Jacobus Piet Aaldert van den Berg

Story

Reason for leaving homeland – Married to an Australian but never at home as Jacobus was a deck officer in the Dutch Merchant Navy. He decided to try his luck in another career in Australia

About the Journey – An uneventfull 3 day flight from Amsterdam to Melbourne with his wife, Audrey, and first born son, Aaldert.

Impressions on Arrival – Strange food, strange climate, strange customs. In-laws who did not drink alcohol and went to church on Sundays. A father-in-law who went to cricket matches and watched a confusing game of football. The job that Jacobus thought he had been offered did not eventuate and he was not sure what to do as other than deck officer and navy ways, he had not trained for anything else. With encouragement from his brother-in-law and the rest of the family he joined the Victorian Railways. At least until something else came along.

However after after about a year of apprenticeship as Station Assistant at Mentone, Victoria, and after quite a bit of study of Railway laws and protocol Jacobus was offered a post as Assistant Station Master at a couple of stations in remote areas of Victoria. He chose Cudgewa. 1959 – He felt that he was venturing into unknown territory. Steam train to Wodonga , rail motor to Tallangata and the postal delivery bus to Cudgewa along a bush track between trees, over steep hills, scrub and bush. He thought that the day would not end. He was a city boy, brought up on the canals of Holland, where roads were made, houses side by side, and such tall trees and thick scrub was not evident anywhere.

He was given a railway house and the family settled in. No electricity or running water. A water tank augmented by extra water piped up from Cudgewa Creek for a bath, with the water heated by a chip burner. And for the first time, wood had to be chopped for the stove every day, and in winter the open fire. Co(Jacobus) learnt a great deal here, not only about the running of the railway, but about pub life after work, sports every weekend, agricultural stock, railway stock, and with now three children, coping with family life and emptying the night pan. But he also gave some instruction to other railway personel in that no one seemed to know how to operate the big crane at the station. This was something he learnt from his merchant navy training so the rest of the staff were happy to be able to use the crane for heavy loads instead of all the manhandling that was normaly done.

Co studied further for his Station Masters Certificate and in 1960 was given the Relieving Station Master job with a house in Chelsea. The job entailed travelling all over the State sometimes for only one day at a station, sometimes for up to 8 weeks. He remembers being at Timboon station when men landed on the moon. With a gradual rise in the coporate ladder Co went on to become Traffic Inspector with an office at Spencer Street, and eventually seconded to the Minister of Transport. Also instumental in investigating fare structure and introduction of ticket vending machines.

Co left the Railways in 1985 and bought into a motel at Camperdown where he stayed for nearly 2 years. He joined the International Rotary Club of Camperdown and helped with forming the Timboon Camperdown Rail Trail.

In 2003 Co retired to Orbost.

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