A Few Stories and History of My Early Years as a Mechanic, on the old ATL Melbourne Tote (Australia Circa 1976+) Stories Part Two
Automatic Totalisators Limited
Last updated: 20-Dec-2025, 05:29 PM AEST
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Trots-Harness Racing in Victoria We have the Power Welcome back Kotter Is the Empire State Building, and a Darwin Cafe a match? Echuca and the Race change Arnna and the code barrel Melbourne Cup Day Potential Future Stories 8-Sep-2025: Efforts to recover part of the electro-mechanical Mornington Tote for historical preservation.Trots-Harness Racing in Victoria
I started writing this article on the 6-February-2010, as I felt it was a good time to start piecing this story together, as tonight is the very last night of a Trots-Harness Racing meeting to be held at Moonee Valley. The very first night was 30-Oct-1976. I remember attending the last meeting at the old Showgrounds at Ascot Vale, and the first meeting at Moonee Valley. Naturally, a lot of new installation work, and de-commissioning of old gear at the Showgrounds, was done during this change over period. Next week, the Melton complex takes over completely for all harness meetings in the metro area. This will be the 13th-February-2010.
Pictured left is the old Showgrounds main tote in the days prior to my commencement. Paddock A, the main tote is the roof to the left of the picture, and the main Win-Place Odds indicator is in the top centre of the frame. As per the formula for all old Julius totes, the machine room is upstairs behind the main odds indicator. Below the machine room is the power plant room.
The Melbourne Showgrounds is where the annual Royal Melbourne Show is held every September, so during this period, most tote houses were converted into various venues to suit the needs of the show, including stock pavilions. Some of these areas were really on the nose when they returned from being stock yards, and back to tote houses.
Running the trots at the Showgrounds had many advantages. A railway station right on-course and extremely close to the city of Melbourne, and ample parking, generally inside the main gate. For many, the main attraction was the physical distance from the punters to the trotting track. You could literally get whipped in the face by the driver's whip or the horse's tail, as you could position yourself right on the fence if you wished to do so.
My Showgrounds trots nights started off by loading J18s into the back of an ATL truck at some far away racecourse, after working for a full day at the races. See Chris, Neil and the ATL tote truck. Graeme Twycross, myself, or both of us would do the run with the extra TIMs and the PRO Punters. Oh, and usually Joe Waddington in the back as well. I always paint this picture in my mind as Sandown being the pickup track, possibly because it was the longest distance, which gave us the minimum time to get the terminals into the tote houses and ready to race.
These were the days when we had a PDP 11/40 mobile computer van parked parallel to Paddock A. The back end of the vehicle was just clear of the tote house queues, with the prime mover facing towards the main gate, or towards the top-right of the picture. Terminals used were J8s, J10s, and J18s. Michael Higgins, and Fred Estcourt were normally the Van Engineers, and Ken Long, the Technician. These three men would arrive at the track possibly around lunch time and set it up ready for the arrival of the extra terminals and staff. Ash Conroy - Control Supervisor, was always in attendance, and seemed to have everything under control at all times, from a staffing point of view.
So every Saturday night, the mad race would be on to get from track A to track B, carry the terminals into the tote houses, load the correct printing type into the machines, test the machines, meet at the bar for a few quick beers, and get back to the tote houses before race one sales commenced. Then when things settled down in your area, you went and got something to eat. These earlier few quick beers may include a round with the likes of Robin Bone - ATL Manager, Ian Davies - Government Inspector, and whatever Technicians enjoyed a drink, such as Jim Kennedy. You had to be from the old school of 6 o'clock closing swillers, to be able to throw a few beers down in a terrible hurry.
To choreograph all of this transportation, I had to get my own private vehicle to the Showgrounds early in the morning, and pick up the truck from there, so that it all falls out at the other end of the trip. I remember picking Graeme up from his home many times, and sometimes from another track, as mobile vans had to be continually moved also. We simply did what was required to get the vehicles and equipment to where they were needed. Most Saturdays represented leaving home at around 07:00 Saturday, and arriving home Sunday morning at 00:30 to 01:00.
And what does one do when Saturday is finished for relaxation? We pack up after the meeting, move our cars up beside the mobile tote van, and start having a drink together sitting on the bonnets of the cars. Frank Dowdle hated his team drinking, but he always made an exception, and sat and had a chat with us on a Saturday night beside the old tote van. These were the days when drinking and driving was acceptable behavior, and the booze bus wasn't even thought of. I know none of us would think of doing the same thing today. How things have changed in 35 years, even for old farts like us.
Picture courtesy of Peter Collier.
Pictured above is Paddock B at the Showgrounds. I was rostered here many times, however trots nights it didn't look like this of course. Peter Collier was able to update me on this picture, text below:
Peter Collier 8-February-2010
The Paddock B indicator at the Showgrounds that the picture is of, was installed during the short time that Bertram Totes ran the Showgrounds after ATL was dumped as the tote contractor. That was what it looked like until they built the new Paddock B Grandstand. The scaffolding was actually the temporary grandstand and was like this for probably 5 or more years. Notice that it is above the ladies toilet and if you worked this indicator you had a view of the women entering the toilet.
The indicator was sets of rotary knobs for each starter Win and Place and you turned the knobs to match the odds information that was rung through on the phone. The appropriate bulbs would light to form the appropriate display pattern, pretty crude as it operated on 120Volts AC.
Source Department of History, The University of Melbourne Harness Racing.
