SA Railways LP 2A Carrier 2515 Recovered

[Ian Patrick]

Some photos of South Australian Railways LP 2A Carrier 2515 hull recovered recently. The hull is in good condition with only the one part of the side armour cut out. It had been stripped of most parts however the data plate was still attached indicating a 1942 build date.

Of interest on this carrier is the all-steel track supporting idler which doesn't seem to be commonplace.

We are in the process of acquiring the missing parts to restore it from other carrier remains we have come across which I'll post details of later.

Ian

[Ian Patrick]

Some more pictures of SAR Carrier 2515, some of the original paint work with remains of the camouflage pattern visible and the location of the ARN painted on. Unfortunately the number is not legible.
Also a picture of one of the bullet hole test marks in the front glacial plate. Was this a common test or only done to some carriers?

Ian

[Ian Patrick]

In our search for parts for Carrier 2515 as noted above we came across the remains of Victorian Railways Carrier 755.

The hull was in pretty poor condition but it had a lot of useful parts that had been removed from 2515.

The previous owner of this carrier was able to fill us in on it's post-army history (which is quite brief); The carrier was purchased at an army disposal auction in 1946, was used for 2 years to tow a grain bin around the property but was found to not perform very well at this task and it was put to rest where we recovered it from. So it had sat in the same spot for 60+ years which explains the size of the tree growing through the rear of the carrier and the tree growing over the front of it. The tree in the rear strangled itself through the rear steelwork which had to be cut out as part ofthe recovery operation. The carrier had been salvaged of parts over the years to keep other farm trucks operational.

This carrier is fitted with one of the 5 spoke front idler wheels.

Ian

[Ian Patrick]

The carrier pulled away from the front tree with very little damage caused to either the carrier or the tree. The track, whilst a bit stiff in a few links freed up reasonably well and we should be able to use a good portion, if not all of it.

Ian

[Ian Patrick]

We acquired the remains of SA Railways Carrier 1363 from another collector (thanks John). This hull is badly cut up but has some parts on it that weren't attached to either of the above carriers so will come in useful for the restoration of carrier 2515.

We are still chasing a few leads on other parts (and carrier remains) but have now acquired most of the parts needed to get 2515 back to a running carrier.

Ian

[Justin Pollard]

Hello Ian,
You have been busy,
Good finds there.

look forward to seeing some progress.

Regards
Justin.

[Ian Patrick]

Thanks Justin.
The carrier finds all came about quite quickly (well quicker than I originally envisaged). I'll make sure I update the progress of the restoration when it starts.
Ian

[ron]

Hi Ian,
Well done , you have been busy, great finds, it will be good to watch your progress, Regards Ron

[aj.lec]

Congratulations
you look to have at least one or two very good beginnings for restoration
It suprises me that there are still unrecovered carriers around in various states of being
Look forward to seeing their progress

[ron]

Hi Ian,
As a matter of interest I have South Aust carrier 2564, and once owned 2300,looking forward to seeing your restoration progress,
Regards Ron

[Ian Patrick]

Thanks for the comments. We plan to get started on the restoration early in the new year and will use the fantastic restoration projects posted elsewhere on this forum as inspiration. I'll try and post as many pictures and details as we go.
Ian

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi Ian - for your interest.

Carrier #2515 - 1942 SAR under contract MOS.146
Carrier #1363 - 1941 SAR LP2A
Carrier #711 - VR under contract MOV.1145

Can you fill in any missing data.

Thanks - Bob