Trams in New Zealand

Trams in New Zealand were a major form of transport from the 19th century into the mid 20th century. New Zealand's first (horse) tramway was established in 1862 (Nelson), followed by a steam tramway in 1871 (Thames), and the first electric tramway in 1900 (Maori Hill, Dunedin). The tram systems in the main centres, and in some smaller towns, were soon electrified. By the 1950s all systems were in the process of being replaced by trolleybuses or buses. The last tram service closed in 1964, in Wellington. A tram running parallel with a public road opened in Western Springs, Auckland, in 1980 Auckland and a central city loop line in Christchurch in 1995. Both are heritage lines.

History

In 1862 the first horse tramway in New Zealand, between Nelson and the port, opened as part of the Dun Mountain Railway, built to export ore from the mine in the hills above Nelson. Other horse-drawn tram systems were built on the West Coast of the South Island, where a gold rush started in 1864.

Horse-drawn lines also opened in the main centres; Auckland and Devonport in 1886, Dunedin 1879, Christchurch 1880 and Dunedin 1879

At Grahamstown (now Thames) in the North Island where gold had also been found, a steam tramway to Tararu was opened on 2 December 1871, but closed on 11 November 1874, due to ‘not sufficient traffic’. Other steam systems were opened in Devonport, Wellington and Christchurch.

The first electric tram ran to Maori Hill, Dunedin in 1900, and the tram systems in the main centres were all electrified in the 1900s.

Dunedin also had several Cable Car lines to various suburbs and Wellington still has the Wellington Cable Car (actually a funicular) to Kelburn.

Most twentieth-century systems were electric with overhead wires, apart from the Takapuna (Auckland) steam tramway (1910-1927) and Gisborne, which had two battery-electric trams (1913-1929). The only system to be closed during this period was Napier, in 1931 after the Napier earthquake. Several long suburban lines were replaced by buses, eg Christchurch City to Richmond, Burwood and North Beach in 1934, and to Linwood in 1936.

During the 1950s and early 1960s all the tramway systems were replaced by buses or trolleybuses: Wanganui (1950), Invercargill (1952), Christchurch and New Plymouth (1954), Auckland and Dunedin (1956) and Wellington (1964). This followed a general international trend, especially in North American and British cities. The traditional tram systems of the period were perceived as a slow and outdated means of transport, characterised by inflexible routes and expensive infrastructure maintenance. In Wellington there was significant opposition to the closure of the last tramway system in New Zealand, and the final decision to disestablish the remaining lines followed on a public referendum in 1959.

Trolleybuses still operate in Wellington, but the other systems have closed: Christchurch (1956), New Plymouth (1967), Auckland (1980) and Dunedin (1982).

Auckland

Auckland City

Auckland City had horse trams from 1884, and the electric trams was officially opened on 17 November 1902 - public service was delayed because the motormen from Sydney, Australia, were involved in the SS Elingamite shipwreck near Three Kings Islands 9 November 1902, in which three drowned. Public service commenced a week later, on 24 November 1902, and continued to 29 December 1956. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ourstuff/Elingamite.htm] (from the Freepages Genealogy] website)] [ [http://www.motat.org.nz/artefacts/December06.htm Auckland Tram - Number 11] (from the MOTAT website)] "A Wheel on Each Corner", The History of the IPENZ Transportation Group 1956-2006 - Douglass, Malcolm; IPENZ Transportation Group, 2006, Page 12] They were replaced by trolleybuses and buses. While light rail is discussed as a future option for the city, there is currently only a heritage tram service between two main MOTAT museum sites, which runs parallel to part of the Point Chavalier tram route on Great North Road, but was not part of the original system.

Devonport

Devonport on Auckland's North Shore had a horse tram from September 1886 to 1888.

Milford to Bayswater Tramway

A steam tramway operated between Bayswater and Milford on Auckland's North Shore. It travelled along Lake Road, through Takapuna and circled Lake Pupuke between 22 December 1910 and 26 April 1927. The steam trams had been built so that they could be converted to electric operation, to a similar design to Auckland M & L type trams. The carriages were hauled by 13" steam motors, built by Baldwin of Philadelphia. Unfortunately the tramway struggled and closed after 16 years. The carriages were sold to Wanganui and Dunedin and converted to electric trams and the steam tram boilers sold for other uses. A single trailer, which became a Dunedin electric tram "Takapuna" No.66, is the sole survivor, at the Otago Early Settlers Museum.