Harness racing (the trotter with a diagonal gait and the pacer with a lateral gait) was introduced to Melbourne by American, John Peck, who organised 'American Trotting Races' at Flemington racecourse in January 1860. In 1881 the Victorian Trotting Club, including the American breeder Dr John Weir, brought the sire Childe Harold to Melbourne, opening a trotting track at Elsternwick on 1 April 1882. This venture failed but John Wren staged harness racing at his proprietary course in Richmond and by 1910 controlled the sport under the aegis of the Victorian Trotting and Racing Association (VTRA), organising the Melbourne Thousand, the biggest prize for harness racing to that time, in the following year. After the Richmond course was closed in 1931 Wren moved harness racing to his Ascot racetrack.
The VTRA amalgamated with the Williamstown Racing Club to form the Melbourne Racing Club but moved out of harness racing after the Australian Labor Party Government eliminated proprietary tracks in 1945. The Victorian Trotting Control Board, a new body established to regulate harness racing, began night trotting at the Melbourne Showgrounds on 15 November 1947. The establishment of off-course totalisator betting in the 1960s, the televising of Saturday night meetings in the 1970s, the move to Moonee Valley in 1976, the promotion of the inter-dominion championship and great horses like Popular Alm and Gammalite, have all increased the popularity of the sport.
June Senyard
We have the Power
Most city tracks have power backup systems that they test on a regular basis. The electricians at Caulfield and Flemington tracks would warn us a day before they wanted to test their backup generators, so that we could coordinate firing up our computers after they started the generators on race morning. Once committed, the equipment would run the full day on the backup system. After all, if it can't run a meeting, it isn't a true backup system, and of no use to man nor beast. We would test the power backup systems once or twice during race meetings each year, at each course.
Initially, Moonee Valley had a generator house right next door to our control room area, and eventually they built a gigantic power house in the infield car parking area. When Macca built something, he really built it. He was able to swap over and run his backup system, and our gear never missed a beat. When you have hard drive platters spinning, and heads trying to access them, with too many power fails and variations, you could easily end up with a crashed drive, or corrupt data. Could often blow a power supply, or other electronics. Something you don't want or need is power fails.
Same principles apply today with modern PCs. That's why many people have a UPS, so that at least they can close the system down before power vanishes completely. Notebooks-Netbooks don't have the same problem, as they have a battery on board, and many drives are now going solid state, meaning no platters or heads to crash. I'll bet in 5 years, most home users won't have a tin box PC like they do today. In fact, the change is taking place right now.
Which brings me to the real story, Mornington Power.
A typical day at Mornington races in the early 1980s. Either Michael Higgins, or Fred Estcourt, and myself in the PDP 11/40 van, Jim Kennedy or Mark Dyball as the semi-driver - technician, and Peter Nelson also on board as a second Technician. The computers, and van air-conditioners, all purring away nicely. Along comes race 2 or 3, and everything is rosy in the garden up to this point.
Then the lights flicker in the van, the parallel 11/40 computers stop, the van dies, and drops into silence and darkness, as the air-conditioners grind to a full halt. No power! Not much we can do without power. We start to investigate if it is just the van, or a full course power problem, and within minutes Ted Moore, the Mornington race course manager dashes into the van and tells us to stand by. He will have the emergency backup power generator running within minutes, and dashes out the door again.
After a few seconds of blank stares at each other, we almost say together, "What emergency backup power? We are at Mornington". Within minutes the lights come on, the air-conditioners start drumming away, and we go into our well-rehearsed restart procedure. Another 5 minutes pass, and we are up and running again. Then we reflect on what Ted just told us. We must have a power backup system here at Mornington. How come it was never mentioned to us before?
Not to worry, all is well, and the backup works just fine. Ted rushes up the van steps again, "Can you turn your TIMs on, we can't sell tickets until you do?". To make a long story short, we walk Ted over to the nearest tote house, and show him how each terminal plugs into a power point that supplies the normal 240VAC supply to each J18 TIM. His backup system apparently has only catered for the three-phase outlet to the van itself, and a few essential systems around the track, such as the PA (audio system), photo finish, and video systems. But not the selling terminals.
We suggest we could power down some of the TVs and VDUs in the van that aren't essential, and if we can find enough power cords and patch blocks, we may be able to power up perhaps 10 or 12 terminals in the nearest tote house from the van itself. But to do any more than that, may jeopardize the van power, and that's with a judgment that someone allowed for a decent safety margin into the van supply. Within about an hour, normal power was restored before we were able to get much in the way of van power distributed around the nearest tote house.
Turns out that as a result of available funding and a couple of committee meetings, Mornington got a firm of consultants in to map out and supply the backup power system for them. Looks like they not only forgot to tell us about the existence of this backup system, but also the consultants about the 70+ terminals they have sprinkled around about 10 or 12 tote houses in various locations on the race course.
When the Julius Tote installation was initially done in 1940, the machine room provided and distributed the 120VDC power right around the course for the J6 TIMs. If the machine room was powered up, the full tote had power and was fully operational. We were never asked, or told about the backup system. Perhaps Mornington got stuck at 1940's thinking.
I can't ever remember needing to use the power backup at Mornington again. I do know with the current tote system they use, and the old backup I just spoke about, they could easily power the full course, as the control equipment is equivalent to a couple of small PCs, with a few control VDUs hanging on the end of them.
Welcome back Kotter (AKA You killed my Rat, you dirty rottin Brother!)
The email below was doing the rounds recently. I spotted it and asked Kev if I could add it to the "History", as it sounded very much like 4 or 5 situations I had encountered. Nothing has changed. I know the track and the equipment Kevin was working with, so I understood his frustration. Although it isn't an old "History" story, the same basic problem existed on both city and country tracks well before ATL arrived.
Kevin Johnston, 5-February-2010
Started out just like any other Friday morning trip to Pakenham,
Dark clouds, misty rain, headlights on, a beautiful day for the races left a bit earlier than usual due to it being my first meeting after some leave and maybe expecting a few problems (didn't expect to get them in spades!).
