The Yallourn Telephone Exchange - 1954 : Memories by Jeff Collinson
In March 1954, I was selected by the PMG’s (Post Master General’s) Department to be the Senior Technician in charge of the installation of the new Yallourn Telephone Exchange. Prior to this selection, I was the Senior Technician leading a small team at the O’Shannassy Reservoir, near Warburton, installing the telecommunications equipment for the Queen and Prince Phillip when they stayed at the MMBW Chalet during the 1954 Royal Tour of Australia.
Until 1954, the telephone service to the people of Yallourn was either provided by the State Electricity Commission or by a small exchange located in the Yallourn Post Office. It had become apparent that the current service was inadequate for the town and a new, much larger exchange was required. At the same time, a new and much larger exchange was required at Morwell. The Yallourn exchange was, in effect, a satellite of Morwell and connection was “trombone” trunked via junction cables between the two exchanges. “Trombone” trunking was the term used that, when a subscriber lifted his handset, he was connected to a 1st selector at Morwell where the routing to the required number was performed. If a local Yallourn number was dialled, the connection returned to the Yallourn Exchange for the ongoing call. The exchange was located in a small cream brick building between the State Savings Bank and the RSL in Centreway.
The installation team consisted of staff from the Victorian Country Installation No 3 Division of the Post Master General’s Department. With myself were Jock Lamont, Jim Wilson, Hilston Beswick and Jack Ferney as the team members. We all stayed at the Fairfield Guest House in Fairfield Avenue which was run by the Williams’ couple. Ruth Williams was the Manager.
During the lunch break, we had “kick-to-kick” football in the street next to the Guest House. Most of us only stayed in Yallourn for the weekdays, returning to Melbourne over the weekend. Returning to Melbourne on a late Friday afternoon and back to Yallourn on Monday morning by car was an endurance test with the sun low on the horizon and the driving along the narrow Prince’s Highway of the time. Occasionally some of us stayed in Yallourn for the weekend, visiting Walhalla, the Tarra Valley and Wilson’s Promontory. Repairing our cars was a job for the weekends and the garage at the exchange was ideal. In those days, cars had to be “decoked” regularly so as to get the best performance. My car was an Austin A40 Tourer, my first car!
One disadvantage of living in Yallourn was the coal/briquette dust! When one stepped outside, a speck of dust would lodge in one’s eye and the result was very painful indeed. I am sure that all residents of old Yallourn will have had the same experience. Also black dust on clothes lines and car windscreens were another hazard.
Socially, we enjoyed going to the Yallourn Hotel after work and the occasional “party” at the Guest House. Meals at the House were always a white tablecloth affair with the bread container and silver cutlery on the table. Service was by waitresses with their black uniforms with white aprons! The rooms were small but comfortable. The Williams’ ran a “tight ship”. Of interest, on the evening prior to my marriage to Thelma Sharman, at St John’s Anglican Church on 3 January 1959, I stayed the night at the Guest House.
The project was successfully finished in early November 1954 and the staff scattered around Victoria on other jobs. I will never forget on the Saturday afternoon of the “cutover”, the young daughter of a local engineer could not get to the toilet in time and “peed” behind the 50 volt power board much to the embarrassment of all! I went to Sorrento to arrange extra lines to Melbourne for the Christmas period. Ironically, Thelma Sharman of Yallourn North and a nurse at the Yallourn Hospital, who became my wife in 1959 as I mentioned above, was away from Yallourn for the whole of 1954 whilst nursing in Winton in Central West Queensland. Subsequently we were to meet in London in late 1956. Unfortunately, after 54 years of marriage, Thelma died in April 2013.
I will never forget my time in Yallourn. It was my first project in charge and one which gave me a lot of experience in leading a group of men who were all a few years older than me. Yallourn at the time was a great place to work and to live. A pity it had to “die”.
Jeff Collinson
