{"id":91661,"date":"2024-07-22T10:42:58","date_gmt":"2024-07-22T00:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=91661"},"modified":"2024-07-22T10:50:25","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T00:50:25","slug":"what-happened-to-hobarts-trams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=91661","title":{"rendered":"What happened to Hobart’s trams?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Which was the first city in Australia to get an electric tram network up and running? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melbourne? Sydney? Nope. It was Hobart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The small southern capital began operating its network in 1893 \u2014 years before the Sydney and Melbourne networks went fully electric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its heyday \u2014 the 1930s and 1940s \u2014 the Hobart tram network consisted of eight lines, 32 kilometres of track and, at its peak, a fleet size of 75 trams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could catch a tram from the city to West Hobart, North Hobart, Lenah Valley, the Cascades, Sandy Bay, Moonah, Glenorchy and Proctors Road. But now you’d never know they were ever here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what happened to Hobart’s trams? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is what Hobart school student and self-described rail enthusiast Harrison Steicke wanted to know, as did plenty of others who voted for the ABC to investigate, as part of Curious Hobart<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In the 1950s, public dissatisfaction with the tram service saw the State Government step in.(Supplied: hobarttramways.com)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why did they disappear?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hobart City Council took over the running of the trams from private operators in 1913.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in 1955, amid public rancour about fare prices, the State Government wrested control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By that time electric buses had already replaced trams on some lines, but motorised buses were seen as the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Electric “trolley buses” began taking the place of trams, only to be replaced in turn by motorised buses.(Supplied: Wikimedia)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Accidents did not help the network’s reputation. After three derailments, all the double-deckers were cut down to single decks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 29 April 1960, the brakes of a tram on Elizabeth Street failed after a collision and it began rolling backwards down the steep incline towards the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the reversing car gathered speed, conductor Raymond Tasman Donoghue ordered passengers to the front while he moved to the rear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He tried without success to engage the hand brake and kept ringing the bell to clear traffic and pedestrians out of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tram crashed into the next tram behind at a speed of up to 80 kilometres per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Donoghue was killed and 47 passengers were injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six months later Mr Donoghue, who had also survived World War II as a prisoner in a German POW camp, was awarded the George Cross \u2014 the highest civilian award for bravery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Driver Raymond Donoghue (below right) sacrificed himself in an attempt to save passengers after a brake failure in 1960.(Facebook: Tasmania Police Museum)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The demise of Hobart’s tram network soon followed \u2014 the last iron car shuttled down the last remaining line (Springfield) the same year Mr Donoghue died. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trams were sold off for 50 pounds a pop. The wheels and motors of just about all of them were cut down and sold to Japan as scrap metal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in the end, only one was left intact \u2014 five high schoolboys raised the money to save it and now it resides at the Transport Museum in Glenorchy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where did they go? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Other Hobart trams dispersed far and wide, even interstate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History buff Jeremy Kays sourced two and has spent years trying to restore them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He keeps Tram #120 \u2014 built in 1936 and decommissioned in 1959 \u2014 in a shed in an industrial park south of Hobart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It ended up as a fishing shack at Interlaken, in the Tasmanian highlands, and it was there for maybe 20 to 25 years,” Mr Kays said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
It is believed many trams being used as shacks would have been lost in the 1967 bushfire.(Supplied: Hobart Tram Restoration and Museum Society )<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the 1980s #120 was taken to Canberra as part of an idea to build a venue out of old trams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
At one point, half of tram #136 ended up at Eaglehawk Neck.(ABC News :David Hudspeth)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The plan never came to be and Mr Kays brought it home via the Spirit of Tasmania. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five or six years ago, he bought a second tram, #136, which he said featured at a service station in the northern suburbs of Hobart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point it was cut in half, with one half moved to Eaglehawk Neck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There’s probably half a dozen that still exist \u2026 that are built into shacks around the state,” Mr Kay said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said a lot would have been lost in the 1967 bushfires, or fallen into disrepair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three trams restored<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The Hobart City Council has five trams, three of which have been restored.(ABC News: Scott Ross)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Hobart City Council has also made an effort to preserve history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The council has five old trams, including one of the unique double-deckers, and Tony Colman has spent eight years bringing three back to life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’ve always had an interest in old things and I went to school on trams,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I remember the accident in 1960, so naturally I was interested.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
“I’ve always had an interest in old things and I went to school on trams,” says Tony Colman.(ABC News: Scott Ross)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the restored trams is #39, which was bought from a farmer at Oatlands who had turned it into a weekender. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hobart City Council has lovingly restored three trams.(ABC News: Scott Ross)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“The first thing I did was get rid of all the things that had been added to the tram,” Mr Colman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It had been turned into a house so it had leadlight windows, a kitchen up one end, the interior was completely stripped to a big degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trams have been restored as close to the original as possible.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There’s quite a few trades involved,” Mr Colman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s not all woodwork \u2014 there’s metal work, and there’s painting, even in the later trams there’s upholstery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Apart from having to wire and modernise to allow for better lighting as in indicators and exterior lighting, it’s pretty well exactly as it was.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A variety of trades is needed to restore the trams’ yesteryear glory.(ABC News: Scott Ross)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Am I ever going to see a tram again?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is currently a plan before the Hobart City Council to resurrect the city’s trams as a heritage tourist ride running north of the city along the waterfront. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our dream is to have a tram museum located near the railway line in Hobart and have them operating between the Regatta Grounds and Cornelian Bay on the disused rail track,” Mr Kays said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ideally, the resurrected trams may be powered by a generator being towed behind.(ABC News: David Hudspeth)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“I think we can probably accomplish that within a couple of years.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trams can run on the same gauge as the standard rail tracks which extend out to Brighton and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These trams are quite capable and the three that are restored have got new trucks. All the running gear was reproduced in Bendigo, Victoria,” Mr Colman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Colman said he was sure the glory days of the Hobart tram will return. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They will run again.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABC News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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