First up "the old card in the odds box losing its address trick" followed by a second card needing to be taken out and re-seated ha, ha I had those two faults covered. Whilst doing this I received a call from T.P. informing me of a fault from the previous meeting about the tech phone not working. I thanked him and continued on my merry set up. What do you know he was right the phone still wasn't working (he had reported it and a Telstra tech had tested it to the sec's office) and to my bemusement the RDC line failed to work as well at which I fudged the 2nd data line to get a line up to the RDC area.
I then attempted to come online with the FEPC but had no response on the VDU, exchanged VDU (as mine have been known to not respond from time to time) to no avail tried "B" side to no avail tried a 3rd FE with same fault. At this point I realised there must have been a break somewhere in cable and rang Cro and he suggested to get "the cable guy" T.P. from Caulfield to help out and find fault which I promptly did. In the meantime Kenny "the cashman" Caygill arrived through the door in all his splendour saying "Should've had the system up by now!" K.C. not knowing my current predicament couldn't understand why I wasn't having a laugh with him. He then flew into action with me to install "the old umbilical cord trick" at which I had informed him that it had only been used once in my 30 years on course.
As we were running data leads across floor to run some PWTs the door flew open and there stood the silhouette of the "Cable Guy" who went out into the stormy weather with K.C. (who had earlier found a broken cable outside the back of the control tote building). After a bit more searching they had found 6 or 7 cables that had been eaten through (I thought it was the Chinese year of the Tiger not the Frickin' Rat they seemed to have had a party under the building!!). After some lightning quick work by "Cable Guy Perkins" God bless him ably assisted by K.C. of course, peace reigned and the control room was re-set up and all worked fine. This was, as I said earlier my first day back after 35 days of leave.
Moral of the story
a) Don't take leave
b) Don't come back
p.s. Internal phone in committee not working but that's another rat tale!
Kevin Johnston
Oncourse Technical Support Officer
Is the Empire State Building, and a Darwin Cafe a match?
Early 1980s
Frank Dowdle had a family trip to the US. He told us of his amazement when he was at the entrance to the lifts of the Empire State Building in New York. As he and his wife Kath were about to walk into the lift, Fred and Betty Conlon, two very long serving ATL tote staff, walked out. You have to queue to get into the lifts, but they managed to have a good chat before taking the ride to the 86th-floor observation deck, as millions had done before them.
July-August 2004
We had finally made it, and got to the same spot on the globe. This wasn't all that long a time frame after the 911 World Trade Centre tragedy, and security in all high profile iconic buildings was intense.
I had the video camera rolling as we approached the lift. I was going to capture this moment on video, as I had a premonition that a similar event would occur to us.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I spun around with my camera rolling, to find a security guard about the size of John Candy. (Lasky, the Security Guard at Walleyworld). "Sorry folks, No videos here please. You can take all the pictures you want on the observation deck!".
Well at least I didn't get handcuffed and arrested, but no Tote staff to be seen anywhere. Looks like my similar amazing moment isn't going to happen.
Or perhaps I just had to wait a little longer...
January 2008
Cheryl and myself are having breakfast at the Baniyon Tree Cafe in Mitchell St. Darwin. Something we have done dozens of times. We now spend a month a year in Darwin, as we have children and grand children living there. While waiting for breakfast, I look over the top of my paper to see Ken Crook, and his wife Ann about to walk in. Ken had been a tote tech for nearly 40 years, and Ann is a long term seller.
Casually, like I was sitting in the lunch room at Sandown racetrack 25 years ago, I say "Hello Ann, Hello Ken", as they approach and almost walk past without spotting us, then look back to the paper. But I can't keep my eyes in the paper for more than a few seconds, as I know there are two jaws inches from the floor, and I'm about to break into a great big smile. I then remind them of the story of Frank many years ago in New York.
Ken had just passed his 65th birthday by a few days, had taken early retirement a year or two before. They decided to take the trip up to Darwin on the Ghan train https://www.journeybeyondrail.com.au/the-ghan/, then go on and do the touristy things such as Litchfield, and Kakadu. These extra trips are something we could give them some guidance on, as we are almost locals these days. December 2009, we did the Ghan train ride from Adelaide to Darwin ourselves.
Echuca and the Race change
I thought I would like to describe what a typical day was in the life of an ATL technician covering the country tracks, so I decided to try and remember back 30+ years, and piece one together, and include with it the following little Echuca story.
One day in 1978, and I am off to Echuca Night Trots with Arthur, our Win-Place counter tote, and the D-Q punch tape equipment. Arthur picks me up in the Ford truck around 09:00, so that we can arrive at Echuca by about 13:00. First race would be around 19:30 to 20:00. Mind you, pick up time can vary dramatically due to a number of factors. This isn't an exacting science.
It is a long drive in a big overloaded truck, and in those days, there are no country town bypass roads, or super divided highways. As Arthur has driven all the way from his property the other side of Pakenham, I take over the driving, and take it from Tullamarine up to Echuca.
It is also possible Arthur had to drive his car to Cranbourne racetrack, where the Ford truck was generally garaged, and swap over vehicles. Then he may have to struggle on his own, to move tote gear into, or out of the truck, to suit the set up we needed for Echuca Trots that night. He was generally able to do all the tote gear shifting during the week, but sometimes he got stuck, and had to use a two wheel trolley to move things around on his own. Items that were really too heavy for one man.
Depending on the time we left, and how the drive went on the way up, we would usually stop and pick up a bite to eat at any town from Heathcote through to Rochester. The bakers shop was usually the spot. A pie, a coffee scroll, or similar, and some fresh milk for coffee of course. We had two eating options for lunch. If we were feeling really hungry, we would eat on the road, as soon as we got back into the truck. Or we may leave it till after we arrived at the track. This way, we could sit down, relax, and enjoy a cup of coffee at the same time. We always refuelled the truck at Echuca, on the way into town. You don't find fuel at midnight in these country towns in 1978.
