Re: Welcome back to Melbourne Gareth!

[David Langley <del@ancc.com.au>]

David McLoughlin wrote:

> Melbourne's trams are the city's most distinctive feature. They are what
> sets it apart from other places. They feature in all the tourism
> publicity for the city, and few tourists would fail to have at least one
> ride on them. It is thus utterly unsurprising that lots of people will
> take photos of them. It is perfectly legal to photograph a tram (or
> anything or anyone) on a public roadway and drivers have no right to
> object.
>
> That said, I spent a week 18 months ago photohraphing trams day and
> night all over the system, and met no resistance from drivers at all.
> Many waved. Six months before that, my wife took some photos for me on
> the Bundoora extension. At the terminus, the driver and conductor (they
> still had the latter then) seemed so pleased she was photographing their
> tram that the conductor gave her his bag and took a photo of her with it
> in front of the tram.

Yes I agree entirely and have had similar experiences. Sometimes the bad ones stick
out a little but I have met many trammies who were very happy in their job and the
fact that they were in the public limelight. The ministers comments about letters
regarding the publics unhappy experiences with connies were probably made up or at
least were only a couple amongst the hundreds that he might have got. Incidently,
I've had similar blind lowering experiences with suburban train drivers and it makes
you wonder whether they were not where they were supposed to be at the time.

David Langley.