Re: Preston station torched

[markbau1@aol.comQQQQyuk (MarkBau1)]

<<<<<<<<<When I was a kid in Melbourne in the 1960s and 1970s, there was indeed
a
stationmaster (and often many other staff) at every station. As well as
selling tickets to passengers from their little windows, they checked
the tickets of everyone leaving the trains, and waved little green flags
to the driver and guard to say it was safe for the train to leave. Many
stations also handled freight and parcels... there were funny
single-carriage electric freight trains that went from station to
station delivering parcels.

The Victorian Railways were the state's largest job-creation scheme in
those days, that's for real>>>>>>>>

Not EVERY station had an SM, lots of little station came under the control of
another station. Jacana, Glenbervie and Middle Footscray spring to mind.
Also, station staff waved white flags, only a guard could wave a green flag.
The only time station staff waved a green flag, (or light) was when they were
relaying the guard's "right away" signal to the driver. This happened at places
like Sunshine and Ballarat on The Overland, because of curves and the train
length the loco crew could not see the guards van.

Mark.


Visit my train pic website at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~markbau/