A bit of history.

Which reminds me,i was listening to a reporter interviewing Dick Johnston,quite a few years ago

Dick was saying,in his younger years,they(whoever they were), used to drive flat out through the Valley, along Brunswick street,without stopping at any intersections,just straight through,flat.

They used to dare each other to give it a go.

It used to be pretty bumpy through there,up and down,over Whickam and Anne st,then onto St Pauls Terrace,so it would have been interesting flat out....[biggrin]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by scarry

Which reminds me,i was listening to a reporter interviewing Dick Johnston,quite a few years ago

Dick was saying,in his younger years,they(whoever they were), used to drive flat out through the Valley, along Brunswick street,without stopping at any intersections,just straight through,flat.

They used to dare each other to give it a go.

It used to be pretty bumpy through there,up and down,over Whickam and Anne st,then onto St Pauls Terrace,so it would have been interesting flat out....[biggrin]

---

Had tram lines then, too. :burnrubber:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Paul, I've seen photos of some of the horrific crashes SES had to attend, on Marburg and Minden ranges, in that era.

---

Stupidly, at that age you think you are immortal.
Not saying it was wise or clever & nor would I do it again or want my kids doing it but,
It was Fun.
Jonesfam

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Had tram lines then, too. :burnrubber:

---

And maybe even a Trollybus,to dodge,although they would have been at the end of their run by then i am guessing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by scarry

And maybe even a Trollybus,to dodge,although they would have been at the end of their run by then i am guessing.

---

Trolley busses ran to behind the RBH from/through the Valley, I'm not sure if they went to Merthyr or New Farm Ferry, but there were certainly overhead wires. I didn't come in from the boonies until after the trams were withdrawn.

When I did my apprenticeship with UK Motors at Chermside , I caught the train from Darra to the Valley , then the tram from the Valley to Chermside . On the trip home I needed to get off the Tram at the crossing in front of the Valley Station & not at the tram stop that was further down the street , run down the ramp to catch the train to Central & change trains there to catch the express from Roma Street to Corinda than all stations to Darra. If I missed the first train in the Valley the trip home took an extra hour & a half. I did that for about a 1.5 years when I got my licence & bought a Morris Minor Tourer & the trip to & from work was half the time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 1950landy

When I did my apprenticeship with UK Motors at Chermside , I caught the train from Darra to the Valley , then the tram from the Valley to Chermside . On the trip home I needed to get off the Tram at the crossing in front of the Valley Station & not at the tram stop that was further down the street , run down the ramp to catch the train to Central & change trains there to catch the express from Roma Street to Corinda than all stations to Darra. If I missed the first train in the Valley the trip home took an extra hour & a half. I did that for about a 1.5 years when I got my licence & bought a Morris Minor Tourer & the trip to & from work was half the time.

---

Chermside or Herston? I never knew UKs to be at Chermside, doesn't mean they weren't.
My Dad had a builder friend who had trouble getting blokes to work north of Chermside, out in the sticks. [biggrin]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by V8Ian

out in the sticks. [biggrin]

---

When my parents bought a block of land at Daisy Hill,in the early 70's,we thought that it was way out in the scrub,as did most others[biggrin]

Well it was on a dirt road...[bighmmm]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Chermside or Herston? I never knew UKs to be at Chermside, doesn't mean they weren't.
My Dad had a builder friend who had trouble getting blokes to work north of Chermside, out in the sticks. [biggrin]

---

Chermside , Heading out of town UK Motors was on the corner of the street on the right before Chermside Picture Theatre , the Shell Service Station & workshop behind it was the service department then heading towards town there was one of the use car yards then the showroom & then another the other used car yard. The next business was a Dry Cleaners , then a Speed Shop ( can't remember the name) & Simpson's Saw Mill was behind all these business. The other BMC Dealer Howards had a car yard in Hamilton Rd next to Chermside Shopping Centre. The Picture Theatre was also owned by Doug Wagner who was the Manager of UK Motors . Across the side road from the workshop was Alex Hamilton's house who owned Hamilton bodyworks further towards the city in Gympie Rd .

In Melbourne from about 1979 onwards it was the 'Mole Factory' in Broadmweadows, so named because the turnoff into the industrial estate was behind Mole Engineering who made the Ditch Witch. By 10pm on a Friday night, there would be hundreds of young hoons lining the back street that formed the drag strip, and cars queued up around the block in pairs. The road into the 'venue' actually crossed the end of the drag strip and there were several fatalities, none on nights that I was there except once after I had left. The days of real Aussie muscle cars, the smell of burning rubber always transports me back there...
The cops would regularly bust it and put 'canaries' on every car they could catch, those lucky enough to evade them would head over in convoy to Cherry Lane in Brooklyn which was a burgeoning alternative venue and eventually became the main event. I particularly recall a pigeon-poop grey ZF Fairlane with tunnel rams protruding through the bonnet, the front wheels would both come 4 inches off the ground when the thing took off.