The following story owes its existence to the late Mr. Charlie Pitt of Swan Hill, Victoria, who retained an audiotape of this story for posterity. The author, and narrator, Mr. Ralph Wood, was a transport operator in the Balranald, NSW, area and was a friend of Charlie’s over a long period of time. Charlie Pitt was also a transport operator in the greater Swan Hill area over many of those years.

The audiotape was recorded when Mr. Wood delivered an address to a Swan Hill Service Club, during the late 1980’s, or perhaps the early 1990’s. The tape was transcribed and produced as a written copy some years later, but has lain dormant until recently.

However, since the decision to tell this story to the transport world, furt