And people were being maimed in unsafe workplaces and there was no Medicare, no ndis, no chance for young people to ever dream of University, where being gay was essentially illegal etc etc.
@@jamieparker6402 As long as most in the job reach retirement age, they are well payed & confident that their families will be looked after if something goes wrong; People accept the risks of dangerous jobs. Life isn’t meant to be safe.
@@jamieparker64021977 anyone could go to university for FREE. There were no university fees for almost 15 years from 1974. Research in Australia in the 80s and 90s benefitted from all of those people that wouldn't normally get to go to university, eg wifi might not have been developed. Medibank came in in 1975 as universal healthcare and was changed a bit and renamed to Medicare a few years later and the private health insurance branch kept the name Medibank. Welfare support was so readily available an NDIS system wasn't as needed as today. Plus seatbelts weren't mandatory so lots more fatalities rather than ongoing care required for motor vehicles.
Ha ! There goes my youth. I was at Darling Harbour in 1977 but not a shunter. Those guys sure did work hard and the injury rate was high. What you see here is them doing the easy stuff because 3/4 of their work was done at night. At my end of the yard the shunters were done and gone by 9 am not to be seen again until 3 pm. Depending on how busy the day was, I either unloaded wool or loaded kegs of beer. The shunters would come in around 3.30 - 4 pm to haul the empty carriages away. My last job of the day was to close the wooden doors on the empty S trucks and those things were mighty heavy. On a bad day there might be 30 or so to close.
Good to read these stories. My dad used to work at Caltex House and I looked down from his office at that yard in 1985 while waiting to start school work experience in the Westpac ( or was it Wales ) bank downstairs... Come 1986 I'd left school and being a rail buff me and mates in our teens would creep around those rail yards exploring, not causing any riff raff or graffiti... Just walk the yards. I still at 54 love railways and camp out at grain silos out west or car camp next to rail lines. Cheers for your story there working the goods line 👍
Brendan Crothers, the best 'Senior Shunter class 2' that there ever was. had the pleasure of working with him at the 'old' Blacktown station. "Fookin hell"...
@@patricktongs9766 Ahh yes, the bloke with the high voice......wouldn't have picked him as the star though, interesting stuff. Certainly different times back then, even where I worked in Pt. Adelaide, no OHS, tuff hard drinking blokes and certainly a baptism by fire for me as a young working guy.
I was a shunter from 1978 to 1986. Best bloody job on the railways. I shunted at Cooks River Yard St Peters, Flemington Markets, Enfield ,Homebush sales yard and various other yards in the metropolitan area.
@@01DOGG01 you wouldn’t belief it but virtually everyone who did that job reached retirement age. People today have such a distorted view on what’s a dangerous job rather that what’s a potentially dangerous job.
@@mickvonbornemann3824 can't shunt like this any more mate. Rules, network control, points and frames - a lot has changed. Can't even get onto the mainline without permission from control
I was a troubled sleeper as a toddler then young child. I grew up in a creaky old mansion on a hill in Strathfield, where the sounds of Homebush and Flemington shunting became my best friend at night, relaxing me like a lullaby. I’m still in night-hearing-range of a goods line and the sound still has the same calming effect on me.
Rose-tinted glasses obscure the fact that Australia then was NOT progressive AT ALL. Australia threw a fit in the 80s when Keating wanted to 'float the dollar' on the Stock Market, that's how progressive and knowledgeable we were. Opportunities weren't as abundant as you seem to remember them to be and the only ones who 'gave it a go' were as many as there are today. You're definitely showing your (blinkered) age, cause I grew up then, too and it was hardly a 'workers paradise' (unless you were of British origin, that is)
Worked there from seventy eight to eighty one and remember Brendan as a great lad,left and was a shunter at Enfield for a bit but it was a gravity yard and had a couple of close shaves so ended up a guard for a few years they were good times.
Clive Livingston was the Yard Master there once, he became SM at Town Hall after Darling Harbour was closed down and retired whilst at Town Hall. The wharfies canteen on the one of docks nearby was the place to go for smoko. Good to have a run to the meatworks chillers siding and the navy victualling wharf. Some colourful characters on the job back then, great video and thanks for the memories!
Yeah, the riff-raff were being progressively moved to the Green Valley housing zone (now known as the suburbs of Miller, Cartright, Busby and Heckenberg) as well as Campbeltown and Mt. Druitt and their surrounding suburbs.