The time finally comes, and we must get all of the tote gear out of the truck, and into the tote house. Then set it up correctly, and fully test it. The truck has two sets of open racks that house the terminals. These are fixed on each side of the van, and house all of the J8, and J10 terminals that we use around the country tracks.
We know this routine well, and it is a precision military like task for us. The DQ and Win-Place control gear is housed in wooden boxes with handles each end, or in steel cubicles, again with handles. These boxes and cubicles sit on the floor, or are stacked on top of each other.
Together we manually lift the control gear into the tote house, and set it up on two table tops. One table for each set of control equipment.
Once the floor space of the van is cleared, we then do a two man lift of each terminal from the truck, into the correct position in the tote house.
I struggle to lift a J10 on my own, so we must do this all as a two man operation together. This would consist of 5 cubicles, one for the W-P tote, and four for the DQ gear, and three big wooden boxes that contain two D-Q punches, one for each pool, and one D-Q reader. Spares will be left in the truck.
Spread across all pools, we may have 20 terminals (TIMs) that need lifting into position in the tote house.
We then plug it all together, set up and install the printing type, and plug in the power transformers that are located in the rear section of the truck. Then we punch it all out and fully test everything. Total time, maybe 2 to 3 hours after arriving at the track if all goes well.
Around 17:00-ish, time to wash up, and have yet another coffee, and do any final on-going repairs. Operational staff start to arrive about 18:00. Time to get out of their way, as they have paper work to set up, and money to be distributed, and can make good use of the table tops, if we are clear of them.
So we head into town either in the truck, or Robin's car if he gets there early enough to offer it. We always go to the Palace Hotel for a counter tea. Good prices, great meals, and they know us there, and get our meals under way in quick time. They know we have to get back to the track to open betting on the first race.
And that is what we do, open betting on time. A slow cold night from what I remember. All is going fine, right up until the final betting rush starts to come in on the first race, and the $10 Win-Place TIM starts placing bets.
There is a very loud electro-mechanical noise coming from every Win-Place J8 terminal, every time the $10 J8 TIM places a bet. Well actually 20 bets, as it steps the counter tote 20 times, as each bet represents $10.
Then the girls on the 50 cent and $2 TIMs tell us the race number is set to the last race. It doesn't take us long to realise that every time the $10 TIM places a bet, the race change is operated on every terminal. It makes an outstanding mechanical noise that invokes very worried looks on every face in the tote house.
I decide to swap over the $10 TIM, while Arthur resets the race changes back to race one on all the other TIMs. No joy, the $10 TIM is still doing a race change on every terminal, on every bet it places on the pool.
I grab a pair of side cutters, lift every J8 into the air, and cut the race change operate wire off every race change solenoid. We then reset the race change solenoid escapements back to race 1, and continue selling.
We have some minor pay problems as some tickets got out the windows with the incorrect race number showing, but the added security of a different letter paper for each race, means that this minor problem is easily overcome with the punters, and when you have someone like Robin Bone on board as the tote supervisor to explain the problem to any disgruntled punters, these problems vanish quickly.
It means lifting the machines after each race, and manually operating the solenoid escapements to the next race position. Not a big job at all. I was more concerned about finding the problem, and fixing it before we could leave the track, as we can't leave it until next time we arrive for the next meeting. It has to be fixed tonight, or a special trip will need to be done on another day, to find and fix the problem.
I spend most of the night going through the wiring schematics of the terminals, the house wiring, and the Win-Place cubicle to see what may be causing the fault to occur.
I can see that the access wire of the single $10 J8 terminal that we have, is physically very close to the common race change at many points. However I need to be able to do some isolation tests to prove where the problem is, so I really need the betting finished to be able to pinpoint the problem.
After the last race, Arthur packs up the D-Q equipment, while I go through what I call "section isolation". I get to the stage where I am pretty sure it is the house wiring, as I know it isn't the $10 TIM, or the control equipment.
I grab a multi-meter and a schematic of the wiring layout, and get down on my backside next to the "Chocolate Block", which is a PMG type soldered connection terminal for joining two or more cables together. This is situated on the side of one of the table tops, where the Win-Place counter tote cubicle is positioned.
No need for the meter, I can see the five cent coin sitting between the wiring terminals of the $10 TIM private access wire, and the common race change wire. Possibly dropped there when the bankers were counting and distributing the money during the time we went into town to grab a bite to eat.
I remove the coin, get off my backside, and connect a temporary jumper wire to the first few J8 Race changes, so that they operate normally again, and start placing bets. Arthur joins me, and we satisfy ourselves that this was the problem, and it has now been fixed. Possibly only cost us 30 minutes to find and fix, so all should be well for our next Echuca meeting. The race change wires can be soldered back on permanently at the next country meeting, as the terminals go back into the truck, and move with us.
By the time we get everything packed back up into the truck, it would be well after midnight, and time to tour back to Tullamarine in Melbourne. I drive back as usual. We arrive about 03:30, and Arthur takes the truck onto Cranbourne to pick up his own car. He would be getting home another 2 to 3 hours after me.
At times, we would have a Colac or Sale day meeting after an Echuca night meeting. This would mean staying overnight. My place for Colac, and Arthur's place for Sale. You got enough time to grab perhaps 1 or 2 hours sleep if you were lucky, get a shower, a bite for breakfast, then off to the next track. You would need to arrive around 09:00 to start the process all over again for the day meeting.
We got very good money during these years, but as you can see, it was quite a load at times. By comparison today, the terminals and control equipment are simply specially packaged PCs, and easily handled by one man. They drive a mini-van, like a Toyota Hi-Ace I think it is, and I believe the more modern terminals are actually operated over the Internet.
