Last updated: 27-Dec-2025, 05:29 PM AEST
Search Home ATL-TAB Don shares his Journey
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Pictures courtesy of Peter Collier.
When I joined the team in 1976, and during my early years, this work force consisted of Harry Lane, Peter Collier, Stan Jones, Michael Higgins, Graeme Twycross, Fred Estcourt, Don McKenzie, Ken Crook, Peter Nelson, Ian Dykes, Arthur Gardiner, Mick Gulovsen, Ray Johnston, Kevin Johnston, Jim Kennedy, Craig Allardice, Mark Dyball, Allan Peachy, Ken Long, Ian Bradshaw, and Ian Trustcott. Arthur Long was Pre-1976. Frank Dowdle was the Chief Engineer.
Many of these people came from P.M.G. or similar telephone exchange background, as the totes of the 1950s to 1960s were very much like an Australian telephone exchange of the same era. Generally used a 50VDC 3000 type relay operated system, mixed in with sets of mechanical gears designed specifically for totalisator counting, and dividend display operations. The 50VDC wiring system was based on PMG cable colour codes and cable wiring terminal blocks, we referred to as "Chocolate Blocks", so PMG techs of the time, could fall into the tote way of doing installations fairly quickly.
All of the technical staff eventually had to make the move from electro-mechanical circuits, across to the DEC PDP-11/40, 16-bit minicomputer sold by Digital Equipment Corp, and terminals based on 7400 TTL logic. Later families of DEC gear followed in quick succession, right through to my retirement, as well as Motorola 6800 Microcontroller terminals, then eventually PC based terminals.
Automatic Totalisators Limited. The Old ATL Sydney Head Office Letterhead. No Longer Valid.
My length of ATL service pales into insignificance, when compared to some of my colleagues.
In 1959 four young men, that didn't know they were going to have something very special in common, joined the PMG Technician In Training Program in Melbourne. An intake of over 500 that year, from all over Australia. These fifteen-year-old lads were Harry Lane, Peter Collier, Don McKenzie, and Ken Crook. In 1960, Peter Collier and myself were chosen to be part of a group of 12 selected for training in the radio section of the PMG. We went on to be trained at the large radio transmitters of Radio Australia at Lyndhurst and Sydenham, as well as the 3LO-3AR ABC Radio studios in Melbourne. This was all radio valve technology, and we were just starting to see the first transistors. I remember paying equivalent to a weeks pay (about £ 3) for my first experimental transistor, a Mullard OC44.
Harry, Peter, and Ken moved across to ATL and spent the rest of their working lives there, until eventually retirement. This was close to 40 years with ATL (TABcorp), compared to my puny little effort of 23 years, 8 months, and a bit.
If I get the actual lengths of ATL service, I will post them here.
When I started, we had the old boys brigade. This was a group of men generally past retirement age that ATL had kept on because of their experience, and shortage of work force. Gordon Collier (Peter Collier's father) was the youngest, and actually retired well before his 65th birthday. The rest of the old boys consisted of Alf Schloeffel, Alf Popel, Bob Davies, Les Strange, and Joe Waddington. These men were in their late sixties and early seventies. Alf Schloeffel, and Joe Waddington had an additional extension of service, when the J25 was launched, as they helped with the distribution of new paper supplies around the tote houses. Alf and Joe would have been closer to 80, or better, when they finally retired.
All old boys wore grey dust-coats. This was mandatory. I had some grey dust coats left over from my P.M.G. days, so I was able to mingle in without anyone noticing I was the new boy.
We also had a large group of casual technicians to assist us on Saturday Race days. These were made up mainly of P.M.G. (Telstra), and armed services communications technicians. Many went on to become permanent technicians at ATL. Some names that come to mind: Ben Barton, Bill Telfar, Brendan Dowdle, Bernie Dowdle, Joe Waddington, Don Passmore, Stuart Smith, Fred Berry, Bernie Spence, and prior to my joining in 1976.... Jack Carnell, Alan Sengotta, Max Davies, Les Sellman, Don Brown, Henry Lynch, Max Lynch, Fred Rawiller, George Seivers, Colin Baker, and Keith Smith.
