Fast forward 60 years, and Mr Dalrymple is amazed at the proliferation of modern communication, particularly mobile phones and now smart watches.

“Back when I first started with the PMG, mobile phones were something (cartoon character) Dick Tracy used,” said Mr Dalrymple, who was the principle technical officer with the PMG exchange in Bendigo.

Mr Dalrymple helped to organise last weekend’s 60-year reunion of PMG staff members at Ballarat’s Lake View Hotel.

The reunion was a chance for about 20 former workmates, most who started on the same date in January, 1958, to reminisce about their work days with an array of old tools and a look over a slideshow of photographs.

“(The reunion) was a great walk down memory lane for all of us,” said Mr Dalrymple, who at the age of 75, is still in the workforce part-time after leaving Telstra in 1991 following a career spanning more than 41 years.

“It was a great place to work. I loved the fellowship and the many new challenges,” he said.

During his career, Mr Dalrymple travelled the countryside installing automatic phone equipment. His travels took him to Ballarat, Melbourne, Portland, Mildura, Shepparton and little towns in between.

When Mr Dalrymple first started in the telecommunications business in 1958, Ballarat’s phone service was a central battery (CB) operation, later reverting to magneto, which meant turning a generator to get the exchange.

Some of the major projects Mr Dalrymple was responsible for during his career included converting Mildura customers from manual phones to automatic and providing an national grid for STD calls. However, the introduction of this “modern technology” meant the loss of switchboard operator jobs.

“It was sad, because it meant all those women either were moved on in the business, or loss their jobs,” Mr Dalrymple said.