Gryphon 1957 - Adm.monash.edu.au

........• YALlOURN TRIPAs a final full scale attempt to conditionindustry for its new recruits, theYallourn Trip was undertaken by the8th Form on September 26th and 27th,and in some cases the 28th and 29th.The journey was to toke from two anda half to three hours; needless to soymost people considerably improved onth is time and even the on ly Austin 7 ,which had been hurriedly prepared thenight before, defied all laws of mechanicaland electrical engineering , makingthe trip in 2* hours - Without incident.However, the some cannot beso id for a certain ailing Pontiac, whichcontrived to have the bonnet fly off atspeed, which reshaped it somewhat. Itwas then tied down with a large pieceof rope, despite Mr. R's offer to removeo portion of V. R.'s fencing wire to do thejob.At 10 .30 the tour of the power housecommenced. The plant consumedaround 18,000 tons of coa l per da y,two-thirds of which is water, to produce275 Mega Watts. On the completion ofthe tour, most of the group convergedon the township's shopping centre toconsume lunch. It then became increasingly apparent that not on ly everythingaround the power station itself wa s coveredin coal dust, but also the whole ofYallourn, the air being positively loaded--- among others. Later we found outthat the S.E.C. is entitled to inundatethe countryside with foul and obnoxiousby-products caused by overloading theboilers, because Yallourn and surroundingsare S.E.C.-owned.After lunch we proceeded to the opencut. The Grande Epreuve du Cut wasdenied the students this year for theS.E.C. buses provided would have beenincapable of the lapping the open cut atthe qualifying speed. The afternoonwas very wet ond the ground exceedinglymuddy requiring 011 Mr. R's subtlepersuasion to extract seve ra l of the bockbenchers from the bus. However, on approachingthe bunkers, the pulsatingsensuous rhythm of a coal conveyorlured even the reluctant back benchersfrom th e bus. However we were able toinspect one of the large dredgres capableof running around 800 tons of coalper hour. We then toured the only productivemuseum in Victoria, ca lled theBriquette Works.A very tired, wet and bedraggledgroup of would-be engineers then convergedon the Yallourn Guest House andfiled into the lounge, dragging personalbelong ings and a large percentage ofmud from the cut. The S.E. c.'s hostelmanager implored us in cultured tonesto respect the building and its contents.The management was very accommodating.That evening the wise stayed athome; the hopeful went to the pictures;the desperote went to the dance andthe " dea d heads" went to the drive in.At 10 the wise were in bed, at 12 thehopeful were slumbering, at three thedesperate had returned. The return ofthe "dead heads" was hera Ided by achorus of irate waitresses, the latter notappreciating the football match beingplayed up and down the corridor and inand out of the rooms.Next morning, despite the efforts oftwo Morwell police to impede the progressof one of our motor cyclists, thegroup arrived at Australian Paper Mills.Over a cup of tea we were given a briefoutline of the functions of the plant andthen made a detailed inspection, andsmelt just how paper was mode.After an excellent lunch at a nominalfee, the cars proceeded to Traralgon. Afeature of this ride was the spirited duelbetween two Prefects, both of whichwere on both side~ of the road at oncein thei r frantic efforts to pass one another.From Traralgon the group proceededto the Traralgon Cement Works wherethey were experiencing a breakdownwith their vertical kiln-the onl y one inAustralia. In an effort to st ave offbankruptcy, Government interventionand Geelong competition, the firm employedtwo Scotsmen as plant engineers.This visit concluded the two doy tour,our thanks be ing offered to Mr. Ritchieand Mr. Mills and Doc. Gerstmann forthe time and effort they put into arrangingand cond uct ing the tour.33