Clive is a hardware engineer, and was working for Datatronics when it was purchased by ATL, so it was effectively a continuity of service. A big red Mexican style mustache, and a bright smile. Very easy to like. Not much seemed to worry Clive, and he fitted in very well with a team that was eventually made up of Clive, Peter Collier, and Graeme Twycross. These three men became the hardware team to support the V.O.T.S. system. He transferred across to the TAB with the rest of us in 1988, which eventually became TABcorp. Clive and TABcorp parted ways in about 2006. His length of continual service would have been quite a long span also.
I didn't see a lot of Clive over the years, but I was able to amaze him at times, with my knowledge of Microcontroller circuits and interface chip part numbers. He always wondered where I kept plucking them from.
If I owned a company, the last two people I would be getting rid of would have been Peter Collier and Graeme Twycross. TABcorp managed to terminate the services of both of these men well before their used by date.
Peter had served 40 years minus 3 weeks, and was possibly the sharpest engineering brain that Melbourne totes was ever likely to see. He is also a very good teacher. In later years, Peter moved into a strong technical management position at TABcorp.
I met Peter at the P.M.G. Training School at Moore's Stores in Chapel St, Prahran at the start of 1959 when we were both 15 years old. We established a firm friendship straight away. Lunch breaks, after work, and weekends, we would play billiards together, or chase the birds at St Moritz ice rink down at St Kilda, while pretending to ice skate.
At age 16, we attended the radio school in Batman St West Melbourne, and well before we were old enough for drivers licenses, we drove our cars to the P.M.G school, and compared notes on vehicles, running repairs, etc. Peter could remember the number plates on my cars even today I'm sure, and I have trouble remembering the cars we owned.
After the P.M.G., we steered off in our own directions, Peter to ATL totes, and I took off for the country life. Mid 1960's, I was running my own business: "McKenzie Woodhall, and Chapple", electrical contractors at Rainbow, Victoria.
1968, I was back in Melbourne with my new family, and the friendship continued. After speaking with Peter about what ATL may be able to offer me, I joined the team in January 1976. My income went from 13K a year to $26K. Sure, it was about money, and the prospect of getting into computers that really interested me.
As a social animal I found Peter one of the best friends a person could possibly have, but as the years rolled by, I was confronted with real problems. It was becoming apparent that we didn't see eye to eye on many technical, and job related personal matters. My last 10 or 12 years of service, I got to a stage where I didn't want to see, or talk to Peter at all.
Peter was the reason I joined totes, and he was one of the many reasons I left. So we went our own separate ways, me not speaking, nor wanting any contact with him.
Time rolls on, and we end up meeting again at old work colleagues funerals. A hell of a way to meet. We are getting old. I'm coming up 67 at the time of writing this. I had open heart surgery in June 2007, so It's a reminder that I am not going to be here forever.
My wife Cheryl said to me: "Do you want to go to your grave without making peace with Peter?". We start exchanging emails for birthdays and at Christmas. Peter then invites me to an industry luncheon and I accept. A slow process, but we are communicating again. Went to my second luncheon with him in December 2009.
Sure this is the very short version of Peter's profile, and could well be a good insight into mine. I could write a dozen pages, and not start to cover Peter Collier.
Peter steered the engineering direction of ATL Melbourne, (and later TAB-TABcorp) during his 40 years of employment, more so than any other individual. I doubt very much that you will find anyone who knows the facts, that will argue with that statement.
I'm starting to look at the writing of this "Tote History", as part of my own healing process, as I was dreading putting Peter's profile together.
Peter has been more helpful than anyone to date, with the piecing together of this history, by supplying text, photos, and corrections, and it has been very much appreciated.
I mentally tend to place Mark and Kevin Johnston in the same pigeon hole when it comes to ATL. Their career paths were almost the same, yet they were very different characters.
Mark and Kevin joined ATL as teenagers at very much the same time. Both were hired as casual Technicians, and stayed that way even though they worked more hours than many permanent technicians. I have covered this on many occasions in other parts of this history.
