Classic Clip

CREATING THE SPARK

Following our story in the June 2022 issue, Express Charging 40 Years Ago, about NZ Express carting cathode pots and buzz bars from Christchurch to the Tiwai aluminium smelter expansion in the 1980s, our own Ken Bell sent in this clip from the The Southland Times of the same thing happening when the smelter was first built in 1970. Do you have a newspaper clipping of something cool that happened in transport in years gone by? Send us a scan with a covering note so we can all enjoy great tucking moments of the past. Email editor@ nztrucking.co.nz

Anderson Engineering’s Kevin Lockhart talks with NZE driver Pat Shields. Pat’s N12 Volvo, bought new for the contract, is loaded ready to leave for Tiwai with two cathode pots in 1982.

EXPRESS CHARGING 40 YEARS AGO

Story by Dave Ching, Geoff Carpenter and Pat Shields Photos supplied by Geoff Carpenter and Pat Shields

The expansion of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in the early 1980s called for innovative engineering and transport. As always, Kiwis were up to the job, none more so than the team at NZ Express Transport in Christchurch. Forty years on, even with today’s equipment, achieving the same result would be just as impressive.

New Zealand Aluminium Smelters at Tiwai Point, Bluff, decided to increase production of highgrade aluminium in the early 1980s by installing a third pot line. The new line would be housed in a building 600m long and contain 208 cathode pots.

The National government of the day, led by Prime Minister Rob Muldoon, supported this decision, and it ended up part of the massive fiscal policy programme of the era known as Think Big.

In late 1980, tenders were called to construct the additional pot line over two years, starting in 1981.

Andersons Foundry in Christchurch won the contract to manufacture the cathode pots and related steelwork, while CWF Hamilton & Co, also in Christchurch, won the contract to make the anode and cathode buzz bars.

Tenders then went out to transport all manufactured components for the smelter

40 New Zealand Trucking June 2022

from Christchurch to Tiwai Point. NZ Express Transport Christchurch (NZE) was awarded the contract.

Each cathode pot was 9.6m long, 3.8m wide, and 1.2m high. They were made from 25mm and 30mm plate steel and weighed 9.4 tonnes each.

NZ Express designed and made special ‘H’-shaped yokes that were spaced at four intervals along the top side of each bottom pot, with the second pot located and loaded onto the H yolk. The load was then secured in preparation for the 615km journey south to Tiwai Point.

Jigs were attached at each end of the pots for both loading and unloading, and these were also used for load security when securing the load to the semi-trailer.

On 17 August 1981, the first of 104 loads left Christchurch for Tiwai Point.

The steelwork associated with the pots comprised 208 deck plates, each one 10.8m long, 4.3m wide, 25mm thick, and weighing three tonnes.

These were carted six at a time on two jigs manufactured from 150mm x 150mm RHS, 4.3m in length, with an internal upright at each end. Using strengthened semi-trailers, they secured onto twist locks, and during loading, the uprights guided each deck plate onto the jigs. The six plates were then uniformly positioned for the journey, overhanging the semi-trailers on each side.

The transport of the deck plates began on 17 September 1981, concluding 12 months and 35 loads later.

Considering the work ahead of them, NZE purchased two new Volvo N12 tractor units, operated by Pat Shields and Murray Glen. A Volvo N10 tractor unit in the care of Graham Forbes was also on hand to help out, along with other existing trucks from the fleet that included a Volvo G88 driven by Dick Horgen and a Hino HH V8 with either Trevor McLintock or Grenville Beri behind the wheel.

The Murray Glen machine was changed over to the CWF Hamilton buzz bar work two months later once that production had started.

Every load required a Class II pilot. NZE staff of the time Jim Carey, Ian White, Stu Ford, Bill Salt, Reade Cassin, Phil Timehau and Ken McQuilken, were joined by general manager Peter Boyd, operations manager Kevin Richards, and transport manager Geoff Carpenter, to to fulfil this requirement.

During one of the loads, an overzealous Dunedinbased traffic cop stopped the convoy and measured things up. He declared the load was over width by the diameter of the chain securing it, and each load would require the ‘assistance’ of a full MoT escort from then on. Obviously, this additional cost had not been budgeted for, so the next load that went down was piloted by Peter Boyd, who “sorted the cop and the situation out”.

During this time, with so many staff and units from the Christchurch fleet out of town, local jobs started piling up, causing stress and anxiety to the rest of the local dispatch team. However, as it was in the day, everybody pulled together to ensure things were kept running smoothly from the customers’ point of view. Evidently, the old analogy of a duck looking calm on the surface but paddling furiously underneath was the best way to describe it.

Along with the NZE trucks carrying the components south, NZ Railways was also roped in to help. They carried a total of 3744 cradles, each measuring 4.8m long, 1.6m high and 0.25m wide, weighing in at 911kg. The cradles were carried on UN type railway wagons and loaded at the Andersons Foundry siding by NZE staff. Once the wagons got to Invercargill, they were unloaded by Southland Freight Haulage operations manager John King, after which the cradles were then trucked 27km to Tiwai Point. Maximum loading on the railway wagons was achieved by inverting two rows of cradles onto the uprights of the lower ones, which meant each wagon carried 45 cradles weighing a total of 41 tonnes.

