Great Central Road condition

Al, how's the new visitor centre going in Lavo?

Gees Al, I should have known someone would ask a difficult question :)
I really didn't go looking for it. I was just a blur, off Connie Sue, down to Lavo and on to Anne Beadell next morning LOL

Regards

ah fair enough, know the get up and go feeling well :-)

Thanks Macca for your advice, will check roadhouses closer to the time. Georgie

Thanks Phil, was yours an off-road caravan? Just trying to get a sense of what you towed over, and had it rained much then? Thanks for the tip about the pop-up visitors' centre in Laverton, I'll get in touch with them closer to the time. Georgie

Thanks Zippo, this is very useful. Georgie

Hopefully they are also renovating the video that was playing on a loop. :)

Here's a snip from it...this is one of Len Beadell's centreline of fire pegs, not a Maralinga GZ!

Otherwise, the VC was well worth a visit, and had a remarkable selection of books for sale.

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Hi Candace,

The photo above was one of a number of "ground markers" established along the Woomera Range centreline to facilitate mapmaking by aerial photography. I have not seen any documentation of them being employed at Emu or Maralinga where accurate mapping was not required as part of that operation.

I believe that the particular marker you posted was the "100 mile" marker from the Woomera launchers. An almost identical photo, but from a slightly different viewpoint, appears facing page 177 in Len Beadell's book End of an Era. Len describes the purpose of these markers on page 176 of that book.

Incidentally, you seem to be following others of more recent time in using the term "centreline of fire" when describing the nominal path over which the Woomera missiles travelled. It was always known as "the centreline" by those of us working at Woomera and in authentic books and records of the operation including those of Len Beadell. If referring remotely I guess it could be described as the "Woomera range centreline". Candace, this is offered in the spirit of friendly advice, not correction.

Thanks, Allan. Agreed, the pic in "End of an Era" looks to be the same marker viewed from a different angle.

In the same spirit, I'll point out that in "End of an Era", Len says he was given precalculated Lat and Long of "even 100-mile points along its length." Shephard's biography states Len reached and marked the 250, 300, 400, 500, and 550-mile points. The photo caption in Len's book doesn't say which one we're looking at there.

I visited the 300-mile peg. The 250-mile peg is along a track and may see the occasional visitor. Locating the others 70 years later might be a challenge. :)

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Hi again Candace,
I have been searching and found that the photo above appears facing page 112 of Len's 'Too Long in the Bush'. No doubt from whence the Visitor Centre sourced their copy. The caption is simply "An astronomical station for aerial photographs" so there is no certainty of its location. Text on the adjacent pages says "Also, part of this (survey) exercise would be to delineate the centre-line far as possible by actually fixing on the ground, pre-calculated latitudes and longitudes of .... the even 100 mile points along its length. ..... My plan was to establish these points.... with canvas strips... They would then be used ( by aerial photography) to produce maps for rocket guidance operations." This took place in 1951 which predated Maralinga operations.

I too have visited the 300 mile peg on a trek but I believe that those pegs are merely Len's indication of distance during roadbuilding and not true "stations". Maybe I'm wrong. Dussen' matter!

Enough detective work for today.
Cant find my copy of "Shephard". Hope I haven't done the usual and loaned it, never to see it again!

Hopefully your book turns up!

In the meanwhile, here are a couple pages from it. Provided for educational and discussion purposes, no copyright infringement intended. :)

Shephard included info and pics of the original field notebook pages for the five centreline points Len reached. I'll include a pic of the 250-mile point. Len made an illustration for each site showing how he marked it for aerial photography.

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Thanks for that Candace. And I can see where "Centreline of Fire" comes from now.

Great fan of Len Beadell and his Gunbarrel Road Construction Party. I have read most of his books, and have travelled on some of his roads. One of my “bucket list” items is to travel on as many of Len’s roads as I can.

Macca.

Sorry to have “high jacked” the OP’s original question. :-)

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Hi Macca,
In view of that you may find interest in Westprint's "The Beadell Roads" pack.

"Sorry to have “high jacked” the OP’s original question. :-)"

Too late, Allan and I already unapologetically hijacked it! :)

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That's what happens around 'campfires'.

Hi,

Have all the points been identified in the field? Mulga Pole with brass plate at each site. Should be something left unless the souvenir hunters have been through.

Cheers
Alan

equinox,

Good question! Per Len's field book (photos in the Shephard bio), the five sites he actually visited were marked by clearings of various sizes. Plus some combination of mulga posts/pegs, canvas, and nails or brass plates.

The 300-mile site is fairly accessible from Dingo Claypan, though the traditional owners frown on visitors. I've looked on satellite imagery for the other four sites Len marked. Namely, for any sign of the clearings, but no luck. TBH, looking at the 300-mile site on satellite imagery, you'd hardly suspect anything is there.

Perhaps you should have a go, you might spot something I overlooked! :) The coordinates are in the chart shown on the pic I posted earlier. They might be off 50-100 meters or so due to datum changes.

By now fire and/or termites have probably destroyed the wood he used. There is only a stump left of the blaze tree at the 300-mile site. I doubt there'd be much if anything left of the canvas. The metal bits may be lying around if they haven't been buried somehow.

Even if you were confident of the location, reaching anything beyond the 300-mile site would be pure bush-bashing by now! But visiting these sites would be quite fun. I wonder if Connie and Mick have tried?

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Connie and Mick is the solution Candace. But I would not wish to trouble them at this time.

Hi Allan,

Yes, I already have that set of maps thanks Allan.

Macca.

To wander of the OP's original post even further but seeing Maralinga has been mentioned,
just read an article on the "Atomic tank". Number169041 ( Sweet Fanny )
From England to Australia, Maralinga Totem 1 detonation site. " 350 yards from detonation epicentre"
Recovered and sent to Vietnam 1968 for tour. Hit by RPG, crew wounded.
RAAF base in Edinburgh, South Australia for a rest.
Dave.
Slept next door to her in VN. :)

Hello

Can you all please stick to answering the OPs original question. As interesting as this subject may be it is not the information the OP was chasing. If you wish to discuss this subject start a new thread.

Cheers
The ModSquad

Thanks Warrie for your response, I suppose these are the nasty things that can happen, and you hope they don't happen to you, but help if it happens to others. Thanks for your response. Georgie

Thanks Mal and Naomi G, this is good to know. Sounds like the Docker River section is the worst bit.
Cheers Georgie