We didn't have a big group of men that held drivers licenses for semi-trailers, and those that we did have, were generally tied up on alternative duties. Jimmy was getting close to retirement, so Mark and Kevin were trained up to be able to move the Mobile Computers Vans around the various race courses.
When Jimmy retired, Mark was generally rostered with us for most of the country work, with Kevin as a backup. Mind you, there was a lot of movement of these vehicles during the years of the final stages of the 11/40 vans, followed by the 11/34 vans, and finally in 1990, the new Vax vans, so both Mark and Kevin were called upon as semi drivers during almost any given week.
Mark always appeared to have a cheeky affectionate grin, and I found him very easy to like. His love of management was much like Kevin's, and on more than one occasion, I remember him going toe to toe (or is that nose to nose?) with Harry on various working issues.
When Graeme's role changed over the years, Mark ended up with being the "first man in" to the spring racing carnival installation team, and had to choreograph any new installations in advance of the full crew arriving at the tracks. Flemington was always a massive job, as it had so many portable tote houses, and temporary corporate marques that needed wiring up for the tote terminals.
I think I have this fact correct. Only two Technicians married tote sellers. Mick married Sue, and Mark married Yvonne. Graeme's wife Arnna, joined the tote as a seller, after they were married.
Late correction: Graeme met Arnna on the tote. I think it was at the showgrounds.
Some time after I retired, Mark and Yvonne left the tote, and got into their own business as the Lakeside Caravan Park owners at Bonnie Doon.
Again proving, there is life after the tote.
Footnote for this story regarding Semi-trailer drivers: Ray and Graeme were regular drivers in the earlier years, but also helped out from time to time in the later years. Harry and Peter Collier also shifted Computer Vans in their early years. It would be a big individual story in itself to explain who took on what roles at times.
Arthur was running the Doubles-Quinella Tote when I first met him. I eventually joined his crew as his number two man, and ended up spending several years on the road, around the country courses with him. Years that I enjoyed very much. Possibly the most enjoyable years of my working life. He was slim, and adored by the female staff. Loved the banter and a little flirting with the girls around the tote, and they loved him for it, however he wasn't the sort of man that his wife would ever have to worry about.
For everyone, he was a father confessor, a financial adviser, as well as a very good friend. He was also running a small farm at Heath Hill, down past Pakenham, and knew how to take advantage of Government Tax breaks to maximum benefit. He would often say things like: "My income tax just purchased a new tractor for me". Many times I recall hitting his farm at around 03:00 from some far away country course, grabbing a couple of hours sleep, getting up, doing all the things that one normally does before you take off for work for the day, then you feed the cows, and take off in the direction of the next country course on the roster.
Arthur rolled his own cigarettes, stuck them into a plastic holder, and puffed away during the day. He loved a cup of tea, and when we had dinner at a country pub, he would always have a wee drop of spirits to wash it all down. He loved a fresh country made pie, and the best were at a shop at Colac. It was always a treat to drop off at the Colac pie shop, and pick up our morning tea-lunch for the day. Unlike many of us who lived on junk food because of the nature of the job, and the silly hours worked, Arthur was a very healthy eater. The pies were one of the few exceptions he made to his eating habits.
Many clubs provided lunch for the tote boys, so we didn't have to stoop to the on course vendor stands take-away menu of over inflated prices on pies, sausage rolls, Chiko rolls, or dim sims. The Burke's of Pakenham always made us feel like family when we paid them a visit. You could count on it. Of course, the Burke family was running the race course when the tote boys did the installation in 1940, so the treatment of the tote boys never really changed. Mornington and Yarra Glen were fairly good also, however If I recall, they tightened the purse strings in later years. I don't know how this works today. Perhaps things have reverted back to the good old days.
Arthur and Ray Johnston enjoyed golfing together, and played well into their retirement. Arthur passed away at Heath Hill in 2008.
Mick was employed during the transition across to the new J25 6800-based TIMs.
