1954 FIRST VISIT TO MELBOURNE - PROPRIETY IN JOLIMONT

1937 THE SPIRIT OF PROGRESS is introduced in a blaze of publicity - no immediate effect on me.

However from the earliest days after my 1940 birth, there began to build up in my little boy's mind glamorous images of the Spirit of Progress- all blue and gold and sleek. The brilliant new large window carriages made of Corten Steel got plenty of publicity as did the round ended observation lounge car that brought up the rear. It wasn't until many years later that I got to discover that the locomotive was actually 1928 Mutton dressed up as Spring Lamb!  But you will understand I just HAD to visit Melbourne.

"And so it came to pass" that in 1954 at the end of my Lower Secondary Schooling with a schoolmateWallace Simpson, whose parents owned the Milk Bar on the Southern Side of the Lidcombe Arcadia Theatre (Picture Show) where I worked at weekends with Wallace, we spent our built up savings from our pay on a trip to Melbourne with my Mum coming along to see we did not get into any trouble at 14 years of age!

The First Division of the MELBOURNE EXPRESS is hustled South by the great C 38 Class locomotive.

The first part of our journey was on the MELBOURNE EXPRESS to Albury on the border, where the gauge changed from N.S.W. standard gauge (4 feet 8 1/2 inches)to Victoria's broad gauge ( 5 feet 3 inches) a legacy of the persuasive powers of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in the previous century and the relatively easy country in Victoria compared to the frequently hilly and tightly curved territory very frequently encountered in N.S.W.  The MELBOURNE EXPRESS was made up of very large and heavy teakwood clad carriages each running on two six wheel bogies.The carriages had side corridors half on one side , half on the other side of the carriage with compartments coming off the corridors in the British/European fashion. There was no airconditioning. Leaving Central Station in the early evening she ran through the night arriving in Albury in the early morning, when everyone transhipped down the long platform to the Victorian tracks and train.

The air-conditioned carriages  and compartments of the Spirit of Progress were a revelation , the great wide picture windows of the compartment were impressive. Our seats were near the side corridor rather than the window, which slightly dampened the enthusiasm. The journey was principally noteworthy for the continual bleating of the Diesel loco's horn as we approached the repeated  level crossings so much a feature of the VR track. 

The Chocolate Box image of the Spirit of Progress kept the glamour alive,

long after the steam locomotives were all gone to ignominious scrapping yards.

We arrived at Spencer Street Station and took an electric train out to Jolimont where we were booked into a very nice small hotel which I think was called the Cliveden ( the name is preserved in the Dining Room of the Hilton Hotel which now occupies the proximate or even precise site.)The hotel was brilliantly presented, clean and crisp as its linen and the white capped, black aproned with white lace trimmed waitresses. We made our way down to the City and by some miracle of Guardian Angelic care found the Hopetoun Tea Rooms, where we had a light lunch of really delightful Pin Wheel sandwiches. Over the several days of our visit we saw all the sights, rode the trams, and explored the Bookshops which I found to be a particular asset of the City. At that time, my interests in books centred on History and Steam Locomotives. In those days nearly every book available in Australia was published in England. This was an unfortunate result of the Commonwealth licensing arrangements which locked out European or American published books which generally were produced on high quality paper and featured high quality, even colour photography . How did we know? Well, some importers bypassed the big agencies and brought American and European titles in directly. The price was very high because numbers were small - but what a joy. However, mostly we got by on British blotting paper and cardboard - slight exaggeration - but only slight. Australian published books were printed here, dear and approx. English quality.

There was always much talk by Melbournians about the wonders of the Myer Store - but we were underwhelmed. It had the appearance internally of WALTONS Sydney store - an American chain that had takenover Murdochs ( I think)  and turned it into a junk bazaar with merchandise hanging off tables cluttering every aisle - and that is just how Myers struck us. MYER had their revenge on us, coming to Sydney after a few years and taking over our beloved, staid FARMERS Department Store on the Corner of George , Market and Pitt Streets and raping it until it too was another WALTONS.

So we did the return trip without incident and that was Melbourne - I was unchanged, it was unchanged,but I was at least oriented for future trips . Both Wallace and I had a good time and I think Mum also enjoyed herself all going well and the pace only moderate.

Not quite St Mary's Basilica, but St. Patrick's 
is a very beautiful Cathedral.

A light lunch of Pin Wheel Sandwiches 
at the Hopetoun Tea rooms has stayed in my memory,
 57 years later.

The ugly truth -  by 1954 The Spirit of Progress
 was hauled by one of VR's double-ended 
(rather ridiculous) Clyde - built GM Diesels,