A small group of visitors turned plenty of heads as they drove through town last week, chugging along in bright yellow and orange tractors towing caravans.
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Taking the true scenic route, the Newcastle-based 9G Chamberlain tractor club took on the 400km trip to Inverell at the speedy pace of 50 km/hr, intent on visiting the National Transport Museum.
Noisy, bouncy and warm, the tractors aren’t exactly built for comfort or speed; but the club members love the sturdy vehicles, and take them for trips all over Australia, New Zealand and even America.
“Some people bought them. Some people acquired them. Some people built them out of bits to get them to go,” member Scott Brooks said.
“Back in the late 90s, the club was formed for people that had them or liked them or remembered them to go driving them on the road. They don’t use them much for farm work anymore. So they do them up and they modify them and paint and make them look good and put different wheels and tires and things on it; and they go driving around in it.”
Twice as slow as a car, Scott said he enjoyed the pace, and the opportunity to take in his surroundings.
“You go a bit slower so you can see things better, but then when you stop, people do come up and talk to you,” he said.
“They’ll come and tell you about their town or invite you to look at things.”
Driving through as the Tingha Plateau fire burned, the group took in the dry land and smoke haze, taking a detour through Bundarra to avoid the blaze.
“We come from the Hunter, and it’s dry. But it’s heaps dry here,” Scott said.
The group enjoyed taking in the collections of vintage cars at the rural wreckers and National Transport Museum.