I met Mick in early 1980, when he was 22. This took place at a TRS-80 User Group meeting in Moonee Ponds. We instantly became firm friends, as we appeared to have so much in common. Mick ended up coming around to my house, and drinking my beer every Friday night for many, many years, and we would kick around various hardware and software computer ideas between us. At the time, he was employed at GMH as a toolmaker-inspector, and had been there for nine and a half years.
After the TRS-80 days, we got involved in an Australian designed computer, the BGR "Excalibur 64", that was effectively a colour version (clone) of the TRS-80, and Mick became president of the new club we had formed. He designed the software and hardware for a high resolution graphics board, and a 512kb memory extension, mainly used as a ram drive for the Excalibur, and had many other designs, such as an internal-external 1200/75 baud modem. Other projects of his were printed in Electronic magazines.
On the 16th of August 1985, six months short of his GMH long service leave, I somehow talked him into joining ATL, which means he had to forfeit his long service leave accumulation. I know it was worth it for me to drop what I was doing at the time, and join ATL, as I doubled my income in my first year. They paid well, but you had to work hard in the early years, and put in the hours. Mick never regretted his decision to join the team.
The Friday nights gradually vanished when Mick got married, and now that I have retired, we may only meet for lunch once every 3 or 4 months, but we still annoy each other in emails, which happens generally daily, to weekly.
Mick was a very important part of the direction of Dontronics, as he helped me during the years I was learning the game, and I always considered him my right hand man. If I have an awkward problem today, Mick can generally help me out in an email.
Big Mick is size XXXXXL, bald, and has a beard. I like to tell him he has his head on upside down. I could easily write a lot more about Mick, as we have always had a good close personal relationship for many years, but best I stop right here.
Kevin Johnston and Mick Gulovsen remain the only permanent ATL technical staff still working on course today. (April-2010). Everyone else has moved on, been retrenched, retired, or fell off the perch.
Mike migrated from the UK when he was 11, and quickly assimilated into Australian society by becoming a fanatical Collingwood (AFL) Football supporter. These days, I know he attends most home games with his even more fanatical wife Shirley.
Mike went through PMG training school like most of the men his age on the job, and was a PDP 11/40 van engineer by the time I arrived on the scene. He rose through the ranks, and eventually became my immediate Manager, as he was the On-course Technical Manager when I resigned. At this stage we were both effectively Senior Systems Engineers, working with the Vax vans that were introduced in 1990, so I spent quite a lot of time with Mike.
Michael is the most compassionate, understanding, and forgiving human being I have ever met, and I believe all the men working under him owe him a great personal debt. Most I feel have overlooked this, and I am one of the few that has kept up any sort of an ongoing relationship with him. Mind you, we seem to have drifted away from our promises to lunch on a regular basis, as it is coming up 11 years since I left the scene.
Mike was always pushing for workers rights, further education, and generally better working conditions, but I feel he was always at cross roads with Management, as his big failing seemed to be he was simply too nice to be a manager, not cut-throat like it appeared you had to be, to get on well in TABcorp. I feel sure he would have made a great Human Resources Manager, as he had the ability to communicate easily with people, and negotiate at any level, in a very logical fashion.
In the final years, Mike was sending himself to University to pick up some educational degrees. Little did I know that Michael was interested in a career in teaching at this late stage of his life.
I remember when I handed in my resignation on the 29th of September 1999, Mike tried to sway me and suggested that I could sit in a corner until I was 65, pick up a big superannuation package, and forget about Dontronics. But no way. I wanted to get out and do something more with my life before I got too old to change direction.
Interestingly, no one survived reaching 65. TABcorp managed to retrench everyone in their early sixties that hadn't resigned. It is ironic that ATL not only valued the long service of the men in their sixties, they employed several well into their seventies, and even some into their early eighties.
Less than a year after I resigned almost to the day on the 28th of September 2000, Michael also resigned, and took up that teaching position, and has never looked back. He loves his new occupation. Proves there is life after TABcorp after all.
Harry was one of the group of four young men that were inducted into the PMG in 1959, then later came across to join the technical staff at ATL. I have mentioned this many times elsewhere in this tote history.
