zt_trams_history

=History of trams in Melbourne=

Cable trams
The first cable tram in Melbourne was made by two men, George S Duncan and Fredrick B Clapp.In 1854 Melbourne put in the first tram tracks which went on Bridge Road, Richmond, and Flinders Street, terminating at Spencer Street. The only public transport, other than the limited railway system, to get into the city centre was cable tram. By 1885 Melbourne was expanding the tram network.

The first cable tram network ran from Spencer Street to Flinders Street, using 1435 mm (4 ft) gauge which was to become the standard tramway gauge. It was the beginning of a new era for public transport in Melbourne.

By 1891 Melbourne had 17 routes and they had one of the largest tram networks in the whole world. The number 1 cable tram in Melbourne was imported from New York. That was one of the 20 Tramcar trams exported in the whole world. A few years later sets of these Tramcar trams were built around Melbourne, and they followed a similar design to the original ones. Each cable tram had open bench seating, enclosed trailer which was unopened and that's were the woman and non-smokers could go.

The number 1 cable tram in Melbourne the one that was imported from New York made its final trip on the 30th 1927, because the Richmond route close so electric trams can start running. In 1940 the final cable tram closed and the number 1 cable tram was donated to the Historical Collection of the Public Library. The number 1 tram spent its next 20 years in the Swanson Street museum site. In 1974 the number 1 tram was finally put in the Preston Tramway Workshop and it was installed the tram in a specially made glazed case so it can go on display on the corner of Russel Street and Little Lonsdale Street.

=Electric trams= Melbourne first ever electric tram line went from Box Hill railway to Doncaster railway. The materials that were needed to make these railways were brought from the great exhibition in 1889. The first electric tram made its first run on the 14th of October 1889. In 1896 the electric tram network closed the electric tram system because it was not a success. On the 5th of may 1906 the electric tram system was brought back in Melbourne. On the 7th of November the first electric tram ran after the closure of the electric tram in 1896. This tram ran from St Kilda to the middle of Brighton.

On the 11th of October the cable tram network opened 2 more lines from Flemington to Keilor. On the 7th of March the Elwood electric tram deployed was destroyed including all the trams that were there over night. All the trams stoped running until the Elwood depot was fixed and emergency busses were called in to replace the trams. On the 20th of June the Elwood tram depot was rebuild and every thing was back to normall. In 1910 Malvern and Prahran opened 2 railways.

Throughout 1911-1920 the Malvern and Pahran services extended majerly going many places the South East distrct and a couple of places in the North West. They were covering areas such as Malvern, Richmond, Prahran, South Yarra, Camberwell, Kew and Sandringham. In the 1920s the Melbourne electric tram network was going under heave construction by by extending the trams all over Melbourne. Throughout the 1930s the electric tram network just kept on extending the tram network, and a couple of tram routes closed. The tram routes that closed were the North West cable lines but the cable lines in the West were replaced by bus services and the lines in the North were converted into electric traction.

From 1940-1980s the same things were happening the electric tram network kept of joining and extending tram services. From the late 1980-1990s new sorts of electric trams were introduced to Melbourne. The trams that were introduced were restruant trams so you could spend a night in a tram touring Melbourne while you got a 3 course meal, and new W2 class trams. Throughout the 2000s Melbourne had got rid of all the old trams and started introducing new trams which were bigger and new.

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