This is one of several pages relating to the history of the automatic totalizator, a system that facilitates galloping trotting and greyhound racing betting, its invention in 1913, the inventor George Julius and the Australian company he founded in 1917 which became a monopoly ( later an oligopoly ) in this field. This page provides information on the mobile totalizator developed by the company Automatic Totalisators. If you wish to start from the beginning then go to the index

This is an extract from a sales booklet circa 1949 titled The Julius Premier TOTEMOBILE A Product of AUTOMATIC TOTALISATORS LIMITED

A MESSAGE TO PROVINCIAL AND COUNTRY RACE CLUB COMMITTEES

This is the story of the "Totemobile" - a mobile totalizator designed and manufactured by Automatic Totalisators Limited, whose Julius "Premier" fixed and portable equipment has established a world-wide reputation for efficiency and service to racing clubs and the betting public.
A Mobile system

We offer for use by clubs - whether galloping, trotting or coursing - a completely mobile unit providing the ultimate in totalizator service. It embodies more than 30 years of research based on wide experience in the totalizator field, both technical and operational, all over the world. It is precision engineered in the most modern and up-to-date plant in Australia - a plant devoted solely to totalizator manufacture.

The "Totemobile" is designed for movement to, and setting up on, provincial and country racetracks, where either the frequency of meetings or the volume of business does not warrant expenditure upon a fixed machine.

A proof of the efficiency and reputation of the equipment incorporated in this mobile unit is that the majority of fully automatic totalisators in use throughout the world to-day are Julius "Premier" totalizators.

It is appreciated that it is not possible for many provincial or country clubs to purchase an automatic totalisator, and we believe that, in offering this most modern mobile unit, we will provide a long-awaited opportunity for clubs to obtain continuous and satisfactory revenue, particularly with a view to increasing prize money and improving course facilities for their supporters.

The needs of the provincial club prompted research on and the subsequent development of the "Totemobile" by this Company, nevertheless the interest which has been shown in it by the smaller urban clubs has demonstrated its great potentiality to all clubs, irrespective of their location, which do not feel disposed to invest in a fixed installation.

The advantage to clubs and district associations from the use of the "Premier Totemobile" lies in the facility by which it enables the transfer from course to course within a circuit. The resultant regular movement will induce a following body of owners and trainers with their horses, who otherwise may not be inclined to consistent support unless the meetings are so arranged in conjunction with the regular operation of a mobile unit.

The unit is housed in a semi-trailer of streamlined design with full space for machine, staff and working area, and is powered by a diesel-engined prime mover. By means of a special chassis of our own design, the selling windows are brought down to a normal level, thus avoiding the inconvenience associated with other equipment which although mobile makes no real provision for convenient betting.

Electric power for the "Totemobile" is provided from dual engine-driven generating equipment housed in a subsidiary vehicle, which forms an integral part of the mobile equipment. This vehicle also provides storage facilities and quarters for the engineers permanently in attendance.

Of particular interest is the fact that with prime mover removed and detachable skirts fitted, the mobile unit takes on the appearance of a fixed building, thus engendering that extra confidence and satisfaction on the part of the betting public which can never be present to the same extent with obviously transportable equipment.

The "Totemobile" is designed for ticket selling on either side of the main unit with instantaneous odds indication to give up-to-the-second betting information. As required, dividends may be paid on one or the other side of the unit, according to the volume of betting taking place.

At the rear of the main unit an enquiry window is provided at which the manager may be interviewed. The great flexibility arising out of the use of any pre-determined number of ticket issuing machines, even sixty such machines being a possibility, will be most apparent - facilities for Cup Day can be expanded at will.

We state with considerable certainty that the "Totemobile" not only fulfils every possible demand that may be made by the betting public and the clubs, and is backed by the only company in the world specialising in the complete manufacture and full operation of totalizator equipment, but also is available on a basis which will be more than attractive to clubs throughout the length and breadth of the country.

To those clubs using "box ticket machines," the "Totemobile" immediately avoids the heavy expenditure upon wasted pre-printed tickets, and also removes the constant concern of all clubs that these tickets may be misused or may assist any fraudulent action. It offers every facility and service which will be found in the large installations being adopted by leading metropolitan clubs and in fact brings a city machine right to your course.

