Ilfracombe’s Machinery Mile grows as 20th century tractors arrive from state museum

In the heart of Queensland’s outback, a blue-and-white semi-trailer from Brisbane is bringing critical and treasured supplies to a tiny town.

But its trailer is not carrying food, animal feed or perishables — but four almost 100-year-old tractors.

The prized antique payload, sent from Queensland Museum, came as a delight to the smiling group who had perched outside the pub to meet the new additions to their Machinery Mile.

The community of Ilfracombe pours its efforts into preserving the wagons, trucks and bulldozers that have helped farm and build Australia.

Over the years the Ilfracombe Historical Society has amassed 190 machines along its main street, a number that could soon overtake the town’s population.

The open-air display, founded in 1969, stretches 800 metres so far, running almost the full length of the town.

Dubbed the Lynn Cameron Machinery Mile, it serves as a landmark for those travelling the Landsborough Highway.

The recent delivery was of four historical Caterpillar tractors, a 1950s D2 and three 1930s Twenty-Twos, once the cherished possessions of an Australian earthmoving tycoon.

A nod to Ifracombe’s wool boom

The vehicles along Machinery Mile provide a glimpse of the region’s past as a major international player in wool production.

The nearby railway stop was built to service Wellshot Station, considered the largest sheep station in the world by headcount at the turn of the 20th century.

“We’re kind of doing the deeds of our forefathers in preserving this history,” Ilfracombe Historical Society treasurer Mick Storch said.

Mr Storch said he hoped the line of historic metal would continue to grow.

“We have more space and we have more ideas about what we want to do and make it a bit longer, make it a true machinery mile,” he said.

Grease of Queensland’s past up close

The new old tractors will be on display in the coming months after a shed is extended.

Their story began 90 years ago when the late Bert Theiss grew a love for machinery while helping build his family’s business.

The international mining giant that shares his surname began as a small earthmoving outfit in southern Queensland.

“They were making the cattle roads, as they were called, to try and move cattle trucks successfully around Western Queensland, Northern Territory,” said Queensland Museum’s Jennifer High.

Mr Theiss spent a large portion of his life restoring tractors in a shed behind his house.

“[They’re] the first Caterpillars that he started working on as a teenager.”

When he died in 2010, Mr Theiss’s estate gave 35 tractors to the Queensland Museum.

“I think some people may have only seen these machines in black and white photographs and history books,” Ms High said.

In recent months the Queensland Museum has organised the transfer of 16 of the tractors to various museums including Machinery Mile.

Machinery Mile keeps visitors coming back

Truck driver Matthew Barr said his tractor payload had attracted curious questions on the twelve-hour road trip from Brisbane.

“I had people when I woke up this morning in Tambo standing around the trailer asking about how old they were and where they’d come from, and more importantly where they’re going.”

That intrigue is expected to continue as the four tractors settle into their new home.

Visitor Maxwell Burls said it was his 10th year visiting the town and its unusual museum.

For his friend Michael Gallagher, walking the mile brought back memories of his own father’s truck.

“It’s just the atmosphere of the whole place,” he said.

“It’s hard to drive past, isn’t it?”