Orlando Wines was first founded by Johann Gramp who had emigrated to South Australia from Eichrig in Bavaria, Germany in 1837. By 1847, he had established a flourishing vineyard at Jacobs Creek in the now famous Barossa Valley from the Riesling vines he had imported from Germany.
In 1877, his son Gustav built a winery at Rowland Flat and named it Orlando. With Australia enjoying a wine boom through the 1890s, the fortunes of Orlando Wines were on the rise. After Federation, the Orlando wine trade continued to grow, and in 1912, G. Gramp & Sons was founded.
During the early years of the 1900s, all of the supplies for Orlando and delivery of wines into Adelaide, or to the rail head at Rowland Flat was undertaken by horse and wagon. However, as the 1920s approached, and mechanised transport began to appear the decision to embrace this was made. But what make would suit the business best?
As with Coopers Brewery (see VTCM issue #44), Saurer must have been the stand out as an A Type, model 4AD with a trailer was purchased to fulfil this important role. It would be correct to assume this truck and trailer would have been purchased and delivered from H. L. Stephenson & Sons, Pirie Street, Adelaide, who were the state distributors for Saurer at the time. The exact date or year this purchase was made is unknown but it would be safe to assume that in all likelihood this would have been in the early 1920s. Sadly, this very interesting piece of South Australian transport heritage is no longer here.
Based on the remains of another Saurer of the same year and model that is located in New South Wales, it can be assumed that the Orlando Wines/G. Gramp & Sons’ Saurer was made in Arbon, Switzerland and supplied to H.L. Stephenson & Sons from the Saurer Commercial Vehicle Company Ltd, 21 Augustus Street, London, UK.
The Saurer would have been a head turner and the focus of much discussion when it entered into service in the Barossa Valley. It is interesting to note that the Saurer was not fitted with any lighting - this would be fitted later in its life. From the photograph, it is clear that the windscreen, cab (‘C’ type), and rear body would have been locally made with the Saurer coming into Adelaide as a ‘chassis/cowl’. The attached trailer would also have been made locally, and in all probability, by the same local motor body builder.
The engine was Saurer’s
AD type, with the following
brief specifications:
Bore: 110mm
Stroke: 180mm
Output: 40bhp @1,000rpm, maximum engine speed 1,250rpm. Fitted with Saurer’s patented engine brake
Fuel: Petrol, fuelled through Saurer’s patented two nozzle carburettor
For many years, the Orlando Saurer would provide good service, but on Wednesday, February 3rd 1937, it would be involved in a serious collision with a train. The train was a ‘special’, going to Adelaide for the last day of the Australia vs England test match. As an aside, Don Bradman was playing and he would manage 212 runs in this innings, with Australia winning the test by 148 runs.
The incident was reported in The Leader (Angaston, SA: 1918-1954) Thursday, 4th February 1937.
CRASH AT CROSSING
Wine-Laden Truck Wrecked Driver’s Narrow Escape
A wine laden 5 ton lorry and trailer and the morning train from Angaston came into collision at Rowland Flat crossing yesterday morning. The lorry was smashed when it was trailed for about 15 yards along the track , but Mr. Gus Otto, the driver escaped with shoulder and leg injuries. When the train hit the lorry he was knocked out of his seat, but had the presence of mind to grab the brake handle and hold on while hogsheads crashed down beside him. On the lorry, to which was attached a trailer, were 33 hogsheads being taken to Port Adelaide from Gramps Winery at Rowlands Flat for export. The load totalled about 12 ton. Mr Otto, who lives in Tanunda, was taking the truck up the hill as he had done for about nine years. He did not notice the wig-wag in motion, and was unaware of the proximity of the train just starting from the Rowland Flat railway station, where it stopped for two minutes.
Mr. Otto said he had had trouble with the engine of the lorry that morning, and intended to stop after crossing the line to examine the petrol feed. He was travelling in low gear at about three miles per hour.
Mr. Ken Tiver, Rowland Flat Stationmaster, said he noticed the truck just starting on the incline as the train drew into the station, and he was sure the automatic warning device was in operation.
The front portion of the motor lorry, valued at about £1,400 ($2,800) and insured was just clear of the front of the locomotive, which caught the table of the lorry, which twisted the main chassis girders. Six hogsheads of wine were broken, the fluid being totally lost. The front of the locomotive was only slightly damaged, but it was unable to proceed and a special train was ordered to convey passengers to Adelaide and en-route.