Totemobile in operation

Apart from this artists impression showing the mobile tote in operation, I was struck by how differently I viewd this image seeing it ten years after I first looked at it. It now looks decidedly dated which adds to the attraction of presenting it on a totalisator history site. After becoming accustomed to all the computer generated sales material it struck me as an oddity seeing something that was more artwork oriented. Back to the sales booklet

The Totemobile in operation for win, place and double betting. At each race meeting, a cover plate bearing the name of the appropriate raceclub is affixed above the selling windows.

The centre pages of this document contains the next seven paragraphs

We present to you the following basic advantages of this "Premier" Mobile equipment-

The machine consists of three basic components:

1. TICKET ISSUING MACHINES.
2. AGGREGATING EQUIPMENT.
3. ODDS INDICATION EQUIPMENT.

TICKET ISSUING MACHINES

J8 Ticket issuing machine

These are the very latest produced by the company, the fully streamlined "J8" model -- a predetermined number of which will issue tickets of denominations to be agreed upon by each Club within a circuit -- machines are available to sell tickets at one or two values as required. The chance of incorrect issues is greatly magnified when operators have too many possible combinations from which to select. For this reason we do not recommend the use of issuing machines selling tickets of more than two values, although this Company has available a three pool four value issuing machine designed to meet circumstances where such additional facilities are unavoidable.

Ticket issuing equipment, as well as offering Win and Place betting, includes, if necessary, provision for Double betting of the re-investment type, in which an investor purchases a ticket on his selection for the first leg and, if successful, exchanges it for his choice on the second.

On the matter of machine speed, all mechanical functions take place at a speed above the normal requirements of the betting public -- if required tickets can be issued at the rate of approximately 100 per minute.

No difficulties whatsoever arise from the scratching of accepted horses. It is mechanically impossible to issue tickets on such non-starters. As a further assistance in making the operation of the totalisator fraud-proof, a special code cylinder is utilised. This is changed automatically each race, without need of access to the issuing machines, and, of course, the advantages of printing tickets at the time each bet is made instead of having them pre-printed are enormous.

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AGGREGATING EQUIPMENT

Mobile tote aggregating equipment

This aggregator is a piece of equipment I have never seen. It performs the same function as the adders referred to in other sections of this website. I know nothing of how it works! This makes it intrigueing and I just had to include the image.

This mechanicsm is accurate and compact and has a capacity to handle betting at a rate considerably in excess of maximum selling demands. Up to 24 starters can be catered for if required. The accuracy of the adding units and all other parts of the equipment is vital for the protection of the betting public, the club and this Company. Past and present "accuracy" records of Julius "Premier" equipment have never been approached, let alone equalled, by any other equipment.

As a check against the individual adding of bets on each starter which takes place on the adding units for all pools, there are also grand total adding units which record the total of all bets in each pool.

Betting will take place right up to barrier rise. Even then, because of the automatic nature of the equipment, dividend calculation will be completed immediately the winning jockeys have weighed in. This advantage will be fully appreciated by your club when it is realised that dividends will be returned to the public virtually within seconds of the correct weight signal.

ODDS INDICATING EQUIPMENT

I have not included the image of the odds indicator as it can clearly be seen above the selling windows on the side of the trailers in the images.

The company has perfected a number odds indicator of the shutter type, which instqantaneiously displays the odds during the course of betting. The bank of indicators will be clearly visible up to distances of some hundreds of feet and will provide your patrons with an excellent up-to-the-minute picture of the state of betting on the course.

It has been our experience over many years that, with the exception of unusually short-priced starters, the totalisator will show more favourable odds over those called by bookmakers, if standing. As all racing clubs are aware, the financial return to the club from the totalisator is vastly superior to that received from bookmakers, and the immediate indication of such favourable odds will attract more business to the totalisator.

The last page of this document reads

As the operation of the totlisator will be the Company's responsibility, the preparation of the records to be supplied to the controlling authorities by the club would be our task, although the payment of unclaimed dividends when necessary will have to be attended to by each club concerned.

In providing maximum service and to preserve the machine's reputation, the Company would be responsible for the entire mechanical and clerical operation of it, including the movement from course to course, so that the club's only responsibilities would be to arrange its meeting dates in the best interest of the circuit, and to have a sutable clear area upon the course on which the "Totemobile" would be located.