I know many multi-million dollar pieces of machinery have come undone by a five cent part, but I'll never forget the five cent coin that brought the tote to a halt one cold night at Echuca Trots.
Arnna and the code barrel
One Saturday night at Moonee Valley Trots during the J8, J10, & J18 era. Would be about 1979. It is around 23:30 at night and we have just unloaded all the TIMs. The technicians then gather in Paddock A to count and secure the TIMs printing type into locked storage, which is in this main tote house.
Paddock A is also the main gathering point for family and friends, as many people share a car ride to and from the course. The tote is a real family affair. We have tote supervisors married to tote bankers, sellers married to technicians, and many fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, brothers, sisters, cousins, (in some cases three generations), or just plain friends, and most of them meet, then wait for the other party to finish their shift, so they can all jump into a car, and get on their way home, hopefully before midnight. The waiting people would usually sit back out of the way, so that the still working staff can quickly finish off their final duties for the evening.
As almost always on a Saturday night, the Chief Engineer Frank Dowdle was present, and supervising the counting and storage of the TIM printing type.
Well we came up one code barrel short. This barrel prints the security code word on every ticket. See under Loading The TIMs.
Every Technician counts every barrel from his own tote house(s) before returning the barrels to the main pool, and each box of type is, or should be checked in by the roving technician. This was a technician designated to assist if additional pressure is experienced in certain areas, or casual less experienced technical staff are having problems.
On a Saturday night, the roving technician was usually Graeme or myself, but it was too many years ago to remember who we should pass on the blame of the counting of each group of barrels. Needless to say, we had not been able to pinpoint which tote house the single barrel was missing from.
Frank hits the roof! We start checking the closest tote houses, and the TIMs for the missing barrel. Then we gather back at Paddock A to check for any results. No Luck. Frank is getting really cranky at this stage. We know that we have to start at the start, and check every tote house, every machine, every crook, and every nanny, for this missing barrel.
No luck, Frank is seething at this stage, and the troops aren't very happy either. Not a good finish for the week. Oh well, it is well into Sunday morning now. The full technical team possibly spent a couple of hours looking for this barrel, and no luck at all. What could have happened to it?
Comes Monday morning, and we are getting organised at Moonee Valley to do a shift of the computer van, and other oddments of tote gear, onto the next race track. Normal tote circus stuff.
Graeme arrives with a big smile on his face, and holding up a Code Barrel! Where was it? His wife Arnna was working as a seller in Paddock A, and like all of the waiting staff, she was sitting well out of the way, next to the machine she had been selling on for the night. I don't recall who the technician was in Paddock A, and it doesn't really matter, but it appears that when the type was swooped up by the technician, this one barrel had rolled off the selling tote bench, and straight into Arnna's handbag, which was sitting on the floor, right next to the TIM.
The code barrel spent the weekend holidaying at the Twycross's, and Frank lived happily ever after. Well, until the next time someone stuffed up, which usually didn't take too long.
Melbourne Cup Day
On Melbourne Cup Day, we may have had 500+ sellers. This could mean a total staff of anywhere from 700 to 800 I would think, and just at Flemington Racecourse. Crowds could be as high as 110,000. Women always had to line up to get near a toilet.
Heaps to come including a special segment on the 1976 Melbourne Cup.
Source Department of History, The University of Melbourne
Flemington Racecourse
In March 1840, the first races were held on Saltwater Flat on the banks of the Maribyrnong River. The Port Phillip Turf Club took a lease of the site but, in 1852, was replaced by the Victoria Turf Club, which organised the first Melbourne Cup in 1861. The Victoria Jockey Club had appeared in 1857, and the two rival clubs amalgamated in 1864 to form the Victoria Racing Club (VRC). R.C. Bagot was appointed secretary, followed by Henry Byron Moore in 1881. An Act of Parliament gave the VRC legal control of the site in 1871, allowing it to make by-laws relating to racing there that, in turn, became applicable to racing generally.
Gradually a racecourse took shape. In 1861 a railway connected the racecourse to Spencer Street, and a new grandstand was built in 1873. Rose gardens and lawns were laid out and spaces designated: the betting ring, the birdcage, and the mounting yard enclosure. Flemington became a favourite with the public: the Hill opposite the finishing post; the Flat in the middle of the course with a small admission fee from 1913; and on the opposite side of the Maribyrnong River, Scotchmans Hill, which, while not as desirable, was free. When a new members' stand was built in 1925, it offered a more discrete space, but was situated well back from the finishing post. This tradition has been maintained: in 1978 the four-tiered public Hill Stand was completed, still positioned opposite the finishing post.
In other ways Flemington was conservative. It was not until 1931 that a totalisator was installed. This gave women direct access to gambling facilities, but in 1946 a white line in the members' stand was introduced, restricting women's access to certain areas. It was not until 1982 that women became entitled to be full members and the white line was lifted.
Apart from the Melbourne Cup, Flemington hosts other major races: the Victoria Derby (1855), the Oaks (1861), the Australian Cup (1863) and the Grand National Steeplechase (1866). The reconstruction of the racecourse has recognised its historical tradition in a large mural by Harold Freedman, in the 1990 restoration of Carbine's original stall, and in statues of Phar Lap and Bart Cummings.
June Senyard
See Also Melbourne Cup
Source Department of History, The University of Melbourne
Notes for little stories to come:
18-Sep-2025
I put this list together around 2009, and many of the stories have since faded from memory.
Some
I've decided not to revisit because they're either no longer relevant or could reflect poorly on someone involved.
So
I've chosen to leave the list as it is - simply a collection of potential stories.
==
From Don:
Tape Seymour - Completed this.