New Plymouth

New Plymouth had an electric tram service from 10 March 1916 to 23 July 1954, operated by the New Plymouth Corporation Tramways and reputedly the smallest municipality in the world to operate trams on the overhead electricity system. There were two main routes, through the town centre from the Port to Fitzroy, and from the town centre to David Street, Westown. There were 10 trams, including 3 Birney Safety Cars introduced in 1921 (Nos. 7-9). The Westown route was replaced with a fleet of 4 trolleybuses in 1950, in turn being replaced with diesel buses in October 1967. The Port-Fitzroy route was replaced directly by diesel buses.

Gisborne

Gisborne had 'Edison-Beach' battery-electric trams from 13 April 1913 to 8 July 1929. There were two trams from the Federal Storage Battery Car Co, New Jersey and two from Boon & Co, Christchurch. AR Harris of Christchurch was the New Zealand agent for Edison Batteries. The trams were slow; their maximum speed was 32 km/hour, and initially they were restricted by the Public Works Department to 16 km/hour. There were two inland routes: Ormond Rd, and Gladstone Rd to Te Hapara (Lytton Rd). They were replaced by buses.

Napier

Napier had electric trams to Port Ahuriri, from 8 September 1913 to 3 February 1931. The system was damaged by the Napier earthquake on 3 February 1931, and was never restored, being replaced by buses.

Wanganui

Wanganui had electric trams from 11 December 1908 to 24 September 1950. The service went two ways from the city centre, inland to Aramoho and out to Castlecliff and the Port. The Castlecliff route competed with the Castlecliff railway and the success of the trams at winning patronage led to the cancellation of passenger trains in April 1932. [Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History" (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), 136.] The trams were replaced by buses.

The Tramways Wanganui Trust is currently completing restoration to running order of Wanganui tram No.12 and plans to renovate Wanganui tram No.8 to run on a hertitage line currently being planned alongside the Wanganui River between the new tramshed and the berth of the P.S. Waimarie.

Wellington

Wellington had steam then horse trams from 1878, then electric trams from 30 June 1904 to 2 May 1964. They were replaced by trolleybuses and buses. Wellington has both the last commercial trolleybus system and the only cable car line still operating in New Zealand.

The Wellington Tramway Museum preserves and operates a collection of Wellington trams at The Kapiti Coast Electric Tramway, Queen Elizabeth Park, MacKays Crossing near Paekakariki on the Kapiti Coast.

West Coast

Other horse-drawn tram systems were built on the West Coast of the South Island, where a gold rush started in 1864. The main towns, Greymouth, Westport, Hokitika and Ross, and smaller settlements like Brighton, Charleston, Kamiere and Kumara had wooden tramways. Publican John Behan of Charleston, now a ghost town, petitioned the Canterbury Provincial Council in 1870 for compensation after the rerouting of a wooden tramway along a branch road removed most of his stalwart drinkers. The 'bush tram' from Greymouth to Kumara took three hours, and during the trip passengers had to cross the Taramakau River in a cage or ‘flying fox’ suspended from a cable [http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Heritage/Photos/Disc14/IMG0004.asp see photo c1880] . These tramways were for freight and passengers. There were few roads on the Coast, and tramway owners were entitled to charge a toll to pedestrians walking along the tracks. The gauges varied from three to four feet, with three-inch wooden rails (see Stewart and May). Some of these were "bush tramways", similar to other systems used to carry timber out of the bush.

Christchurch

Christchurch had steam and horse trams from 1880, then electric trams from 6 June 1905 to 11 September 1954. They were replaced by buses. There is now a heritage line in the city.

Dunedin

In Dunedin electric trams operated on several routes from 23 October 1900 (Maori Hill) and 24 December 1903 (municipal service, to Normanby & Gardens) to 29 March 1956, and were replaced by trolleybuses and buses.

Invercargill

Invercargill had the southernmost tram system in the world, horse trams 1881–1908, electric trams from 26 March 1912 to 10 September 1952. They were replaced by buses.

Construction began in January 1911 and lines to Waikiwi and Georgetown opened on 26 March 1912. Later that year two more lines opened, to North Invercargill and South Invercargill; the latter was the southernmost electrified street tram line in the world and ran to Tramway Road. The network operated as two routes: Route A between Georgetown and Waikiwi and Route B between North and South Invercargill. The Waikiwi line closed in 1947, though a section remained in operation until 1951. The Georgetown route closed on 2 July 1951, but the section to Rugby Park Stadium remained open until August 1951. The South Invercargill line closed on 31 May 1952. The last route, to North Invercargill, closed on 10 September 1952.

