The tiny Queensland town of Thallon, located more than 500km west of Brisbane, is set to hold the third edition of its newest event – the Thallon Truck Pull, on August 31.
Still a young event, it’s a truck show of a different kind, being a competition more in the sporting sense than an opportunity to show off how shiny your chrome is.
Teams of six will go head-to-head pulling a 12-tonne prime mover 25 metres as quickly as they possibly can. Each team has three goes at dragging the truck along to get the fastest time.
Thallon Progress Association president and Thallon State School P and C grants officer Janna Spierenburg says the event first came to light as a way to celebrate the community post-COVID lockdowns.
“The Thallon State School P and C Committee, came up with the idea in early 2021, the drought had ‘broken-sort of’ and we were easing out of COVID,” Spierenburg says.
“Our town and school population had declined rapidly and we needed to showcase Thallon as a great place for new people to call home. We also knew that our local people had struggled through the drought and this event was a great way to help people re-connect socially in a fun way and support everyone’s mental wellbeing.
“We held the inaugural Thallon Truck Pull event on the 28th of August 2021. We backed it up the following year on the 27th of August 2022. Since then we have decided to run the event biennially.”
There are currently five teams nominated for this year’s Truck Pull, with hopes to have at least one or two more contesting the event.
For the first time ever, due to popular demand, the Truck Pull will be split up into both women’s and men’s division.
This year the teams will be pulling a Kenworth T610SAR prime mover, kindly offered for use in the event by the local 4 Hill Farming, a local farming family business run by Matthew and Jane Hill.
“The winning team in each competition takes home $3000,” Spierenburg says.
“The competitors get to show-off the fun-spirited nature of the event by creating a fun team name, team song and wearing a team uniform or costume. So far we have three women’s teams and two mens teams. So we want to encourage a few more teams to join in the fun.
“In the previous events we have had between 300 to 400 people attend. This year we are expecting 400-500 people to attend. Of the attendees about 50 per cent are from within our shire area and the other 50 per cent are travellers. We have had people from as far as Tasmania and Western Australia attend the event.”
While the pull will obviously be the highlight of the show, there’s plenty more on offer to enjoy.
“The intention of the event has always been to provide a fun family day out for locals and travellers,” Spierenburg says.
“There is something on the day for everyone. There are loads of market stalls, retro car display and good country hospitality food options provided by local caterers.
“The most exciting area is solely for the kids – The Kids Zone. The kids have so much fun and this year we have hired a jumping castle, mini golf, inflatable basketball and soccer to keep them entertained all day.”
You may not have heard of Thallon before unless you’ve driven through in-land Queensland, but there’s sights to see and hospitality to enjoy if you do make the trek over for the show.
“Thallon is a fantastic little country town. The Thallon Truck Pull event is a free family fun day out and is truly a uniquely Thallon event, showcasing our community in our true form,” Spierenburg says.
“We are fun and incredibly hard working which proves that Thallon is a great place to live, work and play. While in Thallon there is so much to see and do.
“Travelling visitors will get to view the beautiful Thallon GrainCorp Silo mural, and if they have time can discover the hidden ‘Rogue’s Gallery’ murals under the old railway bridge.
“In addition there is the lifesize sculpture ‘William the Wombat’ in the park for the kids and young at heart to climb up on. This is just to name a few.
“If you arrive a few days earlier, travellers can treat themselves for a meal and meet the locals at the Thallon Pub or at the Thallon Coffee Shop.”
Visit the www.thallontruckpull.com.au website for information on the event or visit www.explorethallon.com.au for more information on Thallon.
Subscribe to the weekly Owner//Driver newsletter here.