Question for Australian members

[bikkuri bahn]

I watched the movie "On the Beach" (1959), and there was a scene in downtown Melbourne and also the suburb of Frankston, where some people were using horse drawn carriages for transport, and even some on horseback in the downtown scene.  Was this an actual practice in urban/suburban areas in Australia at the time, or is it a Hollywood contrivance?

 

*of railway interest, there is a scene at Frankston Station where Gregory Peck's character arrives in a (I believe) Harris train, to be met by the Ava Gardner character.

 

Correction: I now recall, the movie was about a post nuclear holocaust, with fuel shortages, which explains the horse drawn carriages  (Never mind!)  Anyway, the train scene is notable.

[westfalen]

The kangaroos hopping about in the streets usually scare the horses.

 

Seriously though, I was only born in 1960 but my parents have/had memories of the milkman etc, coming round with horse and cart in the 40's/50's.

[meldrew]

I remember milk and bread being delivered by horse and cart at that time and a few years later.  Up until just a few years ago there was a stationery supplier in the CBD of Melbourne who did deliveries by horse and cart, mainly as a bit of advertising I suspect.

 

The Harris trains were blue with a yellow stripe. The red ones which were a little older were Taits.

[Triplex]

Correction: I now recall, the movie was about a post nuclear holocaust, with fuel shortages, which explains the horse drawn carriages  (Never mind!)  Anyway, the train scene is notable.

What struck me was that they mention oil shortages, and point out the electric trains still run. No mention of the steam that was still common in 1959 (and when the movie was set - 1964, wasn't it?)

[westfalen]

Correction: I now recall, the movie was about a post nuclear holocaust, with fuel shortages, which explains the horse drawn carriages  (Never mind!)  Anyway, the train scene is notable.

What struck me was that they mention oil shortages, and point out the electric trains still run. No mention of the steam that was still common in 1959 (and when the movie was set - 1964, wasn't it?)

There would have been still plenty of steam around in 1964 but maybe when they made the film in 1959 they thought it would be gone by then, or perhaps Victorian Railways publicity department didn't want to be portrayed as too old fashioned in the movie.

[marknewton]

You still see horses being ridden in the outer suburban/rural fringe areas of big Australian cities. And quite close to the Sydney CBD there is a big racecourse at Randwick, and the surrounding suburb of Kensington has stables. You often see horses being ridden around the streets there, and on the bridle path in Centennial Park. A bit further out, but still in suburbia, there is another racecourse at Rose Hill, where there are stables on the opposite side of the railway line to the course. On race days we provide flagmen on the level crossings there to allow the horses to be walked across the track. That's always a popular job.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.