John King was also great at finding backloads to Christchurch for the NZE trucks.

Each of the cathode pots positioned at the smelter is supported by 18 cradles with each deck plate bolted onto the cradle tops. The cathode buzzbars were manufactured from 99.98% pure aluminium billet railed from Invercargill to the CWF Hamilton & Co 1) Steelbro design of the semi used for carrying the buzzbars. 2 & 3) Driving his N12 Volvo, Murray Glen completed 104 buzzbar moves without incident between November 1981 and 1982. He’s seen here on SH1 at Shag Point north of Dunedin. 4) Securing cathode pots at Andersons Engineering with steel for cradles in the foreground (1982).

rail siding in Christchurch. The metal was pure and therefore very soft and could easily be damaged during transportation.

Steel Bros of Christchurch was employed to design and build two dedicated semitrailers for this job (see the attached plan for the trailer). The semis were essentially a chassis with support frames to load the buzzbars onto. Staff from CWF Hamilton & Co loaded and secured the loads, and while one trailer was being unloaded at Tiwai, the second trailer was being loaded in Christchurch. The loaded dimensions of these units were 3.0m wide, 4.8m high, and weighed 22.7 tonnes each. The loaded height of 4.8m was the maximum that could pass under Watermans Bridge on the Dunedin motorway. Even so, the rear buzzbars had to

Pages 40-43, June 2022.

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The caption back in the day read, ‘A big freighting operation is under way, transporting massive buzz-bars from Christchurch to the aluminium smelter site at Tiwai Point.’ The buzz bars are big conductors used in the potlines. These vehicles are programmed to cover more than 100,000 miles a year, transporting the big components, manufactured by CWF Hamilton Ltd, Christchurch. The larger of the two Japanese vehicle’s loads is fully insulated as the conductors pick up heavy electrical charges from powerlines along the roadside. The height of the load is 16ft, the maximum width is 10ft, and the gross weight of each truck and trailer, including the load, is 36 tons’. Photo: The Southland Times, 1970.

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THE HULK

In 1984, at the Motor Truck Distributors production line in Palmerston North, the wireless would have been playing Kenny Loggins singing about his loose feet while the team added the finishing touches to LW2193. Twelve owners later and no less than 10 coats of paint, we catch up with ‘The Hulk’.

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1) 1984 and brand new for RW Tupe of Whangarei on contract to Mobil on fuel deliveries. 2) Second owners GL & SC McCormack with LW2193 adorned in the famous blue and white of Mainfreight. 3) Murray Brown with LW2193 on contract to Irvines Freightlines of Invercargill. Here, the name ‘The Hulk’ found its way onto the bug deflector and is still there. Photos: Ed Mansell. 4, 5 & 6) Bevan’s tear-down and rebuild begin. Photos: Satherley Collection.

At the right place at the right time and at the front of the queue was where Bevan Satherley found himself when he stumbled across ‘The Hulk’ for sale on Trade Me. A few phone calls and some negotiating skills later, the deal was done. For Bevan, the search for a clean Super-Liner had been simmering for a while.

“We were after one that was original with some history, as well as not too far gone – a truck we could rebuild as a workable classic/hobby show truck,” explains Bevan.

LW2193 ticked that box abundantly. Ordered new and custom built for RW Tupe of Whangarei, the 440hp V8 Econodyne-powered R722RS Super-Liner was put to work servicing a Mobil fuelsdelivery contract. Known at the time as ‘Eagle Eater’, it mostly pulled a spread-axle tri-set tanker trailer, typical of the era.

From here, it was purchased by well-known Mainfreight contractor GL & SC McCormack. A solid coat of Mainfreight blue and white paint was applied, and a matching five-axle flat-deck B-train was hooked up to the fifth wheel. The name was also changed to ‘Angel of Darkness’.

Murray Brown was the next proud owner. Contracted to Freightways Express out of Invercargill, LW2193 received a fresh coat of white paint to the cab, as well as a splash of sky blue to the chassis. In Murray’s care, LW2193 also ended up in Irvines Freightlines teal green, white and yellow livery when Murray contracted to the organisation. At this time, ‘The Hulk’ showed up for the first time on the bug deflector, a name that the rig has proudly carried to this day.

A stint with Farmer & Dabinett based in Stoke was next, contracting to Rail Freight. LA Schreiber

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1 & 2) Interior as fresh today as it was in 1984. 3) Making music, the E9 V8. 4 & 5) It’s all in the detail.

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of New Plymouth was then next to have LW2193 wear its livery, and again on all manner of general freight duties. After a brief time in Motor Truck Distributors’ care, it was back out to work again, but this time it was G & C.A Daley Partnership grabbing the keys and hooking up a tri-axle Reefer to the turntable. Next up was LB Landon Contractors, with LW2193 connected to a tandem-axle tipulator. And finally, ‘The Hulk’ had a burst with R Vincent of Wiri.

For 38 years, LW2193 has had a working career of which it can be extremely proud. And with the birthday rebuild recently administered by Bevan and his workshop team at Satherley Logging in Hawke’s Bay, ‘The Hulk’ will likely ply the highways for at least another 38.