Trams

The American firms of J.G. Brill Co, Philadelphia and John Stephenson Co, New Jersey supplied many trams, as well as other firms; English, Australian and local. Birney Safety cars were supplied by J.G. Brill Co. to Invercargill (6) and New Plymouth (3) in 1921, though they were too wide for Napier. Gordon Coates, then Minister of Transport was in New Plymouth for a test run on the new trams. When the driver showed how the 'dead man's control' worked by lifting his hand off the controller, the Minister and all were thrown to the floor when it nose dived on its front wheels then slumped back on the track with a shudder.

A distinctive feature of many Australasian trams was the "drop-centre", a lowered central section between bogies (wheel-sets), to make passenger access easier by reducing the number of steps required to get inside of the vehicle. The trams made by Boon & Co of Christchurch in 1906-07 for Christchurch may have been the first with this feature; they were referred to as drop-centres or Boon cars. Trams for Christchurch and Wellington built in the 1920s with an enclosed section at each end and an open-sided middle section were also known as Boon cars, but did not have the drop-centre.

Californian combination cars had an enclosed centre section, with open-sided sections at each end. Hong Kong or toast rack (toastrack) cars were open, with the roof supported by a row of stanchions on each side. Most electric trams were single-deck, but Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and initially Dunedin had some open-top double-deck trams. These were popular with courting couples! In the 1930s the Auckland Streamline trams and the Wellington Fiducia trams had access at each end only, with no separate middle section or centre doors.

Trams were standard gauge (4’ 8½” or 1435 mm), except for Wellington and Gisborne, 4’ 0” (1219 mm); Dunedin, 4’ 8” (1422 mm); Napier and the Maori Hill (Dunedin) 3’ 6” (1067 mm), the New Zealand railway gauge.

Tramway Museums

There are several tram/transport museums with operating vintage trams:
*The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland has the "Western Springs Tramway" with 1.72 km of track, running alongside Western Springs Park parallel to Great North and Motions Roads to Auckland Zoo, across Motions Road and to the second MOTAT site. Museum tram operations commenced within MOTAT on 16 December 1967, to the Motions Road corner in 1980, to the Zoo in 1981 and to MOTAT's Aviation and Railway site in April 2007.
*Tramways Wanganui Trust New Group formed to complete and look after Wanganui tram No.12 which was donated to the City of Wanganui after the body was privately restored in Auckland. Also plans to renovate Wanganui tram No.8 which was donated to them unrestored by the Wellington Tramway Museum. Both will run on a hertitage line currently being planned and built alongside the Wanganui River between the new tramshed and the berth of the P.S. Waimarie.
*Wellington Tramway Museum at Queen Elizabeth Park, Paekakariki (near Wellington); started 1965.
*Ferrymead Heritage Park, Christchurch, trams started 1968 (steam) and 1970 (electric).
*Christchurch Tramway Ltd in central Christchurch since 1995

See also

* Public transport in New Zealand
* List of town tramway systems in Oceania
* Trams in Australia

External links

* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/T/TransportTramways/TransportTramways/en Tramways in 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]
* [http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/Stamps/StampsHistoricalIssues/1989+-+1985/vintage+trams.htm Stamp issue 1985; Vintage Trams]
* [http://www.motat.org.nz/collections/trams.htm MOTAT Trams, Museum of Transport and Technology]
* [http://www.tramwayswanganui.org.nz/ Tramways Wanganui Trust]
* [http://www.wellingtontrams.org.nz/ Wellington Tramway Museum]
* [http://www.tram.co.nz/ Christchurch Tramway Ltd, Heritage Tramway]
* [http://www.geocities.com/tramwaynz/ Tramway Historic Society]
* [http://www.ferrymead.org.nz/ Ferrymead Heritage Park]
* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/UsesOfTheBush/BushTramsAndOtherLogTransport/en "Bush tramways" in Te Ara]
* [http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Heritage/Photos/Disc14/IMG0003.asp Photo of wooden bush tram tracks near Greymouth c1890]

References

* "The End of the Penny Section: When Trams Ruled the Streets of New Zealand" by Graham Stewart (1993, Grantham House, Wellington) ISBN 186934037X
* "The West Coast Gold Rushes" by Philip Ross May (1962, Pegasus Press, Christchurch) (Chapter 13, pages 371-376 re Tramways)