Crossing the Simpson Desert - Toyota got there first!

OverOz exclusive - Jim Upton

At 10pm on 11th September 1962 a ‘Cadet Blue’ soft top, FJ45 Toyota Landcruiser drove into Birdsville in Queensland having travelled from ‘Andado Station’ in the Northern Territory becoming the first vehicle to complete a full motorised crossing of the ‘Simpson Desert’ unassisted. Not only was a Toyota Landcruiser first into Birdsville but it towed another vehicle through some of toughest dunes in the dessert: that legendary ability continues to this day. While Australian folklore has a few varying versions of the first vehicle(s) to cross the desert, this story details what actually transpired.

Jim Upton – OverOz has used the original 1962 Geosurveys of Australia Pty Ltd (Geoseismic Limited) ‘Gravity Report’ with over 1,000 measurements and coordinates, cross-referenced against a range of other research material, including firsthand accounts, to accurately plot the exact route and time line of all the vehicles in 1962 survey expedition across the Simpson Desert.

Background - Reg Sprigg

Reg Sprigg planned, organised and led the crossing of the Simpson Desert in 1962. Kristin Weidenbach in her biography of Reg: “ROCK STAR – The story of Reg Sprigg – an outback legend”, recounted:

“Reg Sprigg is regarded by many as the greatest geologist of his generation and one of the best Australia has produced. By the age of thirty he had discovered the oldest fossils in the world and some of its deepest undersea canyons. He had worked at Australia’s first two uranium mines and searched for material with which to construct the world’s first atomic bomb. By the time he was 40 he had set up the largest private geological consulting firm in the country, helped found SANTOS, and discovered the great Cooper Basin oil and gas fields. By the time he was 50 he had built his own boat and diving bell and mastered the primitive art of scuba diving. He had driven the first vehicle across the Simpson Desert and crossed the continent from north, south, east and west. He had also launched Arkaroola Wildlife Sanctuary, one of Australia’s first ecotourism resorts. The rest of his life he would devote to the unlikely bedfellows of mining and conservation, and to his insatiable love of geology.”

Reg Sprigg's Simpson Desert 'mud map

Griselda Sprigg

Having participated in the crossing of the Simpson Desert, Griselda Sprigg revealed the story in her book ‘Dune is a four-letter word’. After reading her fascinating book I was compelled to embark on further research to ascertain the exact routes, the timeline, and the participating vehicles used in the crossing.

The Transport

Prior to embarking on the Simpson Desert crossing Reg Sprigg had approached agents for Toyota, Nissan and International Harvesters vehicles to seek their interest in providing a free vehicle in which they would test their products’ reliability, ability and endurance. A new 1962 Nissan G60 soft top was supplied by the manufacture’s agent. International Harvesters Australia also obliged and supplied an International Harvester Scout 80. The FJ40 Toyota Landcruiser; and a 1950s FJ 20 series Toyota Landcruiser were provided by Reg Sprigg’s company Geosurveys of Australia.

The Scout, The Nissan and Yellow Peril September 1962 Simpson desert.

The Nissan “Lead Team”

Reg Sprigg – Team Leader; Griselda Sprigg – Wife; Marg Sprigg – Daughter; Doug Sprigg – Son

The Nissan was a 1962 G60 soft top Patrol with a 4-litre in-line six-cylinder petrol engine. Nissan claimed that it produced 140 horsepower. The drive chain was a 3-speed un-synched gear box with transfer case for low range.

The Nissan was also loaded to the hilt, at least until the thirsty vehicles had drained the 44-gallon drum of fuel being carried in the back. More gear was added later when drive train troubles hit the Scout.

Major issues encountered.

While not life threatening, the Nissan encountered numerous problems. Fuel blockages and a dodgy fuel pump were repaired multiple times enroute. Suspension bolts also worked loose. The Nissan suffered badly from overheating and would boil up to ten times a day, especially when charging the sandhills in the heat. This slowed progress for the entire party. Annoyingly the passenger door latch failed, causing severe sunburn to Griselda Sprigg’s arm and hand as she was tasked with “keeping the bloody thing” closed.