Forecast Seymour
DQ Colac
Kettle and Kevin, he will hate this :-)
Mike and Fred Colac
Olympic Park and the passwords?
frank and the clock
frank and dale
frank and the hard drive
==
From Mick:
Blue Spaghetti
Brendans Tie and cogs and chain
PC's (or was it Brendans Finger) and cogs and chain
Star wine in Padd A
==
From Brian Conlon:
> David Ferrier, related a story about Harry Lane confronting an irate gun weilding security guard. The way he told it made it very interesting. I have been trying to get him to write it down. Do you see David at all? If you do you might remind him.
Efforts to recover part of the electro-mechanical Mornington Tote for historical preservation.
From Peter Crozier Mon 8 Sept, 2025 to Don McKenzie, Mick Gulovsen, Peter Collier, Brian Conlon
Hi Don,
I hope you a doing ok, and all is going well. would love to see you again on Melbourne Cup day...
I read some of your tote stories and saw one from Ron Cooper about the Julius Tote at Mornington.
Ron Cooper - Circa 1995
"A few years ago, I asked Peter Crozier (still at Tabcorp) to cut off a chunk of the Mornington ATL Julius Tote machine on the 1st floor of the main totehouse. The Secretary of the Mornington Racetrack promised to contact Cro when they pulled off the front of the totehouse (the piece Cro's lads cut off was too big to go down the narrow stairs). Push came to shove, and the building was bulldozed, and of course, Cro wasn't advised. Next thing I heard was that the whole Meccano set went to Smorgon's for scrap - what a crime!"
I had a piece of videotape showing the Julius Tote in situ. I loaned it to Peter Collier and did not get it back before he was retrenched, so I can only hope he still has the copy."
Peter Crozier Mon 8 Sept, 2025
After reading this, I remembered that Peter Collier gave me the tape (which I still have) and several years ago, I converted it to a DVD. For what it's worth, I have copied the file to a share drive where you can download it and maybe use some of the images somewhere. The 2 Techs I got to “cut out a section of the Julius tote were Brandt Cambell and Trevor Perkins.
I have also dropped a few photos in there that might be of interest. There is one of the old Judges console from Sandown Races, and the other 2 are photos of the original prints that I acquired from Flemington before I left.
Peter Crozier 24-Nov-2025
As suggested I have converted the Mornington Julius tote video to Mp4 and dropped in onto Youtube.
Mornington Julius tote video ▶Don 9-Sep-2025
After an exchange of emails, we decided that a few screen grabs of the big 750Mb video would be a great start, so Peter Crozier did just that and placed them on his Share Drive, which is now linked above.
The big video was initially done on tape in 1995 and underwent several conversions onto DVD, then digital, so the quality is not great. Being on a personal drive also means that future generations may not have access to the video and other images, so an upload to YouTube may be a better long-term goal for such a big file.
I have concentrated on having all of my files contained in one big zip file, so that future generations may have a chance to access them. More info on this at my main page. See download instructions for Dontronics files, etc., at the link below:
HomeDon: My vague memories of the old 1931 Electromechanical Mornington tote.
A couple of timely unassociated updates! Firstly, regarding Cro and the BBQ, I'm afraid I'll have to pass for now. With a heart operation scheduled
about two weeks before the event, I'm currently taking it easy and don't want to push my luck. However I will review after the operation.
On a more uplifting note, the second story has really lifted my spirits, which is exactly what I needed at this time.
I remember hearing about Cro and his crew cutting a section out of the tote and what happened afterward in 1995. It really was quite a story, and such a shame.
I remember hauling the win and place adders upstairs with a rope. The Grand Totals were so heavy that it always took two of us to get them up the stairs.
I remember the story about Alf Schloeffel and the secret on-off switch for the control gear he operated with his foot, which Harry Lane and Peter Collier missed during their training course, and couldn't get it started without Shofe. :-)
I remember working on the old J6 TIMs. (Ticket Issuing Machines)
I asked Peter Crozier to grab some screenshots from the video so we could put a story together. It struck me that maybe only two people left—Peter Collier and Harry Lane—really know how this thing works. I should add Brian Conlan to that list, too. He would know.
Then I remembered that I ran the 'A' Type tote for many years. It was a smaller, more modern version of the old tote, so I definitely know the basic principles. It was really the same thing, just a bit more up to date.
Maybe I could pluck out some screengrabs and put the storyline together.
Well, this is a good image to start with. The Mornington Tote Paddock A upstairs housed all of the old 1931 Tote.
From the front and upstairs, you can see the win-place indicators, or odds display. Also known as a semaphore in some circles. These were connected mechanically with the betting machinery. I was going to say "interfaced" but the old timers would look at me stupidly.
The Julius tote machine was not a computer, but a pretty efficient counter, calculator, and networking device that supported a large number of terminals (TIMs). The odds were calculated and transmitted to the odds display on the front of the tote.
The inside of the odds indicator showing the connection between the blinds or tapes and the tote.
Brandt Cambell looking in amazement at the 1931 tote and wondering how in the hell they are going to cut a section off, and get it down the stairs.
In this image, you can see the top of the stairs on the left, with a rail that had a black rope attached to it. The rope, which likely started out white but turned black from years of use in a grimy environment - surrounded by mechanics and printing presses - had a sturdy steel hook on the other end.
Working in the tote area was a dirty job. We wore grey dustcoats, similar to the ones used by PMG technicians of the day (I even dug out my old one for the job), and washed our hands in a bucket of thick, gel-like soap up to 10 times a day.
The steel hook was essential for hauling the mechanical adders up the stairs. These adders were hefty - each one possibly weighed about the same as a small gearbox from an Austin 7. We hauled them single-handedly using the rope. The GT adders were even heavier, requiring two men to muscle them up the stairs, much like handling a differential assembly from the same vintage Austin 7.
To succeed in this role, you'd need a diverse skill set: mechanical know-how, electrical expertise, printing knowledge, physical strength, and people skills - all before the first race of the day!
