Re: Track renewal at Epsom Rd, Union Rd corner.

On 29/11/2025 14:00, Mal Rowe wrote:

 - who will be back to see the trams next week 

Here are some pics of the new track in operation.

• First pic looks south along Union Rd and shows the third track siding.
• Second pic shows the spacious platform stop that will be useful when there are events at the Showgrounds.
• Third pic looks north from the platform stop and shows a regular service car using the centre track.

The centre track is being used for regular inbound services, but when trams are stored for special events they will be on that track and the service cars will use the east side track.

Mal Rowe - making assumptions

Origin of Gunzel

From:	David McLoughlin

Happy Gunzel Day and kia ora from New Zealand.

On seeing that the Guzel Day website  (hail to its creators) suggests the term "gunzel" originated in Melbourne, I decided it is time again to post the article on the true history of the term; an article from the mid-1990s FAQ of the former Misc Transport Urban Transport newsgroup from the old Usenet system.

The FAQ makes clear "gunzel" was created at the Sydney Tram Museum  to describe Melbourne transport fans, trains as well as trams.

 

The FAQ text is below:

"GUNZEL - a transit, especially train fanatic. 

"GUNZEL. According to Bob Merchant, editor of the Australian enthusiasts' journal "Trolley Wire," the term was first used by Sydney Tramway Museum members in the early 1960s to describe certain  enthusiasts in the state of Victoria (Australia) who took their hobby a bit too seriously. 

"The term comes from the film "The Maltese Falcon" in which Elisha Cook Jnr, played Wilmer, Sydney Greenstreet's twisted gun-slinger (gunsel in American gangster slang). The film has been described as one in which there wasn't one decent person in the whole film.  

The gunsel in the film was what we would describe today as a "Gunzel", a bit thick to say the least.

"Before Puffing Billy (a heritage steam train in the ranges outside Melbourne) issued their "Gunzel Pass" a few years back, their president, Phil Avard, checked with the STM as to the meaning of the word and its origin.  Phil, being a bit of a film buff, understood immediately and the pass was issued.

"Originally, one did not call a person a Gunzel to their face as it was a bit derogatory. The term Gunzel in the Australian sense was first used by Dick Jones, Don Campbell and Bill Parkinson, all of whom are still members of the STM. The term has since been picked up by New Zealand, UK and some US railfans. See also ANORAK."

--

Gunzel Day is tomorrow!

I have been advised by a member of the Gunzel Day Observance Collective
that tomorrow has been proclaimed Gunzel Day.

The date is 4/12/2025 and to find out what the significance of that date
you will need to check out the website at: https://gunzel.day/

I have attached an appropriate image in honour of the occasion.

Thanks to Ian Saxon for sharing the image a few years back.

Mal Rowe - not in serious mode

Fwd: [TramsDownUnder] Re: Brisbane tram, 1968, 494 at Stafford

From:	'Roderick Smith' via TramsDownUnder <tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com>

680210Sa - Stafford (Brisbane, Qld) - FM 494 to Bardon.  Roderick Smith.
This was a day at the end of a month all-lines ticket.
Luckily I rode to Grange and Ashgrove: they had been closed before I was back for the final northside day, in December.
I took a photo at one, but not the other.


Roderick

Fwd: [TramsDownUnder] Melbourne Metro tunnel - hello, is anybody there?

The opening of Melbourne's City Loop certainly affected trams. People would pour out of Flinders Station and Princes Bridge Station onto Swanston Street trams. Conductors couldn't cope with collecting so many fares so assistant conductors boarded trams to help. Once Museum Station, now Melbourne Central opened, all that changed. Back then there were many more trams in Swanston Street. 

While less busy, assistant conductors sold tickets at the then Bourke Street terminus as people left the City Loop trains at Spencer Street Station, now Southern Cross. They would stand at the centre door with their foot resting on the step to keep the doors open. Front door loading only to pay the conductor seated at a console who could not take fares quickly enough would delay trams.

I can't remember the years, but around when Flagstaff Station opened, the William Street trams from  the south eastern suburbs ceased. The William Street trams would normally carry a seated load but along with other system improvements, they were deemed unessarcacy. 

To conclude, the opening of Melbourne's City Loop made huge differences to tram travel within the city. The new Metro Tunnel will do the same.  

  

On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 at 12:24, 'TP' via TramsDownUnder <tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I bet the City Loop didn't affect the trams that much. Bradfield's City Circle in Sydney didn't really have much effect on the preference to move around the CBD on the surface, by tram and bus. I think that''s because it runs for the most part around the periphery of the CBD and the trains are relatively infrequent. The main function of the City Circle over the years has been to enable those who come and go on trains to and from further afield to have a wider choice of where to get on and off in the CBD. Sydney metro, on the other hand, goes right along the spine of the CBD and the surprising ease of getting to any of the points on the City Circle from the metro (including Circular Quay where the station patronage has fallen as a result) contributes to the popularity of the metro. Perhaps the same will happen in Melbourne. However, it is encouraging to note that the popularity of the CSELR tram through the CBD hasn't suffered either. It's only the City Circle that's losing patronage. 

Tony P

On Monday, 1 December 2025 at 10:39:30 UTC+11 Mark Skinner wrote:

One of the reasons may be that it's not yet clear what effect it will have on the tram system. 

That could well be quite large. However,  nobody really knows. So, I'd suggest that the silence is really people holding their breath waiting to know exactly what is going to happen. 

For tram enthusiasts,  it's a process that isn't finished yet.

Mark Skinner

On Sun, 30 Nov 2025, 11:42 pm 'TP' via TramsDownUnder, <tramsdo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I've been bemused at the total lack of mention on this forum of this major development, the first in many years, in the growth of Melbourne's electrified networks. It's almost like all you Melbourne tram enthusiasts are willfully ignoring it!?

Here's a Sydneysider's view of the opening day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AFMYmCDvZw

It's been interesting hearing the commentary. The dopey Sydney Morning Herald did a cheap hit piece on it, comparing it poorly to Sydney's metro. The comments on that article were full of patient explanations that it was comparing apples and oranges, because they're two different systems with different purposes. 

I think it's great, but I'm not going to comment on whether it will achieve what it sets out to, because I don't know enough. Perhaps it will provide the same sort of relief to the city loop line as the Sydney Metro does to the City Circle line? In Sydney, the suburban system was getting to around 90% capacity and starting to fail and obviously wouldn't meet the population growth. I don't know if the capacity situation is the same in Melbourne?

Performance. I can see (or think I can see) in such timetables as I was able to extract from the troublesome PTV trip planner that they can apparently achieve 2 minute headways with the new signalling and the time between Arden and Anzac takes 11 minutes. With somebody in Melbourne I worked out that the distance between these two stations is about 6 km and I would love it if somebody could confirm that more exactly. 

The distance between Central and Victoria Cross in Sydney is 6.3 km, with the same number of intermediate stations (3) and the Sydney metro takes only 9 minutes, so presumably the performance and dwells of the HCMTs are not of the same order. Nevertheless, the HCMT seems to be a very nice train and I wish we could have them in Sydney instead of the double deckers.

Personal opinion, but I have to say I think the architecture is dreadful. It's very cluttered and devoid of the soaring, clear spaces of the Sydney Metro. It's verges on edgy '70s industrial chic, with lots of cluttered metalwork suspended everywhere and bits of gear hanging off bare and low concrete ceilings. Did all of Melbourne's great architects migrate to Sydney?

I'm a bit mystified by the tentative part-time start of the service. When is the line going into full service?

Congratulations to all you Melbournians anyway.

Tony P

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