South Australia - Transport
"Milestones by Road and Rail" is discussed in the Advertiser, 1 September 1936 (special edition), page 38.- Aeroplanes
- Horse Coaches
- Miscellany
- Motor Cars and Cycles
- Railways Miscellany
- Railways - Bob, The Railway Dog
- Roads
Railways
Bob, The Railway Dog
Information on "Bob, the Railway Dog" is in the Advertiser,17 August 1895, page 6f where three correspondents speak of him; one letter contains a poem - the first and last verses read:
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Home-keeping dogs have homely wits,
Their notions tame and poor;
I scorn the dog who humbly sits
Before the cottage door,
Or those who weary vigils keep,
Or follow lovely kine;
A dreary life midst stupid sheep
Shall ne'er be lot of mine.
Let other dogs snarl and fight,
And round the city prowl,
Or render hideous the night
With unmelodious howl.
I have a cheery bark for all,
No ties my travels clog;
I hear the whistle, that's the call
For Bob, the driver's dog.
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...His favourite place [was] on a Yankee engine; the big whistle and belching smokestack seem[ed] to have an irresistible attraction for him... He live[d] on the fat of the land, and he [was] not particular from whom he accept[ed] his dinner...
3, 10 (sketch of "Bob"), 17 and 24 August 1895, pages 9e, 7, 5c and 9e,
Petersburg Times,
30 August 1895, page 4g and
Anita Woods, From Petersburg to Peterborough, page 96.
"Railway Bob's Successor" is in the Register,
19 August 1895, page 5b,
16 November 1895, page 5b.
Further information is in the Register, 27 February 1924, page 11h:
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He had earned such a reputation that one of the brass workers in the service made a brass plate which he riveted to the dog's collar, bearing the following inscription:
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Stop me not, but let me jog,
For I am Bob, the railway dog.
(Observer,
20 April 1929, pages 48b-49c; also see
Advertiser,
30 August 1933, page 16g.)
6, 8 and 14 September 1933, pages 20h, 26h and 16i.
Further information on "Bob" is in the Advertiser,
25 January 1935, page 23b,
5 February 1935, page 11b:
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Bob died at the age of seventeen... at Mr Evans butcher shop in Hindley Street... Bob, like politicians, always travelled free. He was a guest at the banquet for the opening of the railway from Peterborough to Broken Hill, and appeared at the opening of the Hawkesbury Bridge in NSW.
13 November 1936, page 31a.
