My name is Rob Bell, and I was born in East Bankstown (later Greenacre) in 1945, into a solid working-class family. By 1964, 5 years after leaving Punchbowl Boys High, I was requested by the local gendarmes to leave town. This was also issued to many of my friends who, like myself, travelled down the wrong roadway.

A friend who had been off the scene for a while was back in town and was going on about working on the railway as a fettler in a place called Burren Junction. Where the hell is B.J., we all cried, North West NSW, have you heard of Walgett? Well, it's this side of Walgett, and they are looking for workers.

So come Monday, we all troop down to Central Station (about 6 of us) for a medical and get the guts on this Fettler business. Being good, strong Aussie boys with an average age of around 20, we were in. Some of us were sent to Cryon and others to BJ.