New Years Morning Photo. 01/01/2012.

G'day all, it seems that I had more than one attempt at the panoramic shot of Long Gully and certainly the location justified it and the description "straggling suburbs of Bendigo" also seems pretty apt. The attached picture is a little messy but on the whole I think it is worth posting. The bogie car has just run through Long Gully loop and is about to pass Grenfell's butcher shop and The Rose of Australia Hotel before heading towards Charing Cross and ultimately Quarry Hill where the line terminated just outside the cemetery like many other tramlines constructed early in the 20th century.

 

Going by the number of cars angle parked out front the pub is doing a roaring trade on this summer Saturday afternoon in the days before random breath testing. In fact the year 1971 [when this pic was taken] saw the Victorian road toll reach its bloody peak, it has declined ever since in spite of massive population increases and a very much higher incidence of car ownership at least partly because of the sustained campaign against drink driving.

 

I just recently rediscovered this photo and looking at it I feel that I can still hear the rumble and jingle of this old tramcar on that hot and windless day. Next time I'm in Bendigo I'll have a beer at "The Rose" and a look around Long Gully.

 

I hope the year ahead treats us all well, and I'd like to thank you all for your information, appreciation and comments, keep them coming. I'll keep the Monday Morning Photos coming, albeit probably irregularly. If anyone would like to use a photo for publication or maybe to just make a print for their own use they can contact me and I'll send a large file. I would like to be credited for the picture but that's all.

 

Regards and best wishes for 2012,

 

Peter Bruce.

 

 

 

 

Monday Morning Photo. Wednesday 14/12/2011.

G'day all, the trouble with only posting one photo at a time is that every photo I look at seems to be the one and so I work myself into a lather of indecision and suddenly it's not Sunday night anymore it's Wednesday afternoon so I make an arbitrary choice.

During the summer of 1971-72 I made a final trip to Bendigo and walked each line end to end. Bendigo is smaller than Ballaarat and the tramway consisted of just two routes, North Bendigo to Golden Square and Quarry Hill to Eaglehawk and they intersected at Charing Cross in the centre of the business district. The line from the Cross out to the Borough of Eaglehawk was the longest and most interesting and  ran up hill and down dale through what in those days were the rather straggling suburbs of Bendigo.

For those of you not familiar Bendigo, like Ballaarat, was a Goldrush town and so slagheaps dotted the landscape and I'm pretty sure that I scrambled up one to take the photo attached.

The location is Long Gully, around about half way out to Eaglehawk from Charing Cross and an outbound bogie car is rolling down the hill and is about to cross Creeth Street. A quick look at NearMap or Google Earth will show you how much Long Gully has changed in the 40 years since I was there with my Pentax Spotmatic. I'm not sure if the slagheap is still there either. Next time I'm up that way I'll have a look around.

In the next few weeks I'll post some more Bendigo shots. Fortunately Bendigo Tramways still operate most of the former North Bendigo to Golden Square line, see http://www.bendigotramways.com

See all my previous postings at http://teenagerailfan.blogspot.com

Best regards,

Peter Bruce.