While packing up, Glen got under the trailer to empty the tank for a flush out in preparation for a refill when he found that the trailer shock absorber mount weld had broken from the chassis. Another Saturday morning with a repair required. We decided on going straight to Tom Price to see if we could get it repaired before they closed at lunch time. The drive from Karijini to Tom Price was really nice. The large bush fire that we saw from Albert Tognolini Lookout was around Tom Price. In fact there were areas that were still on fire. We got a phone signal on the way and phoned ahead and found a engineering shop that was willing to have a look at it. Their price to fix it - $1000 – thanks, no thanks. We had the shock absorbers put on as an extra when we purchased the trailer and on the first long trip, we bent the mounting bracket and the suppliers welded an additional piece to stop that happening. Now that the weld has broken, it appears to us that the shock absorbers have not been fitted correctly allowing for them to bottom out and instead of bending the mount, it has broken the weld this time. We are going to take the other one off and have a rethink about how to go about the repair.
TOM PRICE – Six and half thousand residents, nice and green.
We called into the visitor information centre to apply for a permit to travel on the Tom Price Railway maintenance Road. The permit is free but you have to sit through a 20 minute DVD on the Do’s and Don’ts on the road. I decided to leave Glen to it, and went across the road to the small Coles supermarket to get our supplies. At the information counter Glen asked me if I knew what we needed and I said yes, “Chocolate”, the info centre girl (African) absolutely loved that reply, she couldn’t contain her laughter.
A different way to getting the message across.
The road and the rail out of Tom Price. (Above, just for Lyle who drove engines in the Pilbara)
The Tom Price Railway Road was great, well maintained. We passed quite a few trains with very long ore wagons. A few times we had to cross the track at gate crossings and on those occasions we managed to get across before the on coming trains. It would have been a very long wait if we had missed. We were surprised that the gates only close when the train is not very far from the crossing. So our previous crossings were well ahead of any gate closing on us. Glen waved to one train and we got a little toot in response – got to love engine drivers they always respond to you. The road was littered with cattle who had played on the tracks.
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