyabram Club - a very nice sit down, three course meal enjoyed in good company.
Sunday saw the “early bird” fly out by 8.00am. The lazy partner got to the showground about 11 00am. It was another lovely day, just mooching about, eating, drinking and telling true lies. It was great to catch up with Ray and also Marg and Ray Brown. We left the showground about fourish as most people had packed up by then. We had a few drinks, dinner and a fairly early night.
We left Kyabram at about 7.00am on Monday morning and had a good trip home – It was a long trip though, about ten hours - with a couple of stops for fuel and food. The red truck travelled 800 miles or 1280 kms, averaged 12.65 miles/gal or 4.44 kms/l at an average speed from 86-89 kms/hour. Would you believe we passed a couple of heavily laden modern trucks on the hills but they soon made up ground on the downwards side!!
It was an excellent weekend.
The following is from the White Muster Face Book Page:
“Thanks to all our exhibitors for making the effort to attend, some travelling great distances. Here is the White Muster round up tally.
920s White x 1, White Model 802 x 1, White Superpower x 3, White Mustangs x 2, White 3000 x 2, White 4000 x 2, White 7564 x 1, White 9000 x 7, White Road Boss x 5, White Road Commander x 10, White Tractor x 1, Reo x 2, Diamond Reo x 1, Diamond T x 6, Western Star x 9, Clectrac x 2, Oliver-Clectrac x 3. That’s a total of 58 Whites made and related items not including 3 x White Lawn Mowers and Don Hughes’ White memorabilia display. That’s a fantastic effort! Brand “X” trucks – 70. That makes this year’s White Muster the biggest so far. Let’s see if we can make the 2017 White Truck Muster even bigger!” – Ray Grima {gallery)whitemuster2015(/gallery)