As Harry joined ATL first, he became the most senior person of the group, and quickly shot up through the ranks. When I joined, he was the senior engineer in the 11/40 vans, and second in charge of the engineering staff. When the chief engineer Frank Dowdle went on leave, Harry was in charge.
Initially Harry seemed abrupt and short on words, and I wondered if I was doing something wrong, but it soon became apparent that you had to learn how to operate with Harry, and it wasn't long before we had a good working relationship.
Harry smoked a pipe, in fact most of the men smoked in those days including me. Now none of them do. Harry was a good competitor for Peter Collier, as they liked to pitch their skills against each other, and turned installations into a much more interesting game than it actually was.
In the dying days of the 11/40 computer vans, they were pressed into service at Colac, Sale, and Seymour country tracks, when they were of no further use in the City. I will be doing a story about the evolution of bringing these computer vans to the country tracks, and the method of operation elsewhere.
These vans were used from about 1981 to 1983 on these country tracks. Harry and myself did all the Van Engineering, with Jim Kennedy as the driver-technician, and possibly another tech was rostered if the meeting size warranted it.
My role in the 11/40 vans was basically a continuation of my service in the country with Arthur Gardiner. Here I was running the new 11/34 vans in the city, and still having a small role in the dying days of the 11/40 vans with Harry in the country.
The short time I spent with Harry during the final days of the 11/40 systems was most enjoyable, and holds lots of good memories. It was a lot less labour intensive than my previous country service with Arthur, and almost as much fun.
Around 1983, Peter Kenyon the ATL Branch Manager, took up a new position with the Tasmanian Government, and Frank Dowdle moved into the vacant spot. This left the door open for Harry to step up to the position of chief engineer. He also inherited Frank's Holden Panel Van. Frank rolled his own cigarettes, and it was rumoured there was enough tobacco trapped down the back seat of the van, to keep Harry's pipe loaded for three months.
In July 1987, ATL Melbourne was restructured and Harry's role changed dramatically. This memo explains it in more detail. At this stage, Frank had passed away, and Peter Kenyon returned to his old position as Branch Manager.
Harry had become second in charge of the branch, and now part of the Administration team. Initially I felt he was placed in a position he wasn't going to like, but as the years rolled on he seemed to warm to the idea, and actually spent the second half of his tote life as an Administrative Manager.
You will have to ask Harry, which half he enjoyed most, but I suspect the second half was just as rewarding, if not more so than the first half.
Again, like everybody that made it through to their early sixties, Harry was retrenched prematurely, and now I get to see him and enjoy his company at the recent industry luncheons that I have been attending.
Loc was employed to help out with the J25 Tims, however he was over-qualified, and eventually snapped up by the TAB as a programmer. Loc was a young Vietnamese lad, spoke good English, with an accent, however most people didn't have problems understanding him. Mick Gulovsen snapped him straight up under his wing, and they were then known as "Laurel and Hardy" because of their appropriate physical sizes, and the fact that they were then always seen together as a team.
Loc had a very good sense of humour, and with Mick's assistance, we ended up with a string of lines such as "I'm Lock n Loll, I'm Lock Smith's brother." Yegad! "What have you done to poor Loc, Mick?" Loc loved his integration into the Aussie work force, and we enjoyed it also. He was a valued part of the technical team.
From the TAB, he went onto Tattersall's I think it was. I know I have received emails from him in recent years, just to say hello, but I can't find one quickly to verify his current location.
D-Day the 6th of June 2007. I am in intensive care at the Royal Melbourne Hospital as I just had open heart surgery on D-Day, and it's the next morning. I have someone shaking me, and telling me to wake up as I have a visitor.
My mind isn't working just yet. Is it George Michael, or Ricky Martin one of the internationally known singers? It looks a bit like one of them. Hmmm.... Must be my Cardiologist, as only he, or my wife Cheryl would get into the Intensive Care Unit at this very early stage of my recovery.
