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A lovely surprise visit from DG Nominee Peter Schaefer (RC of Alice Springs) at our meeting last week. Now just days away from our Changeover, all members and visitors were in high spirits and ready to enjoy the delights of the day.
President Yvette was able to thank Terry Rodoni and RSM Bird Cameron for their very generous donation of a much newer laptop that we can use for our Powerpoint Presentations by speakers. RSM Bird Cameron will be made a "gold" sponsor of our club for this outstanding gift. When Dr Phil reminded us that he had donated the former computer and hadn't received a "sponsor" label, we said the age of the previous computer would have been "bronze", or was that "bronze age", at most - much to the hilarity of the members!
Acknowledgement was also given to Club members PDG John and Julie Campbell and Assistant Governor Angus Tuck for their efforts over the past year.
Incoming Club Director Julie Campbell was spruiking for last minute attendees to our Changeover - and it was with delight that DG Nominee Peter said he and wife, Jen, may be able to attend.
Please Note:
* there is no meeting on Thursday 9 July (due to changeover on Monday 6 July)
* our Thursday 16 July meeting will be held at the nearby cafe, Milano, on the corner of Hutt Street & Wakefield Street (under the Channel 10 building). Usual time 7.15am for 7.30am but you get to choose your own breakfast and great coffee! Should be a great opportunity to have a more informal "away" meeting in lovely surroundings for President Miriam's first full meeting.
Other
* Reminder: Our Club and the Rotary Club of Adelaide are co-hosting the RYLA Dinner on Wednesday 15 July, 6.30 for a 6.45pm start at the Belair Country Club. $45pp with bookings on-line. Please let John know if you are able to attend the RYLA Dinner.
Guest Speaker - Fred Field "SA Rail Networks"
Fred's passion for all things to do with trains and the SA Rail Network was apparent from the first sentence. Giving us a history lesson on the various early engineers installing the broad Irish Gauge (5'3") compared to Scottish Gauge (4'8 1/2") in 1854, he said, was the "beginning of the trouble"! Australia's first rail systems were mostly built when the country consisted of sparsely settled colonies before they combined to form a Federation of States in 1901.
Until the middle of the 1800s, people travelled by horse-drawn transport (such as the Adelaide-Port Adelaide horse drawn tramway in 1956) and coastal shipping services, but from 1854 - when the first steam railway between Melbourne and Port Melbourne started - the railway system of the various colonies developed rapidly.
Unfortunately, planners gave little thought to connecting their railways with the other railway systems - hence no national rail network.
South Australia (at least most of it) built with the broad Irish gauge but some parts of SA used the narrow gauge (and are still uneconomical to change over 100 years later). For many years the different gauges handicapped the effective operation of interstate rail services. The incompatibility of the State rail systems weren't centred just on the train track gauge but also in the equipment, rolling stock and operating practices.
Some SA towns - like Port Pirie - had to cope and operate as a triple gauge station (the logistics must have been phenomenal); and many more operated as multiple gauges (usually two gauges). A great deal of conversion of line gauges occurred after World War II, and further upgrades occurred in the early 1950s especially in the South East around Naracoorte.
On the plus side, the narrow gauge lines are still running the steam trains which is great for steam enthusiasts who chase trains for those precious photographs!
Disagreements between the State and Commonwealth resulted in Keswick Station being the end point for most interstate trains instead of them coming right into the city under the North Terrace Railways Station. What are we to learn from this? Well, it turns out that Scottish engineers and Irish engineers are not a good combination (no agreement on sizes), that foolish decisions by State and Commonwealth governments resulted in enormous costs, as well as frustration for passengers and rail shippers.
Thanks, Fred. An excellent talk on the history of our railways.
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