People have interesting pastimes. Some paint, others work with clay or wood. John ‘Whisky’ Walker tinkers with engines.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
A visit to Whisky’s ‘cave’ on Taralga Rd, Goulburn, reveals many fascinating relics.
He has ancient trucks, boats, engines, railway trikes and engines. Among them is an Albion truck, built in 1929 in Glasgow, used at the Tooth and Co Brewery, in Sydney.
“It was part of a fleet of over 1000 trucks. It is now the only LH24 of the fleet left,” he said.
“It drove across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the day it opened on March 14, 1932. It is a brewery truck that used to cart beer all around Sydney.”
His other gem is Blue Bow, an iconic Albion soft drink truck.
Blue Bow is a 1929 LQ Chevrolet. It was purchased for 429 pounds and delivered to Australia. It was a working truck at the Old Goulburn Brewery.
“I first spied her in Sydney in 1961, when I was a Telegram boy and it was love at first sight,” he said.
“When I came to Goulburn, I was asked if I wanted a truck and to my surprise it was her – the original Blue Bow. I bought it for 10 pounds.”
Blue Bow has been around most of Australia and has been back to the Sydney Harbour Bridge for its 75th and 80th anniversaries. Her top speed is 80km/h.
He is also restoring a small boat that was built in Tasmania in 1998 and he has the engines of larger ships, such as HMAS Kookaburra and the ‘Heroic’, a tugboat that turned the ships in Sydney Harbour in WWI and WWII.
Other gems in his cave include two railway trikes and a Carmichael Beam Engine that dates back to 1858.
Visits to Whisky’s cave are by appointment only on 48217750.
David Cole
Journalist at the Goulburn Post
Journalist at the Goulburn Post