Trevor Perkins on top of the frame using a saw to cut the frame into a small section for transportation.
Big Trev - the man with superhuman abilities! Rumour has it he could leap tall buildings in a single bound and was a martial arts master. Legend also had it that if a saw blade snapped, he'd bite through the rail with his bare teeth. At first, I wasn't quite sure what to make of Trevor, but he quickly won me over with his likable nature. He was the kind of bloke who'd do anything you asked, and it turned out we had a mutual connection - Mick Gulovsen was an old schoolmate of his!
I've just come to realize that Brian Conlon is likely the world's leading expert on the original George Julius Tote, and he's already documented its operation on his website.
While I have some of this information scattered across my other pages, I'm going to repeat it here for completeness. After scanning through Brian's videos and pages, I don't see the point in me trying to match Brian's knowlege when I know I can't.
Queensland Racing Interview: Exploring the Julius Totalisator History with Brian Conlon
Brian Conlon, a notable figure in Queensland Racing history, was interviewed by Racing Queensland (YouTube Channel) at the Eagle Farm Racing Museum. The conversations delved deep into the intricate history of the Julius totalisator, shedding light on its mechanical and electro-mechanical systems.
One intriguing aspect of the discussion was Brian Conlon's personal journey in understanding the workings of the old full-mechanical and electro-mechanical tote systems. Despite entering the scene during the era of computerised ATL tote systems, Brian undertook the challenge of mastering the older technologies.
His dedication to learning the intricacies of these systems provides a unique perspective on the evolution of tote technology in the racing industry. Throughout the interviews, Brian's insights into the Julius totalisator systems offered a glimpse into the bygone era of mechanical engineering in racing.His expertise and passion for preserving racing history enrich the narrative of worldwide Racing, highlighting the importance of understanding and appreciating the technological advancements that have shaped the sport over the years.
Brian Conlon's Information and Videos
Brian Conlon's web site devoted to Automatic Totalisators Ltd. A selection of Brian Conlon's ATL Totalisator website photos in Colour. YouTube Video 1 ▶ YouTube Video 2 ▶ YouTube Video 3 ▶ YouTube Video 4 ▶ YouTube Video 5 ▶ YouTube Video 6 ▶Now that I have relieved myself of any technical explanation by throwing this squarely at Brian's expertise, I'll delve into the story of what took place at Mornington during this effort to recover part of the electro-mechanical Mornington Tote for historical preservation.
Motors, drive belts, pulleys, and pidgeon poop.
Pidgeon Poop.
Pigeon poop - the arch-nemesis of tote mechanics! Leaving a workspace unattended, especially one that's exposed to the outside world and located high up, is basically an invitation for pigeons to move in and leave their droppings behind. And trust me, Mornington's old tote machine room wasn't immune to this problem. I'm not even sure how long it sat unused before CRO's crew arrived, but I do know it was a haven for pigeons.
My worst experience with pigeon poop was at the Caulfield indicator, situated at the city end of the main straight. Getting to it was a hazardous climb up an old steel ladder with no safety rails - just a rickety ladder waiting to cause trouble. The odds indicator system initially used old 3000-type relays from the 1950s, but it was eventually replaced with a 6800 microcontroller system. However, the upgrade didn't matter much when everything was caked with pigeon poop. Seriously, you needed a flat blade just to pry open the controller box. The flat ribbon cables that went to every win or place display board and the printed circuit boards themselves were all coated in pigeon poop.
We repeatedly complained to Caulfield management about the issue, but they never took action to prevent pigeons from getting in. Looking back, it was just another factor that contributed to my decision to leave the TAB.
The scanners or distributors that allowed access for only one TIM at a time.
One of Brian Conlon’s videos explains the operation in impressive detail, and I was amazed by the depth of his explanation.
I compare the device to a car distributor—a rotating switch that lets only one cylinder fire at a time.
Recently, my car idled roughly and felt sluggish when accelerating. I told my mechanic it might just need new points and a timing adjustment. He gave me a puzzled look and said, "The computer handles that now—you don’t have a distributor in your car."
Trevor stands atop the monster, locked in battle.
I chose this photo because it captures Trevor silhouetted against the bright sun, poised above a shower of sparks beneath. If you are viewing this one a phone, you will need to swipe the image across to the left.
The main switchboard, or control panel.
The scanners sit to the left, and the top of the staircase is on the right. I assume this is where Alf Schloeffel would flip the main power switch with his foot, preventing Harry Lane and Peter Collier from starting the system.
This upstairs Julius Tote win-place machine room, along with the TIMs positioned around the track, all operated on a 120 VDC power supply.
Odds Indicators.
I'm guessing here: Every Julius Tote I operated had a counter much like a car's speedometer.
These fed into a similar Grand Total (GT) counter, which allowed Win-Place odds to be shown and dividends to be calculated.
I never worked with this particular system and don’t recognize the black, quadrant-shaped display with the red arrow. Could that be the horse counter? Perhaps it appears in one of Brian's videos. They look very fragile.
After getting this correction from Peter Collier, I changed the image description.
Peter: The photo you have called "individual horse totals" are actually the odds indication that was extended to the barometers via brass tapes.
Don: I assume the counters were attached to the adders then. I couldn't remember. After all, I only lugged the adders upstairs.
I remember girls like Wyne Foley, Dulcey Lewis, and Betty Miles, etc., calculating the odds and adjusting the blinds to suit, with the gear I worked on.
What is left of the old wiring behind the control panel
The Place GT adder bay. However there appears to be something missing
A log shot of the front ot the main frame and adder positions.
Where are the adders? The bays are empty—did Mornington discard them along with the Meccano set?
