Bearing the best of the past - Reader Profile: Ron Fox

When he was a child, his family lived in Ashfield. After his father died at the age of 36, there was no option but for Ron to go to work to help support them. His mother, who had not previously been employed, took up cleaning jobs and Ron began work at the age of 15 as a Shop Boy at Carriageworks in Eveleigh. It was 1955 and there were then 2,500 workers and about the same number at the Railway Yards nearby – the loco works with its huge steam trains being part of the beginning of industrialisation in Australia.

Shop Boys washed sinks, picked up lunches and generally did all the odd jobs around the place. It was dirty, dangerous and smoky – no occupational health and safety regulations in those days. Ron had hoped to be an architect, but that was never to be. He was promoted to being an office boy – answering phones, recording sick days for employees, filing and typing. He talked his boss into letting him move into the welding workshop as an apprentice.

A good thing about that time was that people who worked in such environments were given opportunities for apprenticeships in a huge variety of trades, in this case through the Railway Institute in Castlereagh Street. They could be taught electrical trades, printing, and all manner of skills connected with railway work. They were tinsmiths, people who could do etching on glass, French polishers and cabinet makers. They did everything related to trains, including making the seats. During the war they were radar experts and did armour piercing shell tests. The workshops housed the biggest press in the southern hemisphere. Interestingly, the railways generated their own power and added excess power to the grid – not a bad example for today!

There was a large tunnel from Redfern to Alexandria underneath the workshops, and, because there were no women workers, the men had outdoor exposed urinals, which can still be seen today.

The Railway Workers Unions were old-time socialists and they organised all manner of events for their workers – art and various other exhibitions from all over the world, including China and the Soviet Union. There were even flower shows and concerts by Frank Ifield. It was a very different time!

Most workers lived locally. Houses were provided for rent and good single accommodation in rooms nearby – train drivers lived in Wilson Street, Chippendale. There were many pubs, of course, and groups of workers had their “own pub” – their “watering hole” which they frequented after work.

Life was very hard, in many respects, but there was a sense of support and community.

In 1964, Ron left Carriageworks for the private sector, returned to the Public Works Department to continue welding for a few years and then moved into the repairing of car exhausts. Finally he became connected with a muffler service workshop in Botany Road, Alexandria. This was run by Andrew Haggar who began Muffy Tuffy, the service with which Ron is till connected today.

Ron has spent 20 years as a manager with Muffy Tuffy and he regards his colleagues in the firm, especially Michael and Dawn Helliwell, as family. He and Mike do a one-hour walk together every lunchtime. Ron loves the fact that he is part of a firm which, unusually for today, makes its own parts on site. The motto above his desk reads: “No such thing as a problem – only a solution.” He still welds the mufflers himself and showed us his arms which are obviously a long-term landing ground for hot sparks!

Although he and his family now live at Penrith, Ron remains devoted to the South Sydney area. He stops each day to buy his paper in Abercrombie Street, as he has always done, before driving on down to Rosebery, and loves the sense of community around him.

Ron Fox is one of South Sydney’s treasures – a man who, in spite of tough beginnings, has carried with him the best of all that has lain around him on his journey here. He lives with care and respect for others and a deep pride in his work.

Photo: Ali Blogg - Ron Fox in his workplace

Source: South Sydney Herald August 2009 www.southsydneyherald.com.au