Hell, it's Kevin Johnston, son of Ray Johnston. He must have said he was my Cardio to get in to see me. Perhaps he just walked straight in and looked like my Surgeon. I really don't recall if our conversation made any sense or not, but it was good to see a friendly smiling face. Before the week was up, both Mick and Ray, the other two tote tech open heart patients, and very good friends, had paid me a visitor also.
I feel Kevin has been one of the most misunderstood technicians on the job, as management always appeared to have ongoing issues with him. But for me, the rules were very simple. Treat Kevin the same as you would like to be treated yourself, and Kevin would do anything for you without question. I know Michael Higgins agreed fully with me. We both had lots of time for Kevin, and both enjoyed working with him.
Kevin, and Mark Dyball were treated as casual workers and never taken into the fold as permanent workers during the ATL period. This was an issue I never agreed with, and have covered in other parts of this history of the Victorian ATL Tote.
Kevin Johnston and Mick Gulovsen remain the only permanent ATL technical staff still working on course today. (April-2010). Everyone else has moved on, been retrenched, retired, or fell off the perch.
Picture: Twins Jen & Jo Johnston
Ray Johnston is a big broad shouldered man, and had served 25 years as a policeman. His last position was as the Chief Training Officer, Motor Cycles, at Dawson Street Brunswick. He worked as a part time technician for a while, then transferred across and spent another 25 years at ATL before he retired. I always imagined clinging by my fingertips to the top of a tall building, about to fall, and Ray would throw his big arm over the side, and grab my hand. "Don't worry, I've got you young Donny!" I always had the utmost confidence in Ray, and without hesitation, would trust him with my life. Ray had the loudest speaking voice you could imagine. Just another reason we affectionately called him Big Ray, or Officer Johnston. Ray has a son Michael in a TAB agency at Bundoora, and another Kevin as a Technician on the tote, as well as twin daughters, Jen, and Jo, yes, all working on the tote. Brian, Ray's second eldest son is elsewhere. I remember Ray taking the girls to Colac in the Tote Mobile for their 15th birthday. I was at Colac that day with Arthur, and our DQ equipment.
When I first met Ray, I told him I had lived in a small country town called Rainbow in the southern Mallee, Victoria, for about 6 years, and had an electrical contracting business there. Then he said, "I know Rainbow very well". I honestly thought, what a load of "BS", but when he rattled off most of the local names, I had to concede. He came out from New Zealand in about 1952, and the first job he had was as a farm labourer at Rainbow for about 18 months. I actually knew the farming family fairly well. We had a real laugh about it for many years, and often spoke about Rainbow.
My first race day on the tote, I was rostered under Ray in Paddock A (and Padd A ext) at Moonee Valley. My head was really spinning. "Mechanic, Mechanic!". We ran about 50 TIMS in the house, which covered J8's, J10's, and J18's. Ray taught me how to run, repair, unload, and then unplug them. Jack White (Graeme Twycross's Uncle) was the house supervisor, and Ray had to tell Jack how well he had taught young Donny to quickly become part of the tote team. Whenever I worked with Jack and Ray, it was a real pleasure. You couldn't wish for a better roster.
For a full reference to length of service for the Johnston family: Kevin Johnston 11-February-2010
Jim Kennedy, from what I recall, had worked at the munitions works at Maribyrnong during WWII, prior to coming across to ATL. Once the old boys brigade had fully retired, he became the oldest member of the group. He was always immaculately dressed, loved a beer, and mingled with the social set around the racecourse. Many times, racecourse administrators would ask us where Jim, the ATL Tote Manager was, as they really believed that was his position. We never bothered to correct them, as it never really worried us. Was more a bit of a giggle that he was able to portray this role. If the tote broke down, we could always send them off to Jim to complain to.
I remember coming up to my 40th birthday, was making my second last payment on my house, and mentioned to Jim that I would miss making my very last house payment by one month. He immediately offered to make the last payment for me, so I could say that I paid it off by my 40th birthday. Of course the truth was, I still had to pay Jim, so it wasn't going to be fete accompli. I had to thank him and decline.
