For special occasions

“Correspondence about Dundee’s railway stations brought to mind my days as secretary to the Dundee Hackney Carriage Owners Association,” emails Innes Duffus. “The use of a taxi was very much for a special occasion and the total number of licences in Dundee was only 80. Drivers were proud of their cars and I recall Tom Shields driving a Rolls Royce and John Reilly a Lincoln Zephyr. What a treat to get into one of these!

“Fares were 1/- (5p) per mile making a journey to Downfield or Maryfield worth 5/-. Broughty Ferry or out of town was a real bonus. The drivers normally using the station rank would often sit for an hour without a fare. However, when the London train was due the wait could be worthwhile. Shortly before the train arrived, drivers from the city centre rank would join the queue.

“The one thing we all dreaded was the fare who was going to Arbroath or Carnoustie and got into the cab for Dundee East Station. This brought in the massive sum of 1/6d. By the time you got back to the main station, all the fares had gone and that was it for perhaps another hour.

“Dundee holiday week was the one time we were inundated with fares and Dock Street would be full of taxis rushing to get to the station in time to go back for another fare.

“Weddings were another source of extra revenue. You took the fare to the wedding, waited and after the ceremony ran them to the reception. By being clever you could book two weddings half an hour apart. This let you take the second fare to the wedding, nip back in time to collect the first fare, and get back for the second. Two lots of waiting time and no one was any the wiser.”