A pair of 40 horsepower petrol-electric tractors at Minico Yards, the headquarters of the 17th ...

A pair of 40 horsepower petrol-electric tractors at Minico Yards, the headquarters of the 17th Australian Light Railway Operating Company. At the time the third battle of Ypres was raging.
The tractors shown were manufactured by Dick Kerr and Company, who supplied 100 petrol-electric locomotives for the War Department Light Railways. Similar but slightly more powerful models were made by British Westinghouse. These tractors mounted a four cylinder petrol engine which supplied power to a 30 kilowatt generator. This generator supplied current at 500 volts to two electric motors. As the petrol engines were hard to turn by hand for starting, another tractor’s generator was often used as a starter motor for the petrol engine. This photograph probably shows that process in action.