Still their appearance is a bit
> more mordern than the old VR "flying squads" with their 1940s overcoats
> and felt hats! They used to travel in threes and change carriages at each
> station. How did they inspect tickets on the old dog boxes?
>
The same way as they do today. There were three or four inspectors, and
they did one compartment each, changing at each station. From memory,
it took them three stations to do one carriage. As we usually had seven
carriage trains in the peak, and four carriages in off peak, it took
them a long time to do the whole train. Observant fare evaders usually
saw them waiting to get on the train at either the front or the back
carriage, so took appropriate evasive action.
Occasionaly the inspectors manned the gates at busy suburban stations
such as Glenferrie, with fascinating results.
-- Mrs Judy Gordon School of Biological & Chemical Sciences Deakin University (Rusden Campus)