Hidden in History is a weekly column that unearths the quirky, curious and sometimes eyebrow-raising tales from Shepparton’s past. Provided by the Shepparton Heritage Centre, these articles are rooted in fact — but told with a wink and a sense of humour.
On the horticultural front, history in transportation was made in 1960.
The first Australian containerised shipment of canned fruit, 5600 cartons, was loaded at SPC’s rail siding into containers for direct transport to Western Australia.
The move was hailed as a revolutionary milestone in “hands-off” containerisation as significant as the change from sail to steam in shipping: the containers were taken by rail to Melbourne’s Dynon terminal, loaded on to the container vessel SS Kooringa and shipped to Perth, before being loaded directly on to semi-trailers and taken to buyers’ warehouses.
The container design, with key input by SPC, meant the cartons were untouched from the time they left Shepparton to their destination.
A big noise at the time, but small beer now in a world that annually ships more than 200 million containers and in which a single vessel alone can carry up to 15,000 containers.
The Shepparton Heritage Centre is always looking for volunteers. If you are interested, contact the centre on 4831 8659.