This crossing, always regarded as a dangerous one, has been considerably improved and warning devices erected since Mr. French, a driver for Messrs. Penfolds, was killed in a collision about ten years ago.
Reproduced from Trove.
At the time of the incident, the Managing Director of Orlando Wines, Mr Hugo Gramp, was in dispute with the Railway’s Commissioner on the price of rail freight. The hogsheads of wine for the UK would have normally gone from Rowland Flat to Port Adelaide by rail but until the pricing was sorted out, the freight was sent by road. From the photograph taken at the incident site, we learn that prior to this, the Saurer had had two major upgrades done - it had had the solid rubber tyres replaced with pneumatic ones, and electric lighting had been installed. After the incident, the Saurer truck was repaired and put back into service.
For about 38 years, it provided good service to the Gramp family but in the mid-1950s, it was put into storage as it was not very economical on fuel, until 1972, when it was disposed of.
To add to this story is yet another snapshot, taken c.1934 of another piece of early South Australian transport history - a c.1922 Lacre ‘N’ or Colonial type. The load, a pot still, made by the SA Copper Works, Adelaide, is bound for the Orlando Winery at Rowland Flat. The location in the photograph is in the main street of Gawler. The driver and his passenger are certainly well dressed, while the man standing next to the tray is Hugo Gramp. Today, this pot still can be found at the winery adjacent to the boiler house, with the two wood-fired boilers still in situ!
The other Saurer mentioned, was purchased second-hand in the early 1930s and used for farm work in the Tocumwal area of New South Wales until the 1950s when it was parked under a tree. Time has not been kind to this Saurer as it is now in a state of advanced deterioration. However, we may yet see this Saurer back on the road again as Doug Hattey’s intention is to restore it. I think it is clear that this Saurer and the Orlando Saurer are the same year and model.
The photo c.1920s shows the Orlando Saurer in one of their vineyards, loaded with grapes from the horsedrawn wagon behind, and ready for delivery to the Rowland Flat winery. The time of day is probably in the afternoon as one of the workers is enjoying his break, sitting on the warm bonnet! It is of interest to note that the Saurer still has no lights except for small acetylene ‘park’ lights on the cab corners under the windscreen, and the tyres are, at this point, still solid rubber.
While the Saurer name has long ago faded into Australian transport history, it has a long history with many achievements technically coming from its founder, Adolf Saurer and his son Hippolyte’s foresight. While it had, and still does have involvement in the textile industry, our interest is in their automotive developments.
1888 Adolph Saurer produces his first successful stationary kerosene engine.
1898 First passenger ‘car’ produced with a 5hp ‘balancer’ petrol engine introduced, which was a 1 cylinder opposed piston type, with a 28km/hr top speed.
This principle would be seen again when the Rootes/Tilling Stevens TS-3 (Commer Knocker) was released in the 1950s.
1899 20hp ‘balancer’ petrol engine introduced.
1903 First truck produced, which had a 27bhp petrol engine, 3 speed transmission, with a 17 km/hr top speed. From this point, Saurer started to concentrate on commercial vehicles.
1904 Saurer introduced a re-designed truck produced with 4 cylinder AM petrol engine - Saurer’s patented ‘engine brake’ is also introduced at this point. Another introduced patent was a compressed air starter, which was a design adopted by a number of other motor vehicle manufacturers of the time including Renault.
1911 Saurer is the first laden truck (5 ton) to drive across the USA from east to west.
1915-1918 Saurer and MAN form a joint venture company to produce light- and heavy-duty trucks in Germany. This joint venture would be amicably concluded in 1918. During the World War 1 years, Saurer car production would be discontinued.
1917 The ‘A’ Type truck was introduced, with this model being used by the Gramp and Hattey families. In all, about 2,700 ‘A’ Types would be made, with this model ceasing in 1926.
While concentrating on the production of their commercial vehicle line, Saurer would introduce ‘cutting edge’ technology – with the first being the engine brake, then the diesel engine with direct injection, 4 valves per cylinder, and a ‘heart’-shaped combustion chamber to name but a few. Owners and operators alike held the Saurer in high regard as a truck that delivered great reliability and strength. However, the Saurer name would be committed to history in 1982 when production ceased after being taken over by Daimler Benz.
My appreciation to Andrew Gramp, Doug Hattey, and the Saurer Museum in Arbon, Switzerland, for their valued assistance with this article.
*Paul Tol
