Monday 27 February 2012

Monday Mural - Chalmers Street railway history


If you recall, last Monday I showed you the air-brushed murals along the Devonshire Tunnel which is a pedestrian walkway connecting Chalmers Street to George Street along the imagined extension of Devonshire Street, Surry Hills. Today's murals, are in Chalmers Street itself from the start of the Devonshire Street Tunnel down to Eddy Avenue which runs along the front of Central Railway station.


There are quite a few panels to this mural as my final shot shows. The mural celebrates (mainly) the 150th anniversary of the railways in NSW, 1855 to 2005. They are a paen to the working man of our state, unabashedly pro-labour, pro-poor, and pro-rail. Each panel represents sometimes ten sometimes fifteen years, along that continuum.


This is my contribution to the Monday Mural community.

18 comments:

Luis Gomez said...

These images are great Julie.

Kate said...

That's quite a collection of murals.

Kay L. Davies said...

These are wonderful, Julie. Pro-labor always goes over big with me.
K

hamilton said...

That is an interesting concept of representing a decade a mural for this sesquicentennial.

orvokki said...

I like these photos a lot.

Jim said...

I can't recall seeing these.

Carole M. said...

these are fabulous Julie; I haven't gotten to the outside there. So many places to explore!

Ann said...

I've always liked these. Seems they may have cleaned them up. I remember some of them being in pretty poor condition with grafitti over them.

Julie said...

There is some graffiti, Ann, but it is limited, and I did not thin it necessary to show it. However, there is some on the second image if you enlarge it.

Thérèse said...

Quite professional murals! It would be nice to have more of this quality of murals around...

Oakland Daily Photo said...

I like that some of the murals were based on historic photos. Contrary to the graffiti on the second photo, if you appreciate 5 day and 40 hour work weeks, paid vacation time, and the expectation of safe working conditions, thank unions.

Oops, I almost forgot to thank you for participating in this week's Monday Mural, Julie. Getting off my high horse now...

Andy said...

I would be ecstatic if I found this many murals in one place!

biebkriebels said...

What a lovely collection of murals which shows the history so well.

Linda said...

As I viewed these, I could imagine the conversations taking place among these people - they are so realistic looking! Beautiful work and a wonderful use of space!

My name is Riet said...

This is a beautiful series of murals. Wow, love them

RedPat said...

Great series representing a lot of hard work!

Julie said...

Carolyn: a high horse (or soap box) is most welcome at this blog! I often drag mine out, so yours is a treat. The fact that we think along similar lines probably helps!

What I found fascinating about these murals, was the tribute to the era. I suspect they were all created from photographs of the time they were allocated in the period 1855-2005.

It is a wonderful snapshot of the working class. But of course, some people do not appreciate this. Up them, I say.

Melbourne Australia Photos said...

Wonderful mural and nice captures.