All forms of transport, including gunzelly
On this day 150 years ago, at 12:20pm, Australia’s first train service departed Flinders Street Station bound for Port Melbourne. With that in mind, here is my local railway station. This picture was taken on Friday morning. I actually use various stations around here depending on precisely where I’m going that day, but this is ... [More]
Dear PHL970, You know where you exit off the Westgate Freeway, onto Kingsway? Well you know how there are three lanes turning into Kingsway? You know how there are solid lines there leading from the freeway exit, around the corner into Kingsway? Well the general idea is that you follow the lines. So if you’re ... [More]
I’m not much of a gunzel really. The world of gunzelism is something that can range from mild interest in things railed through to knowing everything but everything there is to know about every tramway and rail carriage and engine ever in service (and quite a few that never were). In conversation some months ago, ... [More]
It’s breakfast time for the birds on platform 3.
Turned on my phone at 7am. Beep beep, beep beep. 9:01 train cancelled. Connex apologises for any inconvenience. (Is it really a sincere apology if it was typed by a programmer into the automated alerts system, and it’s just the computer repeating it ad nauseum ever after?) So it was no surprise when I got ... [More]
More teenage funsters on the train this morning. What is this, the school holidays? They got into the rear cab of the train, and apparently found the button to work the microphone, if nothing else. A very half-hearted attempt to do the impersonate-the-terrorists bit. Too much swearing to be plausible. Rather than “You f—ing motherf—ers, ... [More]
In the train at Flinders Street platform 6 on Tuesday afternoon. Two teenage boys are skylarking. “I got stuck on a train once”, says one as they joke, walking through the carriage. The other sits down. They are headed elsewhere, but the train is going nowhere for now. The first stands outside, pushes the door ... [More]
SMS used to be exciting. It could be a greeting from my jetsetting sister, anywhere in the world… or my mate the tour guide, also in exotic places. It’s lost its mystique. Particularly on weekdays, it’s no fun anymore. Here’s why. I know it’s optional, in these dark days certainly useful, and it’s all part ... [More]
Guess who left the car window ajar overnight? Yup. Fortunately it didn’t rain much this morning. On the bright side, I managed to do a bit of time-travelling on the way home today. Something like this: 16:50. Get to Flinders Street, just miss 16:49 Mordialloc train leaving. 16:52. Deftly leap aboard an Alamein train direct ... [More]
…and how pictures make a story real. If there was a Daniel FAQ, these questions would feature in it: Why are you involved in the Public Transport Users Association? What’s in it for you? And can I tell you about how late my train was this morning? Perhaps another long rambling retrospective is in order. ... [More]
On the tram back from lunch. In the corner seat was a bloke in a shirt and tie, carrying a folder. After a stop or two gazing out the window, he reached into his pocket and got out a 10x ticket and validated it, just as a gaggle of inspectors got on. (For out-of-towners, this ... [More]
To the guy in the navy blue suit at Hawksburn station at 8:38 this morning who ran down the ramp as the train doors closed because he thought the train with 1000 people on board should be made later than it already was, just for him and thumped on the door in a rage as ... [More]