@@michaelearthling Very good. Glad I wasn't the only one! Was a bit concerned when the shirt came off (thinking is was a woman). I knew things were different in the workplace back then, but still...
When Australia was a place of hope, employment and little or no corporate or government interference I know I was there, an amazing time to be alive and grow up in compared to the mess it is now. New sub here .
And people drove drunk and without seatbelts and cigarette smoke and car exhaust was everywhere, and no one cared about domestic violence, and priests/teacher were pedophiles without a care, and immigrants and gays were treated like jokes.
I was a sprag for three month's at Cook's River Absolutly hated it. 99% of the shunter's were diamond's but there was alway's one fool that could get you killed.
Im 62 - I was stopped by the road picking up some already dead fire wood for me heater yesterday- no chain saw just small bits of wood. Some “ranger” Pulls up,tells me it’s illegal and he won’t give me a ticket or call the cops this time if I put it back and leave now! This is not the country my father fought for in ww2! We’ve completely fucked this place!
Yeah, people can't afford to buy a house and can't find a place to rent and you can't camp or sleep anywhere. People sleeping in their cars are continually told to move on. Haha, WHERE??????
Yeah. Unbelievable. While you’re gathering wood some developer with a government contract has bulldozed Badgery’s Creek and surrounding bush land, the best farm land near Sydney for an Airport nobody really needs
Yes you have completely fucked this place by complacency, you didn’t fight for this country and now it’s being usurped, firewood is the last of our problems you’ll leave us with
Theses r real aussie not like we see today sadly. only if we could hav been stuck right heir or even the 80s as they were the grouse. once the 2000s came everything went to the s house.
I would love to see if anyone can do a then and now for some of these areas. You can also see why it was dangerous work. Running alongside rolling carriages with no control of stopping them.
A few years after this was shot, as a kid, I visited Sydney from the country on a family trip. Due to Mum's dodgy map reading, we wound up at the helipad at Pyrmont Pt, where Pirrama Park is now. My sister and I begged and pleaded and my parents paid the grand sum of $25 each for us to have a scenic flight over the CBD (a very large sum for us in those days). It must have been after 1981 as we hovered in amazement next to Centerpoint Tower. I can still remember that event and now after living in Sydney for almost 40 years, have witnessed some immense change. Thank you for the great footage! Much appreciated. Cheers - Dave
I remember paying 20 cents to cross the harbour bridge and all weekends spent at the Cross, had a one bedroom unit in Kirribilli near Govt house and it was 60 bucks a week ❤
You can break the rules as long as the job gets done but as soon as something goes wrong it's your fault for breaking the rules....at least some things don't change lol
We used to go and play around there in the 60's. The workers always gave us a penny for lollies. It was a great time to grow up. I should mention we were usually shooed off after we got our penny. Lol.
The wonderful industry at Darling Harbour was replaced by “luxury” apartments, casinos and gambling… great to see this glimpse of Sydney’s recent past.
Ohhh yeah it looks so “wonderful”! Gee I wish it was still a massive, depressing, wet ass dank mud pit.. soooo much better than a nice waterfront harbour that hosts millions of people each year with art festivals such as vivd.. would be sooo much better if it was still a really dangerous low paying exploitation zone for immigrants hey?!
@@Michael.Chapmanohh man where do I start? The fact that you have reduced an iconic land mark that serves millions of people each year (me included) to a “casino”, or the boomer nostalgia for a deadly, exploitative, low paying, inefficient hellscape. My comment is not meant to be helpful, it’s calling out misguided sentimental rubbish that is completely out of touch. Not to mention the xenophobia that flows from the comment right after yours.. I HATE gambling, but your ignorance is on display if that’s how you describe the transformation of an industrial ghetto into one of the worlds nicest harbour spaces..
You would have loved the QVB... it was a library back then and hardly a soul went into it. Downstairs there were a load of cheap rent shops facing out onto the street. Abbey's Books started in the QVB facing out onto George Street.
