Fw: Mack-a or Mack-i

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From: "Geoff Kirton" <geoff.kirton@rmit.edu.au>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 4:11 PM
To: <pbruce1@optusnet.com.au>
Subject: Mack-a or Mack-i

> Hello Peter,
>
> Thanks for the photos.
>
> Unsure myself as to the location of your 3rd & 4th phots, as the last time
> I visited Mackay Railway Station was in June 1984.
> My first guess is Proserpine, given that you travelled from Bowen to
> Townsville mostly in the dark (i.e. the small hours)
> The further north and west we are from Rocky and Toowoomba, the greater my
> unfamiliarity with rail stations and yards.
> A Queensland equivalent of Weston Langford's plans of track layouts is
> desperately needed, unless such info. already exists.
> Would be a fascinating document, given the "interesting layout" of some
> Qld. rail facilities.
> My first guess is Proserpine, given that you travelled from Bowen to
> Townsville mostly in the dark (i.e. the small hours).
>
> As to the pronunciation - when I first went to school in Toowoomba, I had
> a teacher who was born in Mackay, and he said "kay" as in "bay".
> Later on though, another teacher who had taught there used "kay" as in
> "eye".
> Both seemed to be used, but nowadays, people in radio & TV tend to use
> "kay" as in "eye".
> Perhaps "kay" was a local or regional decision from long ago.
> My feeling is that between 1971 and 1986, I rarely heard "eye" was mostly
> used.
>
> Enough of the grammar and railway lessons!
>
> Cheers
>
> Geoff