If I owned a company, the last two people I would be getting rid of would have been Peter Collier and Graeme Twycross. TABcorp managed to terminate the services of both of these men well before their used by date.
Graeme was tall, slim, prematurely bald, (today, most of us look much the same as we have caught up), and he ate like a horse. Didn't matter how much he shoveled in, he never put on any weight.
In the early years, I spent a lot of time with Graeme, as we often moved the Semi-trailer Mobile Computer Vans at silly hours after night meetings. He would drive the van, and I would chase him up in a car. When we got the van into the next race course, we would then go back and pick up Graeme's car from possibly a third race course. Could be midnight to 02:00 depending on the location of the three tracks in question.
Not always at night, we did the same thing after day meetings sometimes, but the principle was much the same. Even a short day meeting could end up 07:00 to 20:00.
Jim Kennedy also shifted the computer vans. Depending on rosters, it may have been as simple as a Monday morning move to the next track with a chase car. As Jim approached retirement, both Mark Dyball and Kevin Johnston also got involved in these computer van movements.
And the same procedure with the extra J18 TIM moves in the small ATL van on a Saturday, and Saturday night. Graeme or myself would become the chase car for the other. This routine is outlined elsewhere in this history.
Graeme was also a big part of the installation crew, and was effectively a one man band that did the initial layout of the extra installations during the spring racing carnivals. When the deadlines got closer, he was followed up with a much larger crew.
He was part of the team of four van engineers during the operation of the PDP 11/34 Vans that commenced operations in 1980. This was made up of Michael Higgins, Graeme, Fred Estcourt, and myself.
Later he made up the team of three engineers permanently rostered at the new VOTS system at Moonee Valley. This was Peter Collier, Clive Angus, and Graeme. Graeme still appeared at spring racing carnival installations during this period. He really loved doing new installation work, and seemed to prefer to be on his own whenever possible.
Under Peter Collier's direction, Graeme engineered the shift of the TABcorp Central Site full computer systems from the old Number 1 Queens Road building, to Bowen Crescent. This was around the time I had taken early retirement.
At a much later date, TABcorp in their wisdom decided that they no longer needed Graeme, and retrenched him. He was perhaps in his early fifties? I was really shocked, even though I had been out of the tote circus for some time. The gods are crazy!
Next I heard they hired him back as a consultant. I guess there wasn't too many people around that knew the new system like Graeme. I like to think he charged them three times what he was getting as a paid employee of the company.
Frank Dowdle was the chief engineer, and was about 15 years my senior. Medium build, wavy red hair, glasses generally sitting up on his head, rolled his own cigarettes, and always said hello as you passed by, no matter how busy he may be at the time. He was old school P.M.G., and everything had to be done his way. I was never sure if he loved me, or hated me. I think most of the Techs felt much the same way.
He had a single goal, and that was to make sure the engineering section of ATL Melbourne was run smoothly and successfully. He put in as many hours as anyone, and was always there on Saturdays and Saturday nights. On many occasions, he would drive his working family to the race track on a Saturday, as many were working as part time technicians, or sellers. After the races he would go home for tea, then turn up during the night at the trots.
He hated big changes, and lectured me about the evils of change due to the introduction of computers. He likened it to the industrial revolution. "Will put millions of people world wide out of work." And here I am on the other side of the argument, pushing as hard as I can to do just the opposite. I could see a computer in every home eventually.
Frank had seen all the manual payers vanish. The J25 TIMs were able to read the bar-coded tickets, and the sellers became payers as well, and all from the one window. This made many other jobs obsolete, as it cut out a lot of internal tote staff, such as runners, money counters, and bankers. The main cash flow wasn't through the bank anymore, but at each individual sell-pay window.
The ATL Branch Manager Peter Kenyon had resigned, as he had accepted a job position in Tasmania, and Frank replaced him as the Branch Manager. Frank seemed to enjoy the new job, but he still had to be involved in the Engineering side of things. I guess it had been a way of life for too long for him to be able to let it go.
Aged 57, he became very ill with Cancer, but he still drove the kids to the races on a Saturday. The last time I saw him, he was hanging onto the door of his car for support, while he chatted to me in the driveway, near the tote van at Flemington. This was the week before he passed away.
