On the Trams Again

When we visited the Sydney Tramway Museum last month, I bought a book on the Brisbane Tram Systems I used to ride on every day from and to work in the 60s. In 1969, the then Lord Mayor Clem Jones made the worst decision he ever did. He stopped the trams that used to carry hundreds of people around the city day in and day out. He stopped them in the idiotic belief that they 'didn't fit the image' anymore and converted the public transport system to buses.

Upon flying back to Brisbane, I put a visit to the Brisbane Tram Museum onto my Bucket List. Well, yesterday, we drove out to Ferny Grove to visit the Brisbane Museum which is only open on Sundays between 12.30 and 4 PM.

The first two cars are 65 and 47, built in 1901 and 1907 and were on the Edward Street to Botanical Garden line.

65 and 47 are the oldest cars in the museum

The Blogger at the Tram Stop

99 was rebuilt in 1945 on the frame of a previously withdrawn car. It was specially built for the steep climb up Edward Street to Gregory Terrace

94 and 99 were single truck centre aisle cars

The people running and operating the trains are all volunteers. They also maintain the tracks and carriages.

Our 'Motorman' who was operating the trams yesterday

During operation of the museum, the trams are constantly running and are swapped throughout the day.

47 arrives at the tram depot

47 was often operated at night lit with a kerosene lamp

554 and 429 were the last trams built in Brisbane. 554 was one of eight, built to replace the 65 trams that were destroyed in the Paddington Depot fire in 1962. It incorporates parts that have been salvaged from the fire.

554 and 429 in the tram shed

341 is one of the largest trams that was built in Brisbane in 1936 and is known as a 'drop centre' car. They were known as THE TRAM.

341 at the Tramway Museum

In the late 60, when I lived in Brisbane, I used to catch the tram from the Treasury Building in town to Mater Hill on the south side. I was a smoker then.

If the trams were still running today, you wouldn't see this sign.

I added a little video I shot yesterday:

A Blast from the Past

Our daughter picked us up at the airport in Sydney and took us down into 'The Shire' for a visit to the Sydney Tramway Museum, something that has been on my Bucket List for many years. Although the forecast was for rain, the weather was very kind to us with the occasional blue sky period. To our great surprise, the daily tram ride from the museum into the Royal National Park today was on the Phoenix 548, an old FM car from Brisbane, manufactured in 1963. I remember the Brisbane trams well, having used them every day to go to work. Stopping the trams in Brisbane in 1969 was the most stupid decision the Brisbane City Council ever made. Clem Jones was the Lord Mayor at the time. He was entirely disliked by the population after that.

Phoenix 548 is getting ready at the Tramway Museum to take us for a ride

The Blogger and Carol enjoy the ride

So are the oldies

A volunteer Driver took us along the tracks

Made in 1963 by the BCC Tramway Workshop

Out of the open Door

A volunteer Train Conductor

The National Highway comes to a stop when the old tram crosses

Carol enjoys the ride

So does the Blogger

Hello there

No. 548 at the Royal National Park station

Close up of the suspension

The sign says Enoggera but that is 1100km away

The electric rod picks up power to run the motor

The Museum Station with signal box on top

The old Liverpool Street signal box

There is also a large tram shed, housing dozens of trams from around the country in the Sydney Tramway Museum,

One of the interesting cars on display, is a prison tram car used to transport prisoners from Long Bay Jail to the court house and back again, all day long.

The prison tram car

"Let Me Out"