Thursday June 16, 2022
Volume 37 No. 22
$1
inc. GST
The Cobar Weekly Emergency services called to car accident Pg 2
Fergie tractors have a dream run to Louth Pg 3
Another Cobar business up for regional awards Pg 4
History making trip passes through Cobar
Cobar residents got to witness the largest haulage of a marine vessel ever undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere last Thursday when the Pride of the Murray passed through town. The 100 tonne, 100 year old paddlesteamer was making an epic 1,750km journey from Echuca in Victoria on its way to Longreach in Queensland. The massive undertaking required more than 40 people, a 26-metre long and 8.7 metre wide trailer, a 700-horsepower prime mover, police escort and nerves of steel to lift the 100-year old paddlewheeler out of the Murray River and get her ready for the long road trip. The trip was organised by tourism entrepreneur, Richard Kinnon of the Longreach-based Outback Pioneers. “Everyone thinks I’m mad,” Mr Kinnon said. “To build a purpose-built boat from scratch would have been a significantly cheaper option but it didn’t meet my own brief which is for our Longreach-based tourism operation to remain true to history. “When I found out the Pride of the Murray was looking for a new home, I knew I’d found a genuine outback pioneering artefact we just had to preserve. “The only problem - this perfect piece of Australian history is giant and 1,750 kilometres from Longreach.” Another hurdle for the Outback Pioneer’s haulage team was the age and construction of the vessel, it can only be out of the water for a maximum of seven days before the timber begins to shrink, so timing was crucial. Warrick Corney of Freightlancer was tasked with co-ordinating the logistics of the move and it’s something that has kept him awake at night for the past four months.
“It might sound easy but it is a massive undertaking,” Mr Corney said. “This is not a move that has ever been attempted before in Australia.” Mr Corney said as the Kinnon’s have that true pioneering spirit in spades and were dedicated to conserving history and so they did everything “to make the impossible, possible”. The route they chose to take from Echuca to
Longreach (through Cobar) was quite straight and provided less obstructions for the mega road train. “The trailer itself is massive. “The trailer alone is rated at 192 tonne and the entire rig has 106 tyres under it to soften the pressure on the road,” Mr Corney explained. Continued Page 2.
Navigating the right hand turn onto Louth Road off the Barrier Highway took some expert driving for the Freightlancer driver towing the Pride of the Murray through Cobar last week. It was however done successfully and the crew reportedly then had a dream run on to Bourke as part of their 1,750km trip from Echuca in Victoria to Longreach in Queensland.