Alf Schloeffel was sent from Sydney to Melbourne in 1931 for 6 weeks for the installation of Flemington. Alf liked Melbourne so much, he never returned. He was still there in 1980. After he finally retired, he drove a crash repair spare parts van for his son-in-law. I remember him paying us a few visits many years later at Olympic Park. Offered him a cup of tea, and I had to put eight spoonfuls of sugar in it, before he said, "OK. That's enough thanks Don". Alf could have been 75+ when I worked with him.
"Stick a sandwich in your mouth, I'm talking to a gentleman", was one of his favorite sayings. You couldn't find too many people to say a bad word about Alf, even when he may bring you undone on a daily basis. You had to love him. Alf smoked all his life. I think he was 86 when we went to the celebration of his life.
Joe always looked 15. A good crop of white hair, and the face of a teenager. He never seemed to age. I had kicked off by buying myself a new set of spanners and sockets that would fit the mechanical parts of the old TIMs, and supplement my already fairly extensive tool kit. By comparison, Joe had a wooden handled screwdriver with a broken handle, and a pair of bull nose pliers, both of which looked like they were out of a junked toolbox from a 1915 T Model Ford. Basically, he got by with these two tools, and it wasn't often I needed to lend him a helping hand, or a tool. His tool kit vanished into his jacket very readily when he was traveling. Joe could have been 75+ when I worked with him.
Peter Kenyon, an ex-government inspector, was the Branch Manager for many years.
Robin Bone, Maureen Jones
Sadly I learnt a few days ago about the passing of Robin Bone. (22-Feb-2010), and as I wanted to do a profile on Robin, I felt that now was a good time to do it, as I have many fond memories of him running around in my head at this moment.
I considered Robin a very good friend. He was an ATL manager in charge of staffing and race meeting operations. As such, I ran into him at virtually every country track, as well as most city tracks in the old electro-mechanical days.
He was the sort of person that easily gained respect, and was a mother hen to all of his staff. He made sure everything was running smoothly at all times, and was the man that fronted disgruntled punters, and racing administrators, when things went badly wrong.
If the problem was a result of what we would call a mechanical error, Robin was able to sooth the masses and explain that he would get a technical response from the Engineers. Here I was stuck about midway between being a mechanic, and a technician at this stage, and Robin always referred to me as an engineer, years before I reached that title within the company.
When Don McKenzie came up with a madcap idea that would revolutionize tote operations, Robin Bone would back him to the hilt. And when I usually got shot down, Robin would plummet with me. He should have kept his distance. You think he would have learnt after so many downers that I had dragged him through. 
He had a maroon Leyland P76 car, which was a bit of a classic, even for the years I am talking about here. Some night country meetings, we could get a little stuck for getting transportation into town for tea, as our truck (van) sometimes had two power transformers with the inputs and outputs plugged into a tote operation, and it wasn't always easy to disconnect, then drive the truck to town to get a decent pub meal.
Robin would offer Arthur Gardiner and myself the use of the P76 on these occasions. First time I drove it I said to Arthur "What a bomb", then Arthur suggested I look at the speedo reading. I can't remember if it was in miles or kilometers it was that long ago, but the number was a very big one, like about 330,000.
I instantly forgave the P76 for all obvious flaws of saggy suspension, seats, doors, and body work. Everything squeaked and leaked, but for what it was, it drove extremely well. Robin had only ever put water, oil, and lots of petrol into it. Oh yes, and heaps of rubber. I think his daughter Lauren ended up with the car eventually.
Robin decided to go a different direction later in his career, and took on a TAB agency, which he ran successfully for many years. His partner Karen was a tote seller, and went up through the ranks of ATL and then the TAB over the years. I remember recommending Karen to Frank Dowdle, as a demo-seller-trainer when the J25s TIMs were first introduced in 1980.
Last time I saw Robin was at Noel Langlands funeral, and that was a long time ago. Wish I had been able to catch up with him just one more time.