Author Topic: Cape road nearly open (Read 8104 times)

Craig Tomkinson · « **on:** April 17, 2019, 07:27:30 AM »

Hi all, The road to Weipa could be open to 5ton and single lane by Easter, I will wait a few more weeks if I go up.

rjo89 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 17, 2019, 06:25:15 PM »

We're leaving Melbourne on 1/5 for 7 weeks, should hit the PDR by 8/5. Fingers crossed she's right to go by then!

Craig Tomkinson · « **Reply #2 on:** April 17, 2019, 10:05:58 PM »

yep the Archer is dropping and should be cross able soon, they have started working on PDR, by the time you get there they should be grading and working on the road flat out, if I go up with my mate and two sons we mite go after voting or when I have heard the road is right to go

JusyApples · « **Reply #3 on:** April 18, 2019, 07:33:00 AM »

We are leaving cairns on the 20/5 so also watching closely. The Queensland live traffic page has regular updates on the road status.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TonyF8 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 18, 2019, 08:04:54 AM »

The Cook Shire has a good page for road conditions on their webpage

Beachman · « **Reply #5 on:** April 18, 2019, 09:24:32 AM »

With the amount of flooding the Cape has had especially some so late in the season, think the Tele Track will be even more interesting this season.

Also wonder on how much of the newly laid PDR from last season has been washed away?

kizza1 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 18, 2019, 07:08:43 PM »

Pdr partly open with 5t limit. Archer river still up. Check out " cape york adventures" page

Craig Tomkinson · « **Reply #7 on:** April 18, 2019, 09:10:08 PM »

first 4wd from Weipa out today, and water over the at archer river is nearly gone just a dribble,

rjo89 · « **Reply #8 on:** April 22, 2019, 02:46:49 PM »

Hey Craig,

Got any more updates re: road openings?

Cheers

TonyF8 · « **Reply #9 on:** April 23, 2019, 07:03:56 AM »

PDR Update 22/4:
Road Open with Caution due to Water over the Archer River Crossing.
Peninsula Developmental Road 4WD only, recommended High Clearance Vehicles due to Rough surface & boggy conditions.
Subject to a 5 tonne GVM limit
PLEASE DRIVE TO CONDITIONS

Bigfish · « **Reply #10 on:** April 24, 2019, 06:10:00 AM »

Quote from: TonyF8 on April 23, 2019, 07:03:56 AM

PDR Update 22/4:
Road Open with Caution due to Water over the Archer River Crossing.
Peninsula Developmental Road 4WD only, recommended High Clearance Vehicles due to Rough surface & boggy conditions.
Subject to a 5 tonne GVM limit
PLEASE DRIVE TO CONDITIONS

PLEASE DRIVE TO CONDITIONS.....But many choose to do 110kph, overtake in dust and run bends wide....wonder how many have prangs this year..

duggie · « **Reply #11 on:** April 25, 2019, 11:39:19 AM »

Quote from: Bigfish on April 24, 2019, 06:10:00 AM

PLEASE DRIVE TO CONDITIONS.....But many choose to do 110kph, overtake in dust and run bends wide....wonder how many have prangs this year..

I don't dissagree with you about speeding , but the road is 100kph rated . What really pisses me of are the people doing 40kph on a stretch of road that is in fair to good condition , and be safely driven at 80 to 100kph . These slow drivers are in many cases more dangerous than some who travel at the rated road speed .

Bigfish · « **Reply #12 on:** April 25, 2019, 12:29:08 PM »

Quote from: duggie on April 25, 2019, 11:39:19 AM

I don't dissagree with you about speeding , but the road is 100kph rated . What really pisses me of are the people doing 40kph on a stretch of road that is in fair to good condition , and be safely driven at 80 to 100kph . These slow drivers are in many cases more dangerous than some who travel at the rated road speed .

Your right Duggie. In many places the road is sign posted for 100kph. However plenty of the numbnuts who travel don't slow for oncoming vehicles, drive at speed through dust, hoping they,ll be right and are generally just arseholes that aren't really wanted up there anyways. Common sense and respect for others on the road , that is very busy in the tourist season, is all that's required. If the slow ones, who are probably enjoying the scenery and surroundings, pull to the left to let others pass then all good. If a road is in "fair" condition then maybe 40kph is needed to keep mechanical things in good order. People need to chill out...its a holiday destination..not a bloody race!

duggie · « **Reply #13 on:** April 25, 2019, 01:09:08 PM »

Quote from: Bigfish on April 25, 2019, 12:29:08 PM

Common sense and respect for others on the road , that is very busy in the tourist season, is all that's required. If the slow ones, who are probably enjoying the scenery and surroundings, pull to the left to let others pass then all good. If a road is in "fair" condition then maybe 40kph is needed to keep mechanical things in good order. People need to chill out...its a holiday destination..not a bloody race!

Again I am not dissagreeing , but more times than often , the slow ones are on CH40 and when asked if allright to come past , they ignor the request . But are very quick to call up and abuse you when you manage to get around them .

As for road in fair condition , if your vehicle is set up right , traveling at 80 to 100kph is smoother than at 40 .

jclures · « **Reply #14 on:** April 25, 2019, 02:21:52 PM »

I think this is the thinking that most annoys me, for some it is a holiday, but for those that live there it is not.
For them and others it is a main road, and it is marked at 100klm if you want to travel at forty maybe you should not be on the road or at least look in the mirror.

TonyF8 · « **Reply #15 on:** April 26, 2019, 12:35:49 PM »

For those wanting an update, the Pascoe River on the Frenchmans track is currently at 2.5m.