The Scout “J Team”

Geoff Rowley – Surveyor (Geosurveys); Gordon ‘Fred’ de Rose – International Harvester’s Mechanic

The Scout was a brand new (1961) International Harvester Scout 80 and one of the first Scouts in Australia. It was supplied to prove its capability as a genuine off-road vehicle. The Scout 80 had the 152ci 4-cylinder petrol engine. Along with the Scout came ‘Fred’ de Rose, an expert mechanical specialist and experienced bushman who proved his worth during the mission, not just with the Scout.

Major issues encountered

The Scout had its first broken axle before the first rendezvous with the Nissan. The rear diff exploded later reducing it to two-wheel drive and then broke a front axle. Soon after the front diff also failed.

The Blue Toyota Landcruiser “Q Team”

Jack Platt – Gravity Crew; David Hughes – Gravity Crew

The ‘Blue Landcruiser’ which looked almost green was a ‘Cadet Blue’ FJ40 series, short wheel base soft top, which was often referred to by the crew as the ‘Good Toyota’. A 6-cylinder motor with a 3-speed gearbox and transfer case for low range. It proved to be a formidable vehicle. It became the tow vehicle for the Scout after it suffered numerous drive train issues. The Blue Landcruiser technically became the first vehicle to cross the Simpson Desert unassisted.

Major issues encountered

No major problems were reported or documented.

Yellow Peril Toyota Landcruiser’ “S Team”

Darby von Sanden – Operations Manager; Anthony von Sanden – Son

Yellow Peril was an ‘ancient’ 1950s FJ 20 series Toyota Landcruiser. It had the original F, 6-cylinder motor with a 4- speed gearbox but no transfer case (no low range). This vehicle was based in the desert on a claypan at survey mark known as T19, the desert depot for Geosurveys’ Gravity crew. Fuel and workers were flown in from their East Bore “Base Camp” at ‘Andado Station’. Yellow Peril had well and truly stood the test of a very punishing time and had proved its ability in the desert.

Major issues encountered

Prior to leaving ‘T19’ (desert depot) 'Yellow Peril' had already sustained damage to all 4 shock absorbers.

Shortly before rendezvousing with the other teams Yellow Peril stripped the rivets off one of the gears, joining it to the driveshaft, leaving it with no 1st and reverse gears.

This article concentrates on the vehicles and routes they took but as all off-road enthusiast know the ability of the driver(s) is just as important. No doubt all these drivers knew their stuff so to speak, however a special mention should go to Darby von Sanden who somehow managed to navigate the much-used 1950s FJ20 series Landcruiser across the desert with broken shock absorbers, no first or reverse gear and no low range. A truly remarkable feat.

Cessna 172 “Air Team”

Collin Semmler – Pilot

1961 Cessna 172 B. 145 horsepower motor. Take of distance of 875 feet (just 270 metres) which came in very handy on the clay pans. Some claypans were known to be safe to land on. On the others Collin would perform a ‘touch and go’ running the wheels ever so gently along the pans to ascertain if there were any soft areas. When soft spots were detected, full power would be engaged and a more suitable landing spot sought.

Depot Truck “Trouble Shooters”

Nick Byrne – Trouble Shooter; Wal Watkins – Off Sider

The trouble shooters normally travelled between teams to keep everything moving. On this trip crossing they only accompanied the Blue Landcruiser down the ‘Q Traverse’ then returned back to East Bore at ‘Andado Station’

Major Problems encountered

The Depot Truck suffered engine problems, breaking down on the “Q Traverse’

General Hazards

Bogging’s were a common occurrence, often many a day, both climbing the dunes and in the claypans and salt flats. The gidgee wood stumps played terror on the tyres, changes and repairs were just part of the ongoing experience.

Due to the wet winter, the abundance of large spinifex clumps played havoc on the vehicles, clogging grills and running gear. In some places the traversing vehicles resorted to driving on the dune tops to avoid the massive clumps. Of great concern, the vehicles would also become hung-up on the clumps of spinifex sparking fires underneath from the hot exhaust pipes and threatening fuel fires in the Vehicles.

Communications

The crews had HF radios which had to be connected to the batteries on the vehicle and long antennae raised. These were impractical and were only used on a couple of occasions for scheduled communications (Skeds). Generally, the parties would send up flares at 8 O’clock in the evening so if others were nearby, they could better pin their locations to each other. Writing in the sand and hand/ arm signals were used to communicate with the ‘Air Team’. The pilot would also scribble notes and drop them wrapped around a rock from the plane.

