Mal and all, before the wholesale market was moved from the Queen Vic site
Peel Street was utter bedlam on market mornings, trucks and semis parked
two and three deep, those little tractors and trailers dodging in and out,
humans who couldn't see what was coming for the fruit boxes carried on
their shoulders, stop start traffic on the tram lines and slippery
vegetable matter all over the rails. I only saw it occasionally, Essendon
crews copped it week in week out.
Traffic generally was pretty chaotic back then and trams got little right
of way, few marked traffic lanes, poor street lighting, the dreaded give
way to the right rule and evenings and weekends no shortage of pissed
motorists and at certain times pissed brewery truck drivers. I could go on,
plenty of hostile motorists, give them a gong and get the finger and
continued obstruction and I forgot to mention very inadequate running
times. Apart from all that I had tons of fun on the job and worked with
lots of great people.

Mustn't grumble,

Peter Bruce.

Attached, Australia day 1977, Camberwell Junction, Car 918. The end of my
M&MTB career.

On Mon, 11 Mar 2024 at 13:43, Mal Rowe mal.rowe@...> wrote:

> The first electric tramways entered the "Golden Mile" in 1925, down

> Swanston St as far as Lonsdale St and down Peel St and William St as far

> as Collins St.

>

> The City council wanted the poles to be topped with street lights as

> shown in the attached sketch dated 1923.

>

> However, the MMTB were not keen as the position of the lights would put

> the tramcar steps in the shade.

>

> At least one light was installed to the City council's preferred design

> and lasted until the mid 1950s when it was captured by an MMTB

> photographer collecting evidence on delays to trams caused by motor

> traffic.

>

> I'm pleased to note that the whole of the CBD is now effectively

> 'reserved track' ... it took a long campaign!

>

> Mal Rowe - as appalled at the motor traffic shown in the photo as the

> MMTB presumably was.

>

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>