I remember finishing junior school and starting yr 5 in another school in 1980 and looking at the older kids with sideburns and beards and thinking they ain't kids they are men
I couldn't agree more..It's become a sad, very disturbing place indeed..Filled with too many dangerous, vile criminals, that have evil ideologies - not religion..These nasty imports don't contribute anything, except lawlessness, welfare theft, laziness, social problems and chaos..That's exactly where Australia is in 2024..Our wonderful country has now been bled dry..Political traitors, who hate our beautiful, peaceful way of life, have allowed this destruction to happen..
Yes, Australia was once a beautiful, peaceful country..Sadly, we've been bled dry by millions of evil imports..Their only contributions to society are lawlessness, welfare fraud, laziness, social problems and dangerous ideologies that promote chaos..That's exactly where we are in 2024..All because of vile politicians, who allowed this destruction to happen..
Yes, Australia once was a beautiful, thriving, peaceful country..Before it was bled dry over decades, by millions of welfare recipients//imports..Their 'rich' contributions to society are social problems, archaic beliefs, laziness and lawlessness..That's exactly where we are in 2024.. Sadly, vile politicians allowed this importation of chaos and destruction to happen..
All the comments saying how hard working and awesome we were back then. And how scum and lazy we are now. But i don't see anyone working hard in this video!
Yeah nowadays they have five micro managers to make sure every second of your work day is insufferable..the problem is neo liberalism..the Governments completely sold us out to corporations and the elite ..the workers in this video could probably pay off a house on their income now they would two more jobs plus a spouse and children bringing in some money
"Look frank!" lol, what a miserable looking old day in darling harbour, youd expect the sun to be blazing, for a minute there i thought there was a darling harbour in england. great vid though.
Back then you'd get about 2 weeks solid of rain, sometimes three (with a few sunny days thrown in); we'd still go to manly or dee why, cronulla for a swim and chips on the weekend, or paddy's market etc.
Up until 9 minutes when the sun comes out it looks like this could be somewhere dreary and depressing in the UK. The tiny shorts do give away it’s not too cold though.
Blue collar heros! Amazing how manual tasks have now been automated. Thought that Sheila with the blond hear hair had some nice legs… 🙈😂 Work, health and safety bureaucrats must be having a heart attack watching this! 😂😂
I was working nearby at Peter's Milk in 77 when some milk tankers were shunted into the yard collecting a contractor's HQ station wagon and crushing it against a stanchion .
What da fk, I remember living in Pyrmont in the late 70's watching these crazy buggers💪 Hornsby depot/shunt yard was more crazy they say. Where on earth did you get the film from?? Addon...Balmain bloody power station wow!
Graffiti back then was done with a paintbrush and was often political, Abercrombie street used to get painted with the "alleged transgressions" of Roger Rogerson every few months
There was one at Redfern going under some sort of bridge on the main line that read “consume be silent die”can still see to this day and it sums up todays world
Ah, 70s Australia - where middle class privilege blended seamlessly with working class ethos and identity. Still, it has changed for the worse. No one in the Western world seems happy with today 🤷
Well, times change and we have become very "multicultural". In many ways it's a good thing but there are certainly numerous ugly sides (that noone is allowed to mention). Personally, I find it sad to see parts of our "Aussie" culture being eroded.
@@deldridg Being of the same period as you, I'm really not sure what parts of the 'Aussie' culture you're talking about. You must mean the stuff that was handed and altered from Britain, because the only 'culture' Australia ever had, was being lethargic, laidback, uncultured, smokers, sexist, racist and being extremely reactive towards anything untraditional. Egalitarianism could be said, but that's only if you were a traditional, white and male. Australia is far more accepting and knowledgeable than it used to be and I for one am glad of it
Extraordinary! Whoever had the vision to redevelop the site made a huge change for the better for Sydney. Same with Barrangaroo. Now, time to get rid of the Cahill Expressway...!!
A great little video thanks for the memories I was there in the sixties those boys know all the pubs around the harbour we spent plenty of time on the drink.
Apparently the place was infested with rats ! Even recently, rat baits could be seen in the garden beds, and one night I was eating take away food sitting on a park bench quietly, and out came the rats !
Sydney is so unrecognisable now compared to 1977. I was only 12 then and never ventured down to Darling Harbour until the new retail development opened up in the late eighties.
Lived in redfern, in those tiny little shitty town houses ( didn't even have a door out the back(ripped off i guess?), they were about $30 a week back then, now about 2 miilion million dollars; Can't remember the street now, a few streets from the brewery is all i remember.
