Back in 1960, at the tender age of 17, I got myself up to Alice Springs. There I saw, and fell in love with my first roadtrain. Within days, I got myself round to see the transport mob, filled out some paperwork, did a "test drive" around the block, in a 1957 FC Holden 'ute, and was handed my "C" class license to drive road trains.

All those years ago, they weren't like todays multi wheeled, massive horsepowered, aircond, commputerised, boring trucks. There were B Model MACK, Leylands and Fodens. There were a couple of Viscounts, built by Rotinoff of London, and ex army GMs, draggin' up to 3, 45 foot self tracking trailers.

We were really a mob of hairy arsed teen agers, some driving the longest roadtrains in the world, of that time. I/we never really got into trouble with the law. In fact coppers were a great mob of blokes.

So, many many years later, I sat down and started writing about those mad days, and the mad bastards I worked with. I only have the "book" on e mail, and have sent quite a few to todays young transport drivers.

They can't understand how most of us lived through it all.

Anyway, about 5 years ago, I wrote to every transport magazine I could find in the country. I advised them that they could have the stories, FREE OF CHARGE, if they wanted to print some of the 50 plus short stories.

It is marked "Fiction" to protect the guilty. Me being one of them. Some of the short stories do contain "adult themes" and "coarse language" I tried each magazine 4 times each over the last 5 years. I didn't even get a,"Thank you, but no thank you". Nothing.

Quite recently I asked an old friend who is/was in the transport/magazine industry as to what is wrong with the magazine mob.

His reply was that there is no longer time, or room for stories about you old farts, and how you worked so bloody hard.

I sent him a copy of my "book", called, "When CO-ORD was King". He loved it. CO-ORD was coordinated rail road transport. Off the rail, onto the roadtrains, then it was Darwin, Larrimah, Mt Isa and N/W WA.

I suppose that it's progress.

Regards.

Pipes