Trams in New Zealand
Encyclopedia
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 and a central city loop line in Christchurch in 1995. Both are heritage lines.
Some moves are proceeding to extend tram use in New Zealand again. In Auckland
, the MOTAT
line was extended in 1996/7 to reach a second site of the museum, and the former Auckland Regional Council
promoted the creation of an Auckland waterfront
tram line, originally with MOTAT vehicles, but will initially operate former Melbourne trams. This has now been completed with the support of the new Auckland Council
. While in Christchurch, the city loop is being extended in several small stages starting late 2000s. While these proposals are all officially heritage / tourist lines, there is some investigation into later extension / conversion for normal transport use. Christchurch City Tramway is currently non-operational following the Christchurch Earthquake of 2011, which has interrupted tramway services indefinitely while damaged buildings in the City Centre of Christchurch are stabilised or demolished.
, 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, e.g. 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).
, 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 2 November 1902, and continued to 29 December 1956.
With services running from downtown at the Waitemata Harbour
, across to Onehunga
on the Manukau Harbour
, meant Auckland had the worlds' only 'coast to coast' tramway system.
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 in on the Western Springs Tramway between two main MOTAT museum sites, which runs parallel to part of the Point Chevalier
tram route on Great North Road, but was not part of the original system.
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 Locomotive Works
of Philadelphia. The tramway struggled financially, 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.
and now the Auckland Waterfront Development Agency. Two former Melbourne trams X1 class 466, now numbered ATL 257 and Melbourne W2 class 421, now numbered ATL 258 are being leased from the Bendigo Tramways
and arrived at the Ports of Auckland
by ship 8 June 2011 and delivered to the new tram shed 15 June 2011. The Tramway is operated by Auckland Dockline Tram trading as Auckland Tramway Limited, a Company of Christchurch Tramway Limited. Trams commenced testing and crew training on Friday 29th July 2011. The system was opened on 6 August 2011 prior to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
In September 2011, MOTAT's Western Springs Tramway loaned restored 1906 Auckland tram No.44 for the Auckland Heritage Festival and through the summer.
Christchurch had steam and horse trams from 1880, then electric trams from 6 June 1905 to 11 September 1954. They were replaced by trolleybuses and motor buses. A Christchurch heritage tram line was established in the city centre on a loop track in 1995 but is currently non-operational following the Christchurch Earthquake of 2011, which has interrupted tramway services indefinitely while damaged buildings in the City Centre of Christchurch are stabilised or demolished.
to 16 km/hour. There were two inland routes: Ormond Rd, and Gladstone Rd to Te Hapara (Lytton Rd). 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.
In 1950 the Westown route was replaced with a fleet of 4 Crossley trolleybuses in 1950, in turn being replaced with diesel buses in October 1967. The Port-Fitzroy route was replaced directly by diesel buses in 1954.
There were 10 trams, 4 single-truck Boon cars (No.s 1-4), 3 Double-truck Boon cars (Nos 5-6 and 10) and 3 Birney
Safety Cars introduced in 1921 (Nos. 7-9). These all lasted until closure of the system, at which time the bodies were auctioned off and sold. Only one tram body survives (Birney No 8) and is currently in Wanganui
.
The Tramways Wanganui Trust is currently completing restoration to running order of Wanganui tram No.12 and plans to renovate Wanganui tram No.8 and New Plymouth Birney No.8 to run on a heritage tram line currently being planned alongside the Whanganui river
between the new tram shed and the berth of the PS Waimarie
.
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.
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 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 to , 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.
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 , except for Wellington and Gisborne, ; Dunedin, ; Napier and the Maori Hill (Dunedin) , the New Zealand railway gauge.
Nelson, New Zealand
Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....
), followed by a steam tramway in 1871 (Thames
Thames, New Zealand
Thames is a town at the southwestern end of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the Firth of Thames close to the mouth of the Waihou River. The town is the seat of the Thames-Coromandel District Council....
), and the first electric tramway in 1900 (Maori Hill
Maori Hill
Maori Hill is a residential suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located at the northern end of the ridge which runs in a crescent around the central city's western edge, to the northwest of the city centre, immediately above and within the Town Belt...
, 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 and a central city loop line in Christchurch in 1995. Both are heritage lines.
