Daily Archives: November 4, 2023

Tailem Bend silo VK-WRN5

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Marija VK5MAZ, Hans VK6XN and I left home at about 8.00 a.m. on Thursday 26th October 2023, en route to Renmark for the 2023 VKFF Team Championship. It was about a 280 km drive up to Tailem Bend, and then on to Karoonda, Loxton, and then Renmark.

Our first stop for the morning was the Strathalbyn bakery where we enjoyed a coffee and a brekkie roll. We then headed towards Tailem Bend.

On the way from the mobile, we logged Liz VK2XSE on 40m who was activating Mount Dundas Regional Reserve VKFF-3375 in Tasmania. Signal reports were 5/9 both ways.

We then logged Peter VK3PF who was activating Benetook Bushland Reserve VKFF-4126. Signal reports were 5/9 both ways.

We then arrived at Tailem Bend and as Hans had never previously activated a silo for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program, we decided to stop and do a quick activation from the vehicle.

Tailem Bend is about 96 km southeast of the city of Adelaide. It is located on the lower reaches of the Murray River, not far from the town of Wellington where the Murray River flows into Lake Alexandrina. The Murray is located on the western edge of the town and features magnificent cliffs.

Above:- Map showing the location of Tailem Bend. Map c/o Google Maps.

Prior to European settlement, the Tailem Bend area was inhabited by the Ngarrindjeri aboriginal people. The town’s name is derived from an aboriginal word “thelim” which means “bend”. This refers to the sharp bend that the Murray River makes at Tailem Bend. Other references suggest that this part of the Murray River was called “Thelum Ki”, meaning “bent water”.

In 1884, the building of the railway eastwards to the colony of Victoria commenced. During construction, a track-laying gang set up camp among some native pine trees and they named their site “Pine Camp”. A township commenced from that time on and by 1887 a year after the railway line opened, the ton of Tailem Bend was proclaimed.

Above:- Some early photographs of Tailem Bend. Images c/o State Library South Australia.

Today the major industries in the Tailem Bend area include pig farming, dairying, and growing grains, hay and olives. Tailem Bend is also the home to The Bend Motorsport Park and Old Tailem Town, a pioneer village.

The silos at Tailem Bend are owned by Viterra. The Tailem Bend silos is one of Viterra’s most significant silos in South Australia. In 2014 it was reported by Viterra eastern region operations manager Jack Tansley that “during peak harvest periods the Tailem Bend site receives more than 16,000 tonnes of grain a day and is now in the process of out-turning the grain which includes trains running, on average, every second day from the site with road out-turns occurring daily.”

On the 30th day of November 2020, the Tailem Bend silos broke its daily receival record when 17,475 tonnes of grain was delivered in a single day.

We pulled up on the side of the Princes Highway, within the silo activation zone, and operated from the vehicle. We ran the Icom IC7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 self-tuning antenna.

Above:- Map showing the activation zone at the Tailem Bend silo. Image c/o SiOTA website.

Hans qualified the silo, whilst Marija and I also made a handful of contacts and qualified the silo for SiOTA.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3PF/p (Benetook Bushland Reserve VKFF-4126)
  2. VK2IO/p (Mildura I14 Bushland ReserveVKFF-4137)

Marija worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

  1. VK6DS

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3PF/p (Benetook Bushland Reserve VKFF-4126)
  2. VK2IO/p (Mildura I14 Bushland ReserveVKFF-4137)

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

  1. VK6DS

We then hit the road again and headed for Karoonda, which was to be our next stop.

References.

  1. Murray Valley Standard, 2023, <https://www.murrayvalleystandard.com.au/story/2259474/new-ways-for-busy-tailem-bend-silo/>, viewed 4th November 2023.
  2. Murray Valley Standard, 2023, <https://www.murrayvalleystandard.com.au/story/3094164/end-of-line-for-murraylands-mallee-grain-trains/>, viewed 4th November 2023.
  3. Murray Bridge News, 2023, <https://www.murraybridge.news/p/records-fall-at-monarto-south-tailem>, viewed 4th November 2023.
  4. Wikipedia, 2023, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailem_Bend,_South_Australia>, viewed 4th November 2023.