The terms under which the company may best operate the unit would of course be the subject of periodical agreement with the clubs or association. This scheme presents a unique opportunity as, without capital outlay or any pre-meeting responsibilities, all race clubs will be able to receive a remuneration based upon a predetermined percentage of the turnover.

It is with justifiable pride and confidence we suggest we be allowed to demonstrate this mobile unit to you, as it is our firm conviction that if provincial and coutnry racing is to encourage and secure the consistent public support it deserves, the operation of this most modern totalisator -- the Julius "Premier Totamobile" -- on all coourses is by far the surest means of achievement.

Enquiries from your club will receive our urgent and closest attention if addressed to:

AUTOMATIC TOTALISATORS LIMITED
MEADOWBANK NEW SOUTH WALES
AUSTRALIA

Mini Adder/Aggregator System

This image is of a mini adder/aggregating system of the type used in mobile applications. The circular devices at the top of the right hand rack are scanners which are electromechanical time division multiplexers.

Mobile tote cutaway

The Mini Adder/Aggregator System shown two images above can be seen installed down the left hand end of the van in this Mobile tote cutaway image above. The back of this system is visible in the cutaway image but the two racks of equipment can clearly be seen in the mobile.

Warrnambool Totemobile

This is a photograph of a real mobile tote in action in Warrnambool in Victoria. The crowd density is reminiscent of scenes at metropolitan race meetings of this era. It seems to give credence to the assertion of the sales brochure, included under the heading "Focal Point On Course" above, about the totemobile becoming the focal point of the racetrack. I have enlarged and examined the sign section at the top centre of this totemobile in the high resolution copy of it and discovered the words "WARRNAMBOOL RACING CLUB" on the upper board and "APROXIMATE ODDS on the lower wider board.

The following table contains a small extract of the installations listed in this document. I must point out that these are almost all fixed site installations and not mobile systems. I have included this here despite a similar table in another page as the listing is in number of ticket issuing machine order and some large installations can be seen together. This document is more modern than the one that the installations listed in the Installations/Testimonials - The Premier Totalisator chapter and consequently show the latest number of terminals as additional machines were often installed. It is devided up into 3 sections. The first is titled JULIUS "PREMIER" TOTALISATOR INSTALLATIONS completed prior to World War 2 The second is titled JULIUS "PREMIER" TOTALISATOR INSTALLATIONS completed since World War 2 The third is titled JULIUS "PREMIER" TOTALISATOR INSTALLATIONS now being manufactured I have extracted some of the entries from under the first and third title. The final entry I have provided is under the third title I find exceptional as this system has an asterisk in the Number of Issuing Machines column with a footnote * Capable of taking a total of 828 Issuing Machines. I recall seeing a transcript of a speech given by Charles Norrie the northern hemisphere expert on George Julius and totalisator history talking of a large system like this in the UK however this is the first time I have seen evidence of an installed system capable of this capacity. A demonstration system was built in Sydney in 1920 capable of supporting 1000 terminals.

A final selection criteria for the two tables I have included is customers not mentioned in the table in the Installations/Testimonials - The Premier Totalisator chapter. Finally, the red enlarged text for the 828 is my emphasis which does not exist in the original document.

As the above table has introduced some of the large systems and this page has been looking at the small end systems it makes a good contrast to compare these miniature systems with a piece of equipment from one of the large ones. The White City Stadium London system is mentioned above. The following image shows a single adder from this system. As the number of machines this adder has to support, 320 which is probably not the maximum it is capable of supporting, it is massively larger than the adders in the mobile system. The image shows the adder corresponding to runner number 5. As can be seen it is mounted on a table and the whole system fills a room. I suspect this adder consumes more space than the whole mini adder mobile system.

Large System Adder/Aggregator

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to Milton Kent Photographers Sydney for the photograph of the Mini Adder/Aggregator system.
• Thanks to Alex Wilkins Photographer Warrnambool for the photograph of the Totemobile and crowd.
• Information has been extracted from Automatic Totalisators company magazines and documents.
• Thanks to Ian my 11 year old son (1997) who was a great help with the typing, the html and the images.

Comments and suggestions welcome to totehis@hotmail.com

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