Looking Back . . . Some images of bygone Australia

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Loggers at Walhalla Victoria 1905

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Traffic jam in Hay Street, Sydney, 1930s

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The last horse-drawn hansom cab in Sydney in 1937

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Bridge Street, Sydney, 1866

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Garden in front of Central railway Station, 1936

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Tram Number 948 was built specifically to carry prisoners to and from court and was known as the Prison Tram. Built in Randwick training workshops in 1909, it was used for transferring inmates between Long Bay Penal Institution and Darlinghurst Court House. The specially fitted tramcar with six cells ran between 1909 and 1949 and made the trip four times a day during those years. Tram 948, now restored, is on display at The Tramway Museum in Loftus.

Interior of the Prison Tram.

Long Bay Gaol and the tram tracks leading into it.

Notorious career criminal and escapee Darcy Dugan escaped from the Prison Tram in 1946 with one William Mears. Dugan had only just been recaptured at gun point in Annandale and was on his way to court in Darlinghurst. Although each compartment on the tram was locked and bolted, the roof was only a canvas cover. As the vehicle passed the Sydney Cricket Ground, Dugan produced a bread knife he had earlier stolen from the prison commissary and cut a hole in the roof of the carriage. He and Mears were recaptured a day later. When taken back to court to face 29 counts of break and enter on top of escaping, the police took no chances, this time he was handcuffed to an iron bar in the courtroom and remained under heavy guard.

A 1946 mugshot of Darcy Dugan

Dugan in Maitland Gaol, 1979

Dugan died of Parkinsons’s Disease on August 22, 1991 just days before his 71st birthday. He had spent 35 of those years in jail and according to some reports was still regularly “breaking out” of the care home almost up until the end.

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Herbert Street, Dulwich Hill, installing tramlines

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Parramatta Rd in 1920 with the University of Sydney Great Hall and Quadrangle in the background.

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Removal of tram tracks George Street, Sydney, 1960. George Street is presently being dug up again to put in new tracks for the Light Rail, ie trams.

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Sir John Young Crescent, Woolloomoolloo in 1928 and 2014

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Railway Square, Sydney, 1935

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Wool is transported to Pyrmont Wharves, Sydney, for shipment to England, 1939