Craig Tomkinson · « **Reply #16 on:** April 26, 2019, 01:09:18 PM »

In a normal year when I go up Weipa in my old 1HZ non turbo 80 series loaded towing my 5m tinny loaded,With all my tires let down to 28 to 30psi, I find 75 to 90ks on the strait road a great speed and through the dip country and corners l go a lot slower, But I always let faster traffic go as you can here them coming if you are on CH 40 or see the dust and there lights, I love the drive theses days as the road is just fantastic It takes me around 10 or 11hours from Julatten on the table land to Weipa, compared to the 80s, use to take me around 3 to 4 days to go from Mt Molloy to Weipa, driving daylight to dark, Craig

bkim · « **Reply #17 on:** April 27, 2019, 01:59:08 AM »

The "good old days" Craig

If we were the first vehicle into Iron Range airport after the wet in the mid sixties, a quick good trip was 4 days, 3 nights from Coen airport to Iron Range airport and often the same amount of time from Cairns to Coen.

Even when the track was dry, we would shovel at least a ton of sand or more out the Wenlock into the 6WD international to go from Moreton Telegraph Station to Coen Airport to pick up gear that Tootsie used bring up from Cairns, leave Moreton at sunup arrive at Coen airport by 8pm if lucky, load the truck up next day and return to Moreton on the 3rd day, Remembering that the OTT was the only track then! first 20km out of Moreton could take up to 3 hrs if badly washed out, the trucks were tippers, so all the trays were bolted through, down to the chassis rails with high tensile U Bolts otherwise they flexed so much the trays would fall off the trucks!

Last time I was there just for a break, Came from Chilli Beach to Hahn River roadhouse in daylight with leisurely stops at the Archer (memorial plaque to Tootsie there) Coen and Musgrave on the way, and a Victorian who camped at Hahn River near us overnight was complaining how bad the road was!

GeoffA · « **Reply #18 on:** April 27, 2019, 06:27:18 AM »

Quote from: bkim on April 27, 2019, 01:59:08 AM

....and a Victorian who camped at Hahn River near us overnight was complaining how bad the road was!

Those Victorians are pi55-weak, aren't they?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHFZBUTA4k

Craig Tomkinson · « **Reply #19 on:** April 27, 2019, 02:45:24 PM »

Thats sounds like you had wild old tracks in the 60s old fellow, the 80s the road I use to go up on would of been like bitumen road to when you worked up there then, The biggest trouble when I first went up was no one had heard of letting your tires down like I do today, I had 1982 diesel Hilux with 750 x 16s 10 ply steel trecks at 60psi loaded up with motor bike and gear, and later the same on my HJ47 tray back fully loaded with tucker and gear and towing an old army trailer loaded with gear, but I never got a flat tire in all the years travelling around up there, Craig

bkim · « **Reply #20 on:** April 28, 2019, 01:21:57 AM »

Hi Craig,

Don't worry, we used to get the comment from the old timers about how easy we had it compared to the old days, in those old trucks, the internationals were imported specially from Canada, petrol powered about 4 MPG, top speed (if you could stand the noise) 75 kph, steering wheel over 800mm diameter, soon learnt how to hold the wheel in bulldust patches.

There was an old trucker in Coen and his offsider used a Mercedes 7 ton FWD truck with about a 7m tray, still had the merc motor but an AEC gearbox and the diff out of another pommy truck, must have had a gearing about a 1000 to one (or so it seemed), watched it fully loaded (only about 10 ton!) pull a fully loaded semi (35 ton) over the Bamboo Range without any effort after the semi did it's clutch.

GBC · « **Reply #21 on:** April 28, 2019, 07:05:42 AM »

I caught a lift with the mail man from Portland Roads to iron range airport for a flight out in the 80’s. The drive was ok but the sights at the airport waiting for the plane were something else. And it was the hospital flight. I’d rather walk back next time haha.

Steffo1 · « **Reply #22 on:** April 28, 2019, 07:24:13 AM »

Quote from: Craig Tomkinson on April 27, 2019, 02:45:24 PM

Thats sounds like you had wild old tracks in the 60s old fellow, the 80s the road I use to go up on would of been like bitumen road to when you worked up there then, The biggest trouble when I first went up was no one had heard of letting your tires down like I do today, I had 1982 diesel Hilux with 750 x 16s 10 ply steel trecks at 60psi loaded up with motor bike and gear, and later the same on my HJ47 tray back fully loaded with tucker and gear and towing an old army trailer loaded with gear, but I never got a flat tire in all the years travelling around up there, Craig

Craig, when I was up around there in the late 70's, in my Government Toyota, the vehicle had Road Track Major tyres and the theory of the day was to increase the pressure in rough or rocky areas to stop the side walls from pinching. We would run around 55 psi in the gibbers too, which was extremely comfortable

Craig Tomkinson · « **Reply #23 on:** April 28, 2019, 01:05:59 PM »

Yep thats why we had the PSI up to, so side walls did not go, Great old days gents hey, Craig

Aussie Iron · « **Reply #24 on:** April 28, 2019, 06:34:54 PM »

Quote from: Steffo1 on April 28, 2019, 07:24:13 AM

Craig, when I was up around there in the late 70's, in my Government Toyota, the vehicle had Road Track Major tyres and the theory of the day was to increase the pressure in rough or rocky areas to stop the side walls from pinching. We would run around 55 psi in the gibbers too, which was extremely comfortable

That was in the days of bias ply tyres. Yes, you would increase pressure to help the tyres survive getting sidewall cuts. All changed when we went to Radial ply tyres. Now we drop pressure to survive getting sidewall cuts.

Dan.

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Author Topic: Cape road nearly open (Read 8104 times)