oops, sidetracked!

Have I mentioned this forum for Melbournian building geeks?

Here's one way to look at the history of Melbourne buildings.

more sidetracking

I'm interested in the history of hydraulic lifts in melbourne.  Others of you might be interested in the history of the Melbourne Science Fiction Club.

Here, they come together.

The site of the last hydraulic lift in melbourne, was also the site of the MSFC club rooms in 1961.

And this paragraph could have been written about my friends when I was a teenager;

You might become nervous about using the lift had you recently had played on you one of the tricks of the club, invented by Don Latimer. The component of the lift that actually moved up and down consisted of the floor and two sides (no top, no front or back). Don decided that it would be friendly to welcome newcomers as they ascended in the lift. To do this, he would answer the bell by getting into the lift, starting it on its way down, and then halfway down grab onto the outside wall where the back of the lift wasn't. Then, as the lift came back up, he would jump onto the lift's floor to welcome the visitor. This was a much more effective welcome at night, when there was little or no light in the lift.