Dardanup is a small town two hours drive south of Perth, just inland of the port city of Bunbury. Dardanup is famous for its bakery - well worth a visit - and the Dardanup Heritage Park. The heritage park was created by Gary Brookes, the owner of Brooks Transport, a national trucking company. As his wife Jill tells the story, Gary went to a vintage tractor auction and - despite having been told explicitly he could only buy one tractor - came back with a selection of International tractors. This would form the basis of what developed into a huge collection of agricultural machinery, tractors, trucks, steam engines, trains, militaria, printing presses and much more besides. Sadly Gary died before the part was completed. His wife opted to carry on the project.
I had long wanted to visit the park but it's only open two days a week - Wednesdays and Sundays - and we were never passing that way at the right time. Shelly and I attended a car rally in Bridgetown over the weekend of 18th - 19th April and with Dardanup being only an hour from Bridgetown, we were able swing by on the way home. We arrived at the park around 2pm. Man, I really under-estimated how big it is. There is no way you can see everything in two hours, but the volunteers were excellent and gave us a quick tour.
1920 International truck. Gary had a passion for International trucks and tractors.
Farmall tractor
Very early International tractor
Two 1913 International trucks
A Furphy water cart of Shepparton from 1942. This is the origin of the term "furphies", coming from the chatter that goes on around the water car.
The Edwardian era Internationals
McCormick-Deering International tractors
International tractors
Unrestored engines in the yard
Tangye steam engines
Microlight
The military hall is manned by the Bunbury RSL
Missile in the military hall
First World War trench mortar
Australian built Universal Carrier
Drivers position
The Carrier was powered by a Ford V8 engine (built under license in Australia). After the Second World War Carriers were bought up by farmers who used them as tractors or removed their engines for their farm equipment.
We had just the week before watched this well-done video about the Australian Universal Carrier
German Leopard II tanks served in the Australian army, replacing British Chieftains.
Military generator
The famous Ferret armoured car.
Second World War sea mine
Military hats and helmets
Fordsons
Fordson tractors
Steam-roller. I haven't seen one of these since I was in primary school
Ransomes tractor. These little mini-tractors are basically powered by a single cylinder stationary engine mounted at the front. https://hughmanningtractormuseum.au/2023/04/19/ransomes-crawler-mg5-c-1953/
Bunbury tourist 'tram' - basically a re-bodied bus chassis. These used to take tourists around the sights of Bunbury.
Catepillar
Malcolm-Moore 8 ton steam roller
Massey Ferguson
Mixed vehicles.
A Hillman Imp in British policy livery
Jawa Californian
International truck
Dodge converted into a ute
1943 Jeep
An Australian built copy of the German legend - Kelly and Lewis (KL) Lanz Bulldog https://hughmanningtractormuseum.au/2023/04/19/kl-bulldog-crude-oil-c-1950/
Some cobbled together farm vehicle
Invalid carriage
Two invalid carriages
Cockshutt
Lightburn Rideabout. Lightburn Industries in South Australia is probably more infamous for the Zeta, a fibreglass bodied lightweight microcar from the 1960s. The Zeta was a disaster and rightly regarded as a lemon. However, Lightburn also made many other products, ranging from cement mixers, wheelbarrows, trailers and golf carts. The Rideabout was a designed as an electric powered factory 'run-about'.https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2021/04/lightburn-zeta-australias-trabant.html
Case tractor
Brockway truck
WASP stationary motor
Dennis fire engine
Typesetting machine. There is a hall for typesetting and printing and the volunteer there gave us a demo of how these machines work. It's quite amazing and way more complex than you would think.
Excellent display of Bakelite radios and radiograms
These are all very cool. We did find a 1960s radio we recovered from my mother-in-law's estate.
Brooks Transport shed
Brooks Transport https://brookstransport.net.au/
Prospecting display
Ruston Proctor steam traction engine
Marshall and Co steam traction engine
Ex Army Chevrolet Blitz truck. These sturdy machines went on to long lives in civilian service. This one was a heavy tow-truck.
Steam engine for the saw mill
Double piston steam engine. All the steam engines in the park were fully restored and functional when they were installed, but steam engines require constant maintenance and certification that they will not explode, and this costs a huge of amount of time and money. All the steam engines have now been converted to run on compressed air.
Compressed air at least means the machines can be operated on the spur of the moment and don't require four hours of preparation.
Your exact weight scales - notice it also tells you what you SHOULD weigh!
Another portable steam engine. Although you cannot see it in the photo, there is a hitch on the front axle that allows the engine to be hooked up to a horse or bullock dray or, later, a truck of tractor.
The volunteers very kindly ran the engine for us. We were the only people left in the park as they were about to close.
Steam crane
The restored workers cottages
These were really well laid out in 1940s style
Kitchen
Lawnmowers
Chevrolet Blitz
BMC Austin 7 ton truck
The double decker has seen better days
The Dardanup Heritage Park is a terrific industrial museum and worth visiting. It takes several hours to see it all. In 2 hours we were only able to view a few of the exhibition halls. The volunteers were excellent and extremely knowledgeable and helpful. We will definitely make to visit it properly next time.
Address is 416 Moore Road, Dardanup West Dardanup, Western Australia 6236, Australia
More info: https://visitwanderland.com.au/explore/south-west/dardanup-heritage-park
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