During the 1950’3 the large-scale mining and haulage of manganese for Australian and US steelmakers was carried out from sprawling open-cut mines near the fringe of the Great Sandy Desert.
Built for manganese -hauling in the early 1960s, this triple-bottom D.F. D. Rhodes Scammell had an all up weight of 127 tonnes. During this period Bell Bros. also used huge Mack trucks as prime movers for their road trains carting manganese.
The most prominent manganese operations were the big deposits near Woodie Woodie, from which Bell Bros. and D.F.D. Rhodes Pty. Ltd. hauled ore more than 400 kilometres to be shipped out of Port Hedland.
Former Wheatbelt semi-trailers put up impressive performances compared with trucks previously available, British Leylands, ERFs or AECs as they were capable of hauling payloads of up to 32 tonnes. However with many thousand of tonnes of heavy bulk mineral cargoes to move, the manganese companies were looking for something even bigger and better to haul ore.
The answer by the 1960s was the development of true road trains, with two huge trailers and a payload of up to 100 tonnes. This was when D.F.D Rhodes decided to build their own vehicles capable of carrying greater loads.
Harold Ridley who was the chief engineer to the Rhodes company at that time was commissioned to design and build in the company’s workshop, a rig capable of hauling a 100-tonne crushing and screening plant between one manganese mine and another. This vehicle would operate over territory which had often never seen a motor vehicle.
The biggest standard prime-movers of the time were only 200 horsepower, completely inadequate for such a task. A vehicle with a cab windscreen giving a wide view through four flat panes was then designed by Don Rhodes and Harold Ridley.
The RR’s chief mechanical parts were lifted straight from an Army-surplus General Grant tank, of the type which distinguished itself in the Western Desert and the Pacific Islands campaigns.
They consisted of twin GMC diesel engines mustering a combined output of 400 horsepower and a tank gearbox with, recalled Mr. Rhodes years later, “so many gears you could play a tune on them”.
GMC 6-71 in dual configurations were used in US military transport and weapons applications in WWII. Around 9000 of these engines were made in 1941, increasing to 62,000 in 1944 towards the end of the war.
The RR had a top speed of only about 45kmh, but performed its difficult task exceptionally well. In many ways, it was in advance of its time, particularly with regard to its enormous size.
The overall width of more than three metres made it impracticable to use on public roads, and it ended its career as a static power-plant at Woodie Woodie as North West conditions became more sophisticated. However the RR was a worthy forerunner of the more orthodox road trains which came into use by the 1960s.
This is the Rhodes Ridley today at its home base in the Dinninup area of Boyup Brook in WA’s South West Region. After retrieval from Woody Woody in 1989 and completion of restoration in 2000, the truck has been busy attending country shows an heritage events where it commands great interest.
Material for this article is dedicated to Dennis Hancock a freelance writer. Dennis is the author of several books. Among them are The Westerners: the making of Western Australia (1979), Wheels of progress: history of the road transport industry in Western Australia 1829-1983 (1983) and Lanc’ down under: the story of an antipodean Avro Lancaster (1996).
We also wish to acknowledge Terry Joyce the author of Let’s build our own – The story of the Rhodes Ridley and all the wonderful people who were involved in this story.
(Book sales and enquiries – DFD Rhodes Pty Ltd, 43 A Tennant St., Welshpool Western Australia 6106. Phone: (08) 9470 1200 Email: rhodesridley@dfdrhodes.com.au
This article is contributed by Alan Philip who has spent considerable time and effort in researching and visiting the sites where the Rhodes Ridley operated. He has met Terry Joyce at the home of the RR now at Dinninup and confirmed the restoration of the vehicle is magnificent. Since that time Terry has retired and is now living in Queensland.
This page is dedicated to DFD Rhodes Pty Ltd, 43 A Tennant Street, Welshpool W.A. 6106
Phone (08) 9470 1200 Email: rhodesridley@dfdrhodes.com.au