Navigation (Making the Maps)

1962 there was limited mapping as we know it now of the Simpson Desert. The party used ‘National Mapping’ compilation sheets and Gravity Surveys conducted by Helicopters, while proving not satisfactory for oil exploration they were used to identify major structures. Photo mosaics (1960s version of Google Earth) which were mostly produced in house from Geosurveys' planes and prismatic compasses were their main tools. Part of Geosurveys' work was to map the desert under contract to the Bureau of Mineral Resourses. They used the Arundel method of triangulation to accurately pot coordinates for maps which are still used today.

Planning the Crossing

Plan A

Reg’s first attempt at a full crossing of the Simpson Desert in the ‘Blue Landcruiser’ was to be from ‘Numery Station’ to Poeppel Corner and then East to Birdsville in May 1962. This attempt failed for a number of reasons.

Plan B

By September 1962 Reg had three parties working full time for his company, Geosurveys of Australia, running gravity survey measurements down ‘Traverses’ from his base camp at ‘East Bore’ on ‘Andado Station’. The many Traverses ran parallel to the dunes along interdune corridors in a roughly South-South-East direction. They were roughly 5 miles apart with one-mile station intervals along each traverse. The Scout (J Team) and the Blue Land Cruiser (Q Team) would take on the ‘J Traverse’ and ‘Q Traverse’ respectively and Yellow Peril (S Team) having completed the ‘S Traverse’ would then measure down the ‘T Traverse’.

The plan was for the Nissan to drive South from ‘Andado Station’ and then East from Mt Etingambra meeting up ‘J’, ‘Q’ and ‘S’ teams on or close to the 26th Parallel (South Australian – Northern Territory border) at the Southern end of their respective traverses.

Taking gravity readings was time-consuming and for each vehicle the most challenging duty would be to rendezvous at the correct time and place with the Nissan. Four 4WD vehicles each alone in 6 million acres of desert (and that’s just on the Western side) all to meet each other at a specific time and place.

The teams would be supported by the Cessna 172, but none the less It would be a daunting task with much to go wrong.

The Crossing

Day 1

With the 3 traverse teams already in the desert The Nissan departed Andado Station on September 1, 1962. Following station tracks between ‘Andado Station’ Mt Daer on day one was uneventful and the Nissan camped up that evening just West of Mt Etingambra accompanied by fat cattle.

Day 2

Mt Etingambra saw the last of any tracks for the Nissan, something the other teams had not seen for days. From here it was due east charging the dunes at speed and careering down the ‘avalanche’ eastern sides. A task too daunting for the Nissan’s passengers who chose to walk the steep descents until they gained enough confidence in the vehicle and driver’s ability to drive down safely. The Nissan had made 108 dunes by camp at nightfall as the other teams forged South down their respective traverses.

Day 3

After another punishing day of charging dunes and overheating, the Nissan eventually located the ‘J Traverse’ tracks, which Griselda knelt down and kissed in jubilation, at the realisation that they would no longer be alone in the Desert. However, there was no sign of the Scout ‘J Team’. A scheduled 8 o’clock flare was sent up and duly answered by the ‘J team’ who were about a further 6 miles to the South.

Griselda Kissing the tracks of 'The Scout'

Day 4

The Nissan and Scout rendezvoused in the morning at the same time the ‘Air Team’ in the Cessna circled above. A line in the sand and hands in the air (Simon Says) signalled to the ‘Air Team’ they intended to continue East as planned. The Scout had already broken an axle which had been replaced by Fred. “This blighter is far too light for this sort of country,” Fred said, as he slapped the side of the Scout. “I had a feeling it might be”, with no regard to the fact the Scout was majorly overloaded with extra fuel and water drums, a full workshop of tools, spare springs, plenty of spare axles and provisions.

They ploughed East a further 30 miles to M76 mark with only 2 boggings and 6 engine boilings in the Nissan. The overheating of the Nissan was creating concerns as it was depleting their drinking water.

Another boiling in the Nissan

Day 5

Spirits were raised by a cool southerly change that came through overnight. Further repairs were needed to the fuel pump and suspension on the Nissan.

