Andrew Waugh

Yes, absolutely (all his three tech books are worth reading: cable, interurbans, and narrow gauge, and the last is a beautifully produced book).

But that point is one of the reasons why Melbourne trams are such a great path dependency: it depends at the start on quite specific circumstances.

Indeed. In the mid 1880s there were only three tram technologies - horse, steam and cable. Cable was the best if you could afford the capital costs and had the traffic, and the MT&O passed the major part of the capital costs to the Trust.

Seriously? There's a much better story to be told than that. Melbourne's trams are a fantastic example of path dependency. Starting with the cunning wheeze the capitalists of the MT&O Coy pulled to avoid the huge capital costs of cable trams.

OTOH, again IMO, the dismissal has made a republic harder.

No PM, lib or lab, will countenance a head of state not firmly under the prime ministerial thumb.

And the rest of us can't see the point unless the HOS is chosen by the voters.

Interestingly, IMO the object lesson of the fate of Kerr means that it's highly unlikely that a sane future GG (or G) will choose to make the same decision in the same way. The personal cost will be seen to be too high.

Irrespective of academic or pundit musings about the legality of the action.

As a curse, you must admit it was extremely effective.

Kerr was pretty much ostracised by everyone after the dismissal. He became a drunk and was exiled (self imposed). The family didn't announce his death until he had been buried.

It was terrible after life, whatever you think of the act itself.

God, I hate the new BOM web site. It never quite gives the information I want.

Incidentally, I'll bet they don't realise (or care about) the heritage significance of the two former siding gates. They're the only gates left intact sitting on their original foundation, probably with the operating mechanism intact under ground.

The irony is that there already is a pedestrian underpass at this level crossing. It was filled solid with concrete 20-30 years ago.

The two lines of bluestone blocks are the tops of the retaining walls for the access staircases.

Once saw clown 1 stop well forward, past the stop line (and detection loop), and clown 2 stop nearly a car length behind. Neither of them could work out why they weren't getting a right turn cycle. Even after multiple main road cycles had come and gone.

Gotta say I think this review says more about the reviewer that the show being reviewed.

www.theage.com.au/culture/tv-a...

These are everywhere these days - you can see the grooves cut in the road surface to embed the detection loops.

Article pointing out the cost of paying to access Australian standards. And asking whether Australian specific standards are necessary. But then the kicker that shows the people making this argument know *nothing*...

LOL, when was the last time they tried to get a copy of an iso standard?

The position of the funnel is a bit of a give away

Remember even at the Bourke St end you originally had to leave the Myki area to get to the country platforms; the current narrow concourse inside was a retrofit and you still have to go out to get to Platforms 1 & 2.

@dreadships.bsky.social possibly a bit colourful for the North Atlantic, but very effective.

(The Melbourne Cup is noted for its stylish fashions)

Sure got the hell out of it once it sensed your arrival.

Yes, but the cost of the station stop is the same no matter which airport. If you're going to stop at an airport as a transport hub, why not the main one rather than a freight and cheap flight airport? What's the ROI on Australia spending billions to connect a secondary Sydney airport to HSR?

And why a *massive* dogleg to serve the secondary Western Sydney Airport? If you were going to serve an airport, why not Mascot - the main international/domestic hub?

Again, you can see the cash register go 'ka-ching'

Why does it do a huge dogleg via Hornsby if it is in tunnel anyway? That's got to add a billion or so tunnelling.

Or have they simply responded to the earlier criticism of not going by Sydney CBD by doing a massive dogleg into and out of the CBD?

Wasn't that just after they'd put that connection in? I remember that for many years the Bourke St lines just ended, and there was a tiny bit of exposed cable tram track at the extreme bottom end of Bourke St.

One of the only features of my antivirus is that I specifically authorise programs running on my computer to access the internet.

Occasionally it asks if Copilot can access the internet. Nope. Nopeity, No.

... and 99.98% of their customers are trying to get a refund.

I regularly see young trainee police at a CBD intersection where they are practicising classic hand signalling (and, no doubt, experiencing how to do it safely). Very occassionally you see the police do it for real when a set of traffic lights fails.

Today.

Note the flashing lights on the occupation crossing instead of a gate and the lack of the pole line.

(Near cnr of Ingliston Rd & Jaicomellis Ln, just east of Ballan.)

'Come as you are' party

Only one more, I promise... Clearly the corner of Riley & Miles St. From my battered Gregories, I reckon this has been all cleared ('slum clearance') to build the St John Northcote Place.

Imagine having all the resources of the SLNSW at your finger tips and you could only come up with that caption.

Who cares about the hat? The model is nearly blocking the view of the Chandris Line ship. I'm fairly confident she's the SS Ellinis, formerly the Matson Line's Lurline, which ran Southampton - Sydney. Her passengers were mostly migrants.

January 1967, indeed. Given the Daily Torygraph was a morning paper, I think I can be very confident that this was taken on Monday, 2 January 1967 (look at the screamer on display)

Wodonga Coal Sidings. Someone should tell the State Library of NSW that it's NSW that has the narrower gauge.

The track worker is actually striding across the broad gauge - the NSW gauge track is to the left. The NSW line is a freight only branch line at this date.