Thank F we didn't listen to you

I HATE DETACH HOUSES! The problem is that i hate hearing neighbours who have a dog barking all night and i couldn't get to sleep, i never have a dog or other pets but some people in other neighbourhoods do and thats why i will Never live in a Detach House ANYMORE! I HATE DOGS BARKING AND IT MADE IT HARDER FOR ME TO SLEEP AND DOGS ARE USELESS AND THEY MAKE PEOPLE POOR BECAUSE IT IS EXPENSIVE AND DETACH HOUSES ARE EXPENSIVE THAT MAKES PEOPLE POOR! I HATE DETACH HOUSES! I AM THE ONLY NIMBY WHO LOVES APARTMENTS! I WANT TO LIVE IN AN APARTMENT BECAUSE IT IS HARDER TO OWN A DOG AND I WILL NEVER HEAR A DOG BARKING ALL NIGHT AND I WILL SLEEP PEACEFULLY!

The Bradfield cars and wooden trailers you make mention of as being owned by the Hunter Valley Railway Trust were previously stored in the open, rotting at Elcar until that place was closed and destroyed. From what I've heard these cars have since been purchased by a private individual within the Sydney Electric Train Society (SETS). Also, the Bradfield cars basic history is detailed in an out-of-print book titled "Sydney's Wooden Electrics," which has the same cover as your video thumbnail. Also, the Bradfield cars were all steam-hauled (hence the buffer holes (plated over) and the evidence of Corridor Connections), along with a number of steel-bodied Standard Cars (built from 1924 but entering service from around 1926). I'm not sure how many cars made up a train, but it certainly would have been a sight and sound in regular service, hauled by a 30 class tank engine!!! If you don't have it already, then Volume 3 of the NSW Passenger Car series of books may fill a number of gaps. I don't have either book, so I can't help you out with any further research.

I'm here for the Schofields slander

Well, he nailed Bathurst. That usually sorts out the interlopers.

As a previous resident of Porirua, 7:38 shows an incorrect spelling. However, I remember these units well, as we call them. I've seen most of the original liveries of the units still in operation during the eighties, but hadn't seen the classy blue with silver of the '36 stock.

I’m glad every state and 60% of Australia rejected this racist voice.

Great video!

Great video

POV Tangara T sets had screens when they were built

Went on a Tangara a day ago it was dirty and had a weird foul smell. For the person who made the comment .Don't knock the VIA trains they are comfortable and at least have charging ports at each seat in both classes of carriages. Something the XPT still does not have. The trains in Vancouver are efficient and mostly clean and comfortable enough although the older trains are more like our now defunct monorail style of carriage

Love the detail & you obviously have done your research. Well done. Please work on your delivery. The staccato cadence which builds pace like a runaway steam train is off putting. Oh ditch the Sandgroper pronunciation. TAM A RAM AH not Tarmarama. CUJI not Coo geeee. Great work though.

Most of it boiled down to cost and while most of those lines seemed good they were just not viable on cost

And the very first railway which went from Central to Strathfield was government built In fact the NSW railway was the first government railway in the world at the time

Since when has the airline or East Hills line been connected to the Eastern Suburbs

Hey OP. At 0:31 secs, where are you standing (if not private property). Thanks

Love the thoroughness of your videos, keep it up. But I would just check your views on nimby’s in Bondi. Quite a few years after this plan to Bondi , the Cronulla riots were occurring as a direct result of having a train line connected directly to western suburbs to an entire community with very different belief systems. Not condoning the riots but it would be poor scholarship to ignore its impacts, what communities were feeling about these culture clashes and how they eventually exploded in Cronulla, we can assume the same would have happened with the Bondi connection. These fears were real by communities, and whilst the riots were most definitely racist, the many social issues leading up to that horrible explosion were not

Wake up babe, the new City Connections video just dropped

Your passion is palpable, this video, fabulous. Thanks for the effort.

Help I am in the video

It was a transformative project for Sydney removing the Sutherland/Cronulla lines from the Circle allowing expansion of services on other critical lines. Rode on this on the opening day to Bondi and back to Central, don't think Redfern was open but may be wrong.

I remember riding the Eastern Suburbs line in the 80s and 90s and feeling how different their stations felt to the rest of the City. The City Circle stations felt like London stations. To me, the Eastern Suburbs stations felt more like the New York subway. In retrospect, I now kind of feel the Eastern Suburbs stations felt uniquely Sydney. Not "Let's try hard to make something that looks like Sydney". More "Lets do something unique" which then went on to become the Sydney look. A subtle difference.

The ESR stations are gorgeous.

Why do you pronounce Coogee wrong?