It’s a bit like saying, “We’re going to restore a vintage car,” but then adding, “Oh, we didn’t keep the engine, gearbox, or differential. After all, you only wanted the car!”
Pictured: J6 Julius ticket machine for 'forecast' bets on greyhound races, c 1933. The totalisator at Haringey greyhound racing stadium in the U.K
A dovetail joint is a strong woodworking technique featuring interlocking trapezoidal pins and tails that resist pulling apart. Known for its aesthetic appeal and high tensile strength, it's used in furniture, cabinetry, and timber framing, with historical roots dating back to ancient Egypt.
Mornington Verses Pakenham
Before I dive into this comparison, have you read about the Mornington power-backup situation and how management handled it?
Mornington: We have the PowerBetween this account and the above power story, I think readers get a clear picture of how Mornington's management operated and how that influenced the tote staff.
Pakenham, however, was quite different. I suspect the club’s respectful treatment of staff dated back to the 1930s, when the Julius Tote (ATL) system was first installed.
At Pakenham we always received a free meal ticket, and David and Gavin Bourke made a point of chatting with us and ensuring we had everything needed for a successful day.
David Bourke began his career as Secretary/Manager of the Pakenham Racing Club, where he modernised operations and increased attendance. He went on to hold various metropolitan and country racing roles before serving as Chairman of the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) from 1991 to 2003. His brother Gavin Bourke was also active in the club's administration.
The rear view of the Paddock A tote house at Mornington, 1995.
This view is a real blast from the past. I'm trying to recall a specific detail - was this where Arthur Gardner and I worked with the old Doubles-Quinella punch tape equipment? Well, it was only 50 years ago.
I remember it being the lunchroom when we had the PDP 11/40 mobile computer van up and running. The view was visible from the top of the stairs and through the rear window.
A few memories stand out from that time. Like Peter Nelson bursting in to tell us the Falklands War had started. Or was it telling us "We had won the war!" which left me wondering who we were.
And David Ferrier who worked in on-course video operations "Pro-Video", would often entertain us with his Arnie "I'll be bark" Terminator impressions. He'd jump onto an imaginary motorcycle, cock his shotgun, and ride off to the video camera he'd be operating for the race.
I met David when he was 14 at Sale Racecourse. His stepfather, Frank, was connected to Channel O-10 through friends of mine before he started his own business.
David purchased an Atari Portfolio mini handheld DOS PC from me, which I was selling at the time. This wasn't a big seller, a novelty really, but one of the many products I got into before I launched Dontronics.
He watched me develop my LED Moving Message Board, which was featured in four consecutive issues of Silicon Chip magazine in 1989. Before I left the TAB, he showed me a very large LED Video Message Board they were working on, and today his company provides the Large Video screens at the Australian Grand Prix and other major venues.
Currently David operates Race-Tech Australia The Big Screen Company.
The Big Screen CompanyEpilogue
When Peter Crozier reminded me of Ron Cooper's email, and the video documenting the attempt to recover part of the electro-mechanical Mornington Tote for historical preservation, I realized it was a story worth sharing.
At first glance, the pigeon droppings and the grainy video quality made me think this would be a tough project to present. We didn't recover exactly what we'd hoped for, but the collective effort was remarkable and deserved recognition, even three decades later without a dramatic result.
I asked Peter to pull some screen grabs and started from there, unsure where the narrative would lead. That's how most of my stories begin: I find a starting point, fill in the gaps along the way, and aim for an ending that offers something meaningful to participants, readers, and myself.
I'll admit, part of this may be self-serving way to keep my mind sharp as I navigate heart procedures and a memory that isn't quite as quick as it once was.
If you enjoyed the story, please share it with friends, fellow participants, or anyone mentioned. If not, feel free to keep it to yourself.
Comments, corrections, or additions are welcome, and I'll happily incorporate them.
*Footnote:* This and all my stories are archived in a zip file so they can be re-created later on a hard drive or server.
Story Credits
Peter and Kerryn Crozier
Ron Cooper
Don McKenzie 2-June-2025
CRO's BBQ 21-Apr-2013
There's one more person who deserves thanks for helping make this project possible.
Peter Collier, who was Peter Crozier's boss in 1995, surely approved and supported the work so it could move forward. I don't recall his exact title at the time - and it isn't really important - but he was definitely involved.
Since I don't have a good recent photo of Peter Collier, I've used my favorite shot of the group from our many CRO BBQs. I left the 2013 captions as they were, assuming everyone in the picture has long since retired.
Left to right:
Mick Gulovsen (ATL, TAB), Ken Caygill (TAB, Semi-Retired), Ian Dykes (ATL, Working), Don McKenzie (ATL, Business), Peter Collier (ATL, Retired), Trevor Perkins (Control Systems, TAB), Peter Crozier (TAB, TAB), Harry Lane (ATL, Retired), Graeme Twycross (ATL, TAB Consultant).
Kneeling left to right:
Mark Dyball (ATL, Business), Geoff Pearson (TAB, TAB)
Peter added these three photos to his share drive.
The first one is a Results Console used at Sandown, as is typical of an ATL design for 1965.
I tried a quick AI search on the two Flemington images, but nothing. Didn't spend too much time on it. I got a hit on Google Lens on the flood one:
News ArticleFlemington May 1974 - the Maribyrnong River overflowed after a sequence of deluges, and the track was under a metre of water. A pinball machine from the nearby Angler's Tavern was reported to have floated downstream to the 1400m chute, Tony Lopes' staff relieving it of its $ contents.
I couldn't find any info on this particular incident, but the fire does sound familiar. From what I recall, the Hill Stand might've gone up in flames sometime between the 1940s and 1950s. There are some old pics of the North Hill Stand at Caulfield that seem to share a similar vibe. There's a rumor going around that Squizzy Taylor, the notorious Melbourne gangster, allegedly set the fire.
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