A scheduled radio contact was made with both the Blue Landcruiser and Yellow Peril. The Blue Landcruiser was on ‘Q Traverse’ with the Depot Truck and all was good, but ‘The Yellow Peril Landcruiser’ had sheered gearbox rivets and lost 1st and reverse gears. With no low range this made some of the dunes very challenging. But with Darby behind the wheel, it was up to the task.

The Nissan and the Scout made great progress forging east to P84 where the Cessna was waiting after having landed on the clay pan and what was Geosurveys’ most easterly fuel dump. This was the only place west of Birdsville they knew they could safely land the Cessna at the time.

The planned rendezvous with the Blue Toyota and the Yellow Peril Landcruiser did not eventuate and the Cessna took to the air in search of the Blue Landcruiser on ‘Q Traverse’ The Nissan and Scout headed off east. Large sand flats made for much easier travelling and the Blue Landcruiser’s tracks were located. Shortly after the Blue Landcruiser was sighted at Q78 along with the Cessna that had managed to land.

The 8 o’clock flares went unanswered and there was concern for both the Yellow Peril and the Depot Truck. The Depot truck had broken down with engine problems.

Day 6

The Cessna went in search of the Yellow Peril and the ‘Trouble Shooters’ in the Depot Truck. The Depot Truck was located; it had been struggling to make it up the steep eastern avalanche slopes heading West back to P84. A request “where is P84” was scraped into the sand and a response note was dropped from the Cessna with directions. The Cessna then collected Fred (Scout Mechanic) from ‘Q78’ to assist with repairs to the Depot Truck back at P84 and then return to Q78 with Fred to continue in the Scout.

The Nissan forged east in search of ‘T Traverse’ and Yellow Peril while the Scout and Blue Landcruiser waited for Fred to return. After a long day charging treacherous dunes and a few heart stopping moments, the Nissan found ‘T Traverse’ and soon after the Yellow Peril. It was only an hour or so until the Scout and the Blue Landcruiser followed in, having the benefit of driving in the Nissan’s tracks. The full convoy of vehicles was together at last.

Day 7 - 8

All vehicles were serviced by Fred who unfortunately, was not able to restore the missing gears to Yellow Peril. The convoy then headed south separately completing the gravity measurement on ‘T Traverse’, over the border into South Australia and down to ‘T92’. With the gravity surveys complete, the four-vehicle convoy, now in unison headed east just a few miles south of the 26th Parallel (NT/SA border). The trip though to Lake Thomas was relentless and treacherous, however many hands made light work of the incessant boggings in the dunes and salt flats as they proceeded into the ‘Lake Country’, still soft from a wet winter. The Nissan’s overheating issues still slowed progress. On arriving at Lake Thomas all four-vehicle raced up and down the lake compacting the surface to make a safe landing strip for the Cessna as it circled above before performing a perfect landing. With the entire crew together, it was time to briefly let their hair down.

Day 9

The vehicles headed for Poeppel Corner while Colin flew Darby, Doug and Marg into Birdsville to organise arrangements for a celebration dinner at the pub when they eventually arrived there. They then returned to Lake Thomas and joined the others at Poeppel Corner. A trig station was erected and Poeppel’s badly damaged corner post was salvaged to return to the museum in Adelaide.

Doug and Mark Sprigg with Poeppel's original corner post.

Day 10

The home run to Birdsville proved not to be easy on the vehicles. Another dune bashing marathon trying to dodge gidgee stumps in an attempt to avoid further punctures saw the Scout’s rear diff explode with a loud bang. Now reduced to 2-wheel drive it gingerly pushed on, but only made two more dunes before breaking a front axle rendering it useless. A decision was made to leave the Scout in the desert. Camp was made 10 miles further East on the bed of the Mulligan River at dark.

However, with the worst of the desert done and Fred very upset on abandoning the Scout, it was decided to try and retrieve it. Darby, Fred and Jack back tracked in the Blue Landcruiser getting to the Scout at around 10pm. The plan was to replace the front axle of the Scout to restore at least two-wheel drive and secure the Scout behind the ‘Blue Landcruiser’ with tyres lashed between the two vehicles to create a hybrid 6-wheeldrive. This was done, unfortunately the front diff soon failed as well. Fred then managed a more successful bush repair using scraps from the rear diff to fix it.