Great video! Obviously much research went into this. What you say about nimbyism destroying the Bondi Beach extension is spot on. I remember an otherwise decent person opining that the line would bring in undesirables, which I found disgusting. They apparently were happy to go to other people's areas themselves. That the same undesirables could also drive there or get a bus, didn't seem to count, for some reason. And the resulting traffic issues have just gotten worse but somehow also didn't count. A railway encouraging multi-storey development seems unlikely, as IIRC a lot of the area literally couldn't support it geohysically (being largely sand deposits in the low areas). You mention one of the South Eastern suburbs schemes including a platform at Redfern, and this was built and is still there beside the existing Bondi Junction (ESR) platforms (separated by a wall). I guess what you refer to as the Chalmers st Platforms are the unused platforms 26/27?

The Eastern Suburbs line should haven been extended to Kensington , or at least Randwick , instead of Bondi beach… but too many NIMBY’s at Bondi Beach as well…

Great stuff. Interesting take on the modernist architecture - I remember being rather underwhelmed at the time, all a bit clunky.

Are you kidding me? The red rattlers were in service for 60 years??? Wow, what a feat of engineering. I’m 48, remember them from my childhood, back when Sydney was good.

cool hat. subscribed 👍

The airport - Alexandria area used to flood badly in the fifties through till the late eighties.

Eastern suburbs nimby's killed it.

It’s a privately owned line, so you’d better factor in Aurizon wanting to recoup their investment. Not to mention parts of it are quite literally over floodplain, & while the SMR built it to a higher level, development has pushed floodwater to places old locals have never seen. The stations aren’t really in convenient locations, & the surroundings are also undermined. It’s a pipe dream, nothing more.

Fascinating! I grew up in the west of Sydney, and visiting the eastern suburbs felt like an overseas holiday. These days, I like to explore the eastern suburbs on foot once or twice each year, which means using the ESR and the bus/rail interchanges. I agree with you that the photos of the original designs were stunning. I’m sure you’ve seen the official ESR promotional video from 1979?

I'm sure that your video of the ESR had some interesting facts but I found your delivery very difficult to understand because you speak too quickly and in a staccato way. I had to turn it off after one minute. Please slow down so people can follow you

51:50 I dunno where these numbers are coming from, I have the following from August 2019 before Covid: *10 Bondi Junction Station 730550* *13 Martin Place Station 532940* *18 Kings Cross Station 431360* *36 Edgecliff Station 249190* Edgecliff has never been anywhere near third place. Have you done something funny with the data where you have discounted all stations which have multiple lines or something?

I went on the ESR on the first day it was open to the public in 79

As a 10 year old I loved my Grandma taking me and my sister and brother on the brand new train line to Bondi Junction. The novelty of putting a magnetic ticket into the gate and it shot out your fingers for you to collect as you walked through was lots of fun. So novel compared to the small cardboard tickets for other lines that the staff tore in half as you showed it to them to enter and exit. The platform escalators were some of the longest in Sydney at the time too. Exciting and new.

I’m watching this while on the t4 to Edgecliff

Well done, strong effort. I actually worked on the opening crew on the Eastern Suburbs Railway. The public open day was amazing as well as very crowded. By memory the ESR used 225,000 cubic metres of concrete. The ticketing system confused many. Brings back memories.

Glad thy snuck this in before nimbys existed, wouldnt have happened if not

‘Doesn’t want Bondi to become like the Gold Coast’ whilst ignoring that the Gold Coast is nicer than Bondi

And infamously what?

Some of the new developments in the Eastern Suburbs are actually reducing affordable housing because affordable housing isn't profitable for developers.The result being that poorer people get forced out of the eastern suburbs.

The red rattlers we're great trains I always thought they looked similar to the NYC subway redbirds

hey man. Video looks great but it is so long, you should add sections to the video as I'd love to watch it and skim through but don't have so much time. Thanks!

AMAZING VIDEO!

Wow, Aussies really love(d) their railway loops

Awesome work on research and presentation! Reading Dr Bradfield's report, as you did, is well worth it. His proposals included automation of trains on the city circle! (As a bit of feedback, a suggestion is to check place name pronunciations). Not that I'm an expert. Lol

Thanks for the video, I worked for a small sign company which had the new South Wales railway contracts and I've never seen so many signs that I built in one place before, I'm glad you liked the sign above the martin place ticket office. Most if not all the indicators, signs and direction sign I built over the years from 1976 to 1996 when I moved to tassies no longer exist. It was really nice to be able to point them out to my wife. Ps, i used to be Michael Catons next door neighbour in Regent street Paddington, he didnt exactly cover himself in glory as a neighbour.

I really enjoyed how this video wrapped together the entire mess of early proposals to extend the railway into the city. I like the way the under-Parramatta-Road one resembles a few other countries who took that option around the same decade, e.g. San Francisco, Brussels. It's painfully obvious and useful, though is it pleasant? I'd probably prefer modern light rail down the centre of Parramatta Road and Victoria Road. The original Northwest Metro proposal did swing south from Epping and head under Drummoyne and Rozelle though, and feels very necessary even now. I'll have to enjoy the amazing Victoria Cross station as the consolation prize - and what a prize.