As if a mess of different rail gauges and incompatible train radio systems across Australia weren’t enough, there is yet another incompatibility – different standards for high visibility vests! I’m not joking – head off to a workwear supplier, and they’ll list ‘Victoria’ and ‘NSW’ specification high visibility vests. The NSW version has the reflective […]
One question I’ve seen people ask many a time is why the Ballarat line loops around after passing through Bacchus Marsh, instead of just running in a straight line. But the answer is simple – there is a bloody great big hill in the way. Going for a ride We start on the Melbourne side […]
Just on a decade ago at the corner of Swanston and La Trobe Street in Melbourne, I found a curious plaque hidden among the bluestone paving – it read “Queen Elizabeth Plaza named by Her Majesty The Queen, 28 May 1980”. So what was Queen Elizabeth Plaza, and why did the Queen have it named […]
After my recent look at how Melbourne’s suburb boundaries were created in 1998, you might think they would be clear and logical lines drawn along main roads, freeways, railway lines, creeks and rivers. The answer – of course not! Discovering the mess! The story starts when I was randomly looking around in VicNames, which contains […]
