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- Photo gallery of the Historical Machinery rally.
- Read more about the club's shed.
WITH the strong smell of diesel, around 100 old motors roared to life.
This was at the Bega and District Historical Machinery Club annual rally, held at North Bega over Saturday and Sunday.
It was the rally’s sixth year running, displaying around 100 different motors and attracting about 800 people on the Saturday, not counting children.
“It’s the biggest we’ve had so far, we even had to extend the fence yesterday,” committee member Malcolm Irvin said.
“Back in the first year, I think we only had about 12 motors.
“It’s just growing bigger and bigger.”
Exhibitors were from the Bega Valley, with some coming from as far afield as Canberra, Moruya and Bombala to take part.
There were restored and unrestored tractors, vintage cars, water pumps, lawnmowers, trucks, generators and some old tool displays.
Some rare engines and creations were present, including Stan the Can Man.
Stan is a tin can crushing machine devised 15 years ago by David Orum from Numbugga after being inspired by a dream he had.
A tin can is loaded into a tube, and when someone presses the button Stan crushes the can under his boot.
“I always wanted to make a can stamp and thought the best thing I could do was put a man on top to stand on with his foot, because that’s what you actually do when you crush a can,” Mr Orum said.
“I also did it for the children, because they can get bored in places like this, to have something to amuse them.”
Winning the Most Interesting Exhibit at the rally, Stan is made from scrap metal, and comes out for display at different shows about three times a year.
Making its first public appearance at the rally was a 1922 16HP Ronaldson Bros and Tippet Austral oil engine owned by Peter and Paul Pullin of Reedy Swamp.
Peter said it was a “family machine” as they have all worked on it, and it took six months to restore.
It was once used by NSW Railways to work grain elevators, before electricity came in and the engines were disposed of.
It sat in a paddock at Wodonga, as well as under the water of the Murray River for a time, before it was bought at auction by the Pullins.
“There’s not many 16 horse power ones left,” Peter said.
The Bega and District Historical Machinery Club is a not for profit organisation, and Mr Irvin estimated around $2000 would be raised on the day which would go towards the construction of the club’s shed.
Located on land donated to the club at Wolumla, it is an ongoing project that has been taking place for the last six years and will be used to house some of the vintage machinery.
Mr Irvin said the money will hopefully be used for construction of a kitchen in the shed.