I remember, as a kid at around this time, the son of one of my dad's mates got a job doing just this work. My dad said that it was a really bad idea, as it's such a dangerous job. Seeing this, I now I understand exactly why dad was concerned... (And BTW, the kid stuck at the job and made it through to retirement intact - but I am guessing he was one of the luckier ones)
@@stuartmarshall7099🐂💩 Have you hired a tradie or removalist lately? I will assume you're a 'working man'. Removalists rush through because they get paid for completing the job, not per hour, so they just want to wrap up and knock off as early and quickly as possible. Tradies cut corners and overcharge. A Current Affair wouldn't have any content without 'hard working' Aussies. 😆😆😆
@@Her.Serene.Feline.Cuteness. ACA, real stories. Your off with the fairy's. They do stories of some soft cock arsehole fighting with another busy body arsehole.
This is great. First thing I knew about darling harbour was when they renewed it and then I was curious about what was there before. I've seen pictures but this gives an idea what it was really like.
lived through it mate, maybe nostalgia, but the memories are burnt in deep, catching the ferries in the rain, used to get big swells, the sight the smells, our people everywhere, good people, nice people, happy people (most of the time), polite, kind, it was fvcking magic...
It's 2024 now. I could go back to 1988 and recognise it. That's 36 years. But if I go back another 11 years to 1977 and -it's a totally different world
I was born in 1978 and never knew this part of Sydney. I still remember fondly the simpler times in Australia though. Hard days work and a cold beer at the pub afterwards. Sometimes I’d go with Dad…..knee high socks and short sleeve business shirts everywhere, stinking of Brut and Winnie Reds 😂.
68, used to play around there, lived in redfern for about a years, mostly lived around the beaches, Manly, Bondi, curl curl, dee why, went the the Flemmington markets(Paddy's) all the time, Grandpa worked there (He fought at Tobruk with the 9th.
Did my aircraft engineering apprenticeship at ultimo college, we used to explore the Darling harbour area in our lunch break viewing the early 1980s transformation construction, when it was first converted to an entertainment area in the mid 1980s all us boy's used to come in from the suburbs on a Friday/Saturday night, those thunderbolt beers at the pump house were potent!! still it was a safe area with good times to be had. Australia/Sydney has changed in so many ways from this video, wish I could say for all the better.
Wow, I’d forgotten it was like that around Darling Harbour. What a massive redevelopment project that was. Good to see people just working in normal gear…nowadays mechanics wear nitrile gloves to protect their skin 😂
That is because OH&S woke up to the fact that petrol and diesel and other products used in the industry such as degreasers and brake cleaners and the like are CARCINOGENIC...so that'll be enough out of you bud!
What occupational health and safety? I can remember when Darling Harbour was like that , it was a different place in a different time. Would love to go back to those times, a better place then
Gentrification has destroyed much of Australia’s working class history and domestic architecture. Beautiful working class houses in the inner west of Sydney have been demolished, only to be replaced by black boxes.
Much off Sydney's inner city housing has been preserved, due to being heritage listed. Have you forgotten the green bans back when this was filmed in the 1970s?
The green bans were only temporary. Plots Point the centre of the green bsnd were destroyed for Thiemanns develop eventually. Many older houses in Randwick Burwood Strathfield Ashfield were demolished. Picture Palaces that were in all suburbs are gone. Currently in The inner west many Californian Bungslows are being torn down for domestic box architectural designs. Five such houses have been demolished in Concord in the last few months.
Here is a little information about the opening scene which is something you will never see again. The guys are lining up to be paid . . . . . in cash. Plastic cards and ATMs did not exist in them thar days.
Wow, looks so dangerous to me, running in front of or between moving wagons, but without remote-controlled couplers and brakes I guess that's how it has to be done (still?)?
I very much remember the rail goods yard at Darling Harbour. I also remember the virtually permanent oil slick on the water. Unloading ships into barges, then floating cargo around Sydney Harbour to the relevant wharves. The trucks coming and going.Hearing Marxist rhetoric from wharfies at the waterfront. I was a watchman on a ship moored down there.
@@R0d_1984 I live in eternal hope that I become the first human to crack the 200yo barrier, and full expect to be around for the next 10 to 20 years, at least. I wonder, however, how well the people in the video have weathered the storms. Some won't be with us any more sadly.
