Mick Duncan (and other trammie memories)
Paul Nicholson
Wednesday, January 16, 2002 6:27 PM
"Mick Duncan,ex Camberwell and Malvern,he was
physically incapable of starting work before Midday
and even that was risky.He nearly always made it for
last car though.
Does anyone know where he is now?"
I believe Mick is living in retirement in southern New
South Wales. I saw him at the funeral of Colin Hirst
in 1998. There is a small group of enthusiasts who
meet after work every week for a few beers; the group
is a bit like the hammer that has had many replacement
heads and handles but the group started as Camberwell
trammies in the 1970s and Mick might have been one of
the early members. Robert "Aspros" Aspinall, retired
scrubber car and Pyrmont Bridge driver, might have
been involved too.
There is a good tram story about Mick and other
enthusiasts who were "physically incapable of starting
work before Midday": apparently Mick and several
others were regular workers at the Bylands tram museum
on Sundays. This was at a time, in the early 1970s,
when tram enthusiasts in Melbourne were expected to
project a conservative "wowser" image. Mick and other
guys used to enjoy a beer or two (or many more no
doubt) on Saturday nights and becoming "physically
incapable of starting work before Midday" didn't
arrive at the museum till about that time. They were
ready to put in a good day's work but the TMSV
management decided that it wasn't "appropriate" for
enthusiasts to drink on Saturday night and imposed a
deadline, impossible for Mick and the others to
achieve, for reporting for duty at the musem on Sunday
mornings. That was the end of their volunteer work at
Bylands.
There was a general belief in enthusiast circles at
the time that the "men of the Tramways Board" expected
enthusiasts to be very conservative "wowsers". Anyone
who didn't toe the line was a "black sheep". It seemed
incredible. But there was another story of the old
scrubber car, #5, that sat at the back of Malvern
Depot for years (with the museum cars). Apparently
there was an enthusiast tour on the Saturday and some
of the participants were seen [by the men of the
Tramways Board] not to be conservative "wowsers"!
Apparently the order went out on the Monday for #5 to
be taken to Preston and scrapped. A vindictive move to
show the enthusiasts what was expected of them.
Does anyone know if the story? It is amazing to recall
now but it was an interesting time (about 1964 if I
recall) when younger people started challenging many
of the conservative and traditional values of the era.
There must be many other similar stories that can now
be told!
Paul in Melbourne
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physically incapable of starting work before Midday
and even that was risky.He nearly always made it for
last car though.
Does anyone know where he is now?"
I believe Mick is living in retirement in southern New
South Wales. I saw him at the funeral of Colin Hirst
in 1998. There is a small group of enthusiasts who
meet after work every week for a few beers; the group
is a bit like the hammer that has had many replacement
heads and handles but the group started as Camberwell
trammies in the 1970s and Mick might have been one of
the early members. Robert "Aspros" Aspinall, retired
scrubber car and Pyrmont Bridge driver, might have
been involved too.
There is a good tram story about Mick and other
enthusiasts who were "physically incapable of starting
work before Midday": apparently Mick and several
others were regular workers at the Bylands tram museum
on Sundays. This was at a time, in the early 1970s,
when tram enthusiasts in Melbourne were expected to
project a conservative "wowser" image. Mick and other
guys used to enjoy a beer or two (or many more no
doubt) on Saturday nights and becoming "physically
incapable of starting work before Midday" didn't
arrive at the museum till about that time. They were
ready to put in a good day's work but the TMSV
management decided that it wasn't "appropriate" for
enthusiasts to drink on Saturday night and imposed a
deadline, impossible for Mick and the others to
achieve, for reporting for duty at the musem on Sunday
mornings. That was the end of their volunteer work at
Bylands.
There was a general belief in enthusiast circles at
the time that the "men of the Tramways Board" expected
enthusiasts to be very conservative "wowsers". Anyone
who didn't toe the line was a "black sheep". It seemed
incredible. But there was another story of the old
scrubber car, #5, that sat at the back of Malvern
Depot for years (with the museum cars). Apparently
there was an enthusiast tour on the Saturday and some
of the participants were seen [by the men of the
Tramways Board] not to be conservative "wowsers"!
Apparently the order went out on the Monday for #5 to
be taken to Preston and scrapped. A vindictive move to
show the enthusiasts what was expected of them.
Does anyone know if the story? It is amazing to recall
now but it was an interesting time (about 1964 if I
recall) when younger people started challenging many
of the conservative and traditional values of the era.
There must be many other similar stories that can now
be told!
Paul in Melbourne
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail!
http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Access Your PC from Anywhere
Check Email & Transfer files - Free Download
http://us.click.yahoo.com/1njxPB/wakDAA/cosFAA/DiTxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/