I bet no one from that era could ever imagine the way today's modern Dandenong has become such a large city in the outer south east metropolitan of Melbourne?
Marvellous. Grew up near there but much later (1970’s) but still recognised many of the stores and buildings. McEwans hardware (they also operated a supermarket strangely enough), The National Bank, Rockmans department store, Cole’s Variety, Albion hotel, Patterson’s Furniture. This was when it was still the Shire of Dandenong- it became a City from memory the following year. Must be a Saturday morning or a Tuesday market day given the crowds shopping and on the pavement. Maybe even a Cattle Stock Market day.
I remember in late 60s the big Dandy ham sign as you entered Dandenong on the princes Hwy. How things have changed in Dandenong. It’s now one of the most crime riddled places in Victoria. It’s a good example of multiculturalism gone wrong.
Boy they sure wrecked this place - it looks terrible now. They used to have the sale yards there, and I know a old bloke who says he remembers them driving cattle from Dandenong up along dandenong Rd all the way to the City - that is why Dandenong road is so wide. There still used to be drinking troughs for horses outside the pub in Oakleigh not long ago, not sure if it is still there now.
Dead compared that ,forget sometimes what a big place was and is,with all different markets ,get certain days really busy I was told like city for many people out Futher ,I father used ride with his grandmother on horse cart from prahan to Dandenong on dirt road ,30s Dandenong Rd said day trip ,,he loved it ,
Cheers John, I slowed the video down a touch and dissolved each scene to flow a little more smoothly and put the train at the start, the piano instrumental of ‘it’s all in the game’ song was originally a 1958 tune. Well spotted Beaksofeagles😊It’s a hobby and I gave credit to the film makers Keith Wagstaff and Arthur Brown in the description. Being a tax payer for nearly 40 yrs I suppose the government run ACMI won’t mind?
It’s the corner of Walker St and Lonsdale St. The National Bank building is still there although renovated and was the first high rise in town (albeit 4 or 5 levels only). So not sure if that’s where the tax office is as I haven’t been there for years (I know they demolished the opposite corner and built a series of new offices and a city square like place about 10 years ago
The National Bank building from 1954 still stands on the corner of Walker Street although the bank itself moved to the corner of Scott Street around 1990. Opposite was demolished in the late 60s for the brown brick AMP Building which itself was more recently demolished for the new Greater Dandenong Council building.
You’d be surprised. GMH and Heinz etc were open by then and there would have been large Greek and Italian and Maltese etc factory workers all jabbering in their own language. I remember adverts at one time for the factories saying ‘English not required’ due to the type of work and that there would have been guys from similar backgrounds around you to teach you etc.
Remember in 1958 between Springvale/Noble Park and Dandenong still has chunks of rural areas. At a guess it might be around the now Showgrounds between Noble park and Dandenong which even today has little bits of the old bush land (those bits not lost to Eastlink)
Very low res original film , so hard to read the destination board, but the vertical black and white stripes indicated to signalmen that the train was coded to go to the Williamstown line. Not Collingwood as my grandmother joked to me when very young and travelling by train. Given the whole destination box looks full of lettering, it is possible the train was headed to the Williamstown Pier station. This was in the days before the underground loop and many trains were scheduled to take you across the city without much delay at Flinders Street station or the need to change trains. With billions spent on the loop trains were directed back where they came from , so just making things worse for cross town travellers. Pre loop passenger timetables indicated where a train was headed to so helping plan cross town travel. A good explanation of these indicator disc codes given here : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qv4NOSftrvg.html
Yep they are 1950s Gippsland overhead structures - suburban trains did not run to Pakenham until 1975 but the odd train went past Dandenong to General Motors from its opening in 1956.
