G'day all, in the very early days of TDU I told a story sort of along the
same lines but it involved a fictional driver from a faraway country who
had been born decades after the Fish Market was demolished. On the down on
route 12 to Fitzroy and Park St St Kilda and running considerably behind
time with nothing behind him [all hims in those days]. The braid at the
bottom of Collins St says "Sorry Ali, you'll have to go all the way but
I'll get a car to cut in for you coming back and you can come back from the
Fishmarket", "OK Norm, no worries". Did he know what the Fishmarket was or
how long since it was there? No way but he knew where the shunt was. There
was a huge amount of late running on that road back then because the
Spencer St bridge was the first crossing of the river and was always
chockers on working days and regulated by a copper, always the same one.
Lots of the time if South Melbourne could spare a crew there would be a
permanent block car at the suburban terminus.

The current media reporting on short shunts would have you believe that
they are always and only ever a bad thing.

Regards,

Peter Bruce.

P.S. Like Dean I like to think that TDU can be a forum for oral/aural
history. But if enough people find it tedious I will desist.

On 14 January 2018 at 16:04, Dean Filgatetramgunzle@...
[TramsDownUnder] TramsDownUnder@...> wrote:

>

>

> No joke (see attached picture from TDU Archives).

> This was the building that replaced the 'old Fish Market' on the corner of

> Flinders and Swanston Streets, which was demolished to make way for the

> present Flinders Street Station.

> This one was built on the (SE) corner of Flinders and Spencer Streets,

> squeezed between Flinders Street and the railway viaduct; long gone, and

> for a few decades a vacant lot, it was well-used by the Melbourne City

> Council as a pound for illegally parked cars. (Many a time on the City

> Circle, a puzzled motorist would jump-on and asked if I knew where his car

> was. I would ask "Where did you leave it ?" The car-less motorist would

> then point to the side of the road, to which I would reply something like

> "Next to that 'Clear Way, Tow Zone' sign ?" At least they could get a free

> ride to the impounded vehicle.). However, I digress: presently a 10

> year-old multi-storey apartment block occupies the site - it might be a

> gunzle's dream, but I wonder how the residents cope with almost 24/7

> foundation-rattling by all the trains passing within metres of the building.

>

> The shunt referred to is (or was) situated in Spencer Street, between the

> Yarra and the Railway Viaduct.

>

> X=X=X

>

> p.s. A search will reveal more similar photos in TDU archives, and on the

> internet.

>

>

> [image: Inline images 1]

>

>

>