Day 11- 12 The longest day.

The Blue Toyota had not returned to Mulligan River yet from its mission to recover the Scout. The Yellow Peril, now with Geoff, David and Anthony were eager to push on east from the Mulligan River camp. Reg agreed, with instructions for them to locate and take the ‘Alton Downs’ track South to “the first well tank and wait for us there”. Around midday the 8x6 Cruiser-Scout desert-duelling off-road-train eventually rocked into camp with stories of mounting the enormous avalanche eastern dune when heading west for the recovery in The Blue Landcruiser. The Nissan and Blue Toyota with the Scout in tow moved east and soon found the ‘Alton Downs’ track. Worryingly track marks were seen continuing east and all hoped they were not the tracks of the Yellow Peril. Now on tracks the Scout was separated from the Blue Toyota as the Scout could now “limp along on the front diff”. The convoy continued down the Alton Downs track to the first well tank only to find no Yellow Peril waiting.

At the bore everyone cleaned up in readiness for Birdsville. Thinking the Yellow Peril may have continued down the track to ‘Alton Downs’ the convoy moved that way. At the homestead two aboriginal stockman informed them the old FJ20s Cruiser had not been sighted. So, it must have been their tracks continuing east along the border. Reg was furious knowing the Yellow Peril was short on fuel and water.

It was early evening and it was decided the Nissan, with Reg and Darby, would back track in search of the Yellow Peril.

The Blue Landcruiser with Griselda, Doug and Marg and the Scout with Fred and Jack on board and with the aid of a mud map (drawn by the stockman) would make for Birdsville. Arriving at around 10 pm 11th September 1962, the Blue Landcruiser became the first motorised vehicle to complete the crossing of the Simpson Desert to Birdsville. Closely limping behind was the “expeditions automotive runt”, the Scout which alas had not made it unassisted. It was not the jubilant entrance they had hoped for with only part of the party in town. On to the pub where they caught up with Colin Semmler from the one man ‘Air Team’. He had spotted Yellow Peril stopped along the border earlier. “They wanted to be first into Birdsville” Colin surmised.

The Nissan carrying Darby and Reg pulled into Birdsville at around 3am the next morning. They had found ‘Yellow Peril’. “The bloody idiots were out of everything! Lucky for them we decided to go back for a look.”

Later in the morning Anthony, Geoff and David arrived in ‘Yellow Peril’

The Yellow Peril would have been the first vehicle to reach Birdsville if they hadn’t overlooked fuel levels in their rush to beat the rest of the party?

Ten people and four vehicles had now traversed the Simpson Desert for the first time from ‘Andado Station’ to Birdsville all taking different routes. Griselda and Marg became the first non aboriginal females and Doug the youngest non aboriginal to cross the desert.

References

1. Contacting and corresponding with 2 of the original participants in the 1962 crossing. (Marg and Doug Sprigg)

2. Kristin Weidenbach in her biography of Reg Sprigg: “ROCK STAR – The story of Reg Sprigg – an outback legend”, recounted:

3. Griselda Sprigg’s book ‘Dune is a four-letter word’

4. The original 1962 Geosurveys of Australia ‘Gravity Report’ with over 1,000 measurements and coordinates, cross-referenced against a range of other research material, including firsthand accounts mentioned above, to accurately plot the exact route and time line of the 1962 survey expedition across the Simpson Desert.

5. Diary notes form Griselda Sprigg during the crossing.

6. Jim Upton’s “Tracks of the Simpson Desert” – What’s in a name. An insight into the provenance of the tracks of the Simpson Desert.

7. South Australian Dept. of Energy and Mining (Ian Campbell)

Photo credits

"Dune is a four letter word" - Griselda Sprigg

Later Crossings.

The following year equipped with Land Rovers, supply trucks and Blitzwagon semi-trailers, French Petroleum commenced work on the B-line seismic shot-line on 1st July 1963 at Dalhousie Springs in South Australia. It ended at Poeppel Corner early in September and then on to Eyre Creek and Birdsville later.

This was also the route the Nissan sponsored re- enactment of the first crossing took, dodging the hard yards that our original heroes completed in 1962.