Some moves are proceeding to extend tram use in New Zealand again. In Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, the MOTAT
Museum of Transport and Technology
The Museum of Transport and Technology is a museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has large collections of civilian and military aircraft and other land transport vehicles...
line was extended in 1996/7 to reach a second site of the museum, and the former Auckland Regional Council
Auckland Regional Council
The Auckland Regional Council was the regional council of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989...
promoted the creation of an Auckland waterfront
Auckland waterfront
The Auckland waterfront is a city-side stretch of the southern Waitemata Harbour coastline in Auckland City, New Zealand...
tram line, originally with MOTAT vehicles, but will initially operate former Melbourne trams. This has now been completed with the support of the new Auckland Council
Auckland Council
The Auckland Council is the council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It began operating on 1 November 2010, combining the functions of the existing regional council and the region's seven previous city and district councils into one "super council" or "super city" governed by a mayor, 20...
. While in Christchurch, the city loop is being extended in several small stages starting late 2000s. While these proposals are all officially heritage / tourist lines, there is some investigation into later extension / conversion for normal transport use. Christchurch City Tramway is currently non-operational following the Christchurch Earthquake of 2011, which has interrupted tramway services indefinitely while damaged buildings in the City Centre of Christchurch are stabilised or demolished.
History
In 1862 the first horse tramway in New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, between Nelson
Nelson, New Zealand
Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....
and the port, opened as part of the Dun Mountain Railway
Dun Mountain Railway
The Dun Mountain Railway was a privately owned and operated gauge, 21½ km long horse-drawn tramway from chromite mines in the vicinity of Duppa Lode on the eastern slopes of Wooded Peak to Nelson port in the Tasman District of New Zealand's South Island...
, built to export ore from the mine in the hills above Nelson. Other horse-drawn tram systems were built on the West Coast
West Coast, New Zealand
The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...
of the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
, 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
Dunedin cable tramway system
The Dunedin cable tramway system was a group of cable tramway lines in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is significant as Dunedin was the second city in the world to adopt the cable car .- History :...
lines to various suburbs and Wellington still has the Wellington Cable Car
Wellington Cable Car
The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising 120 m over a length of 612 m. It is widely recognised as a symbol of Wellington.-Track and stations:The...
(actually a funicular
Funicular
A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of 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, e.g. 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 SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, were involved in the SS Elingamite
SS Elingamite
SS Elingamite was a single screw passenger steamer of 2585 tons, built in 1887 and owned by Huddart Parker. The ship was wrecked in 1902 off the north coast of New Zealand carrying a large consignment of gold...
shipwreck near Three Kings Islands
Three Kings Islands
The Three Kings Islands or Manawa Islands are a group of 13 islands about northwest of Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of the North Island of New Zealand, where the South Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea converge. They measure about 4.86 km² in area...
9 November 1902, in which three drowned. Public service commenced a week later, on 2 November 1902, and continued to 29 December 1956.
With services running from downtown at the Waitemata Harbour
Waitemata Harbour
The quite famous Waitemata Harbour is the main access by sea to Auckland, New Zealand. For this reason it is often referred to as Auckland Harbour, despite the fact that it is only one of two harbours surrounding the city, and is crossed by the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The Waitemata forms the north...
, across to Onehunga
Onehunga
Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is eight kilometres south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of One Tree Hill, Maungakiekie....
on the Manukau Harbour
Manukau Harbour
Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and is an arm of the Tasman Sea.-Geography:...
, meant Auckland had the worlds' only 'coast to coast' tramway system.
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 in on the Western Springs Tramway between two main MOTAT museum sites, which runs parallel to part of the Point Chevalier
Point Chevalier
Point Chevalier is a suburb and peninsula in the west of the city of Auckland in the north of New Zealand. It is located five kilometres to the west of the city centre on the southern shore of the Waitemata Harbour....
tram route on Great North Road, but was not part of the original system.
Devonport
Devonport on Auckland's North Shore had a horse tramway from September 1886 to 1888 running to Cheltham Beach. The tramway utilised wooden rails and failed financially after two years.Milford to Bayswater Tramway
A steam tramway operated between BayswaterBayswater, New Zealand
Bayswater is a suburb of Auckland City in New Zealand. It lies on a peninsula which juts into the Waitemata Harbour. The population was 2,307 in the 2006 Census, a reduction of 3 people from 2001....
and Milford
Milford, New Zealand
Milford is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. Located on Auckland's North Shore and part of North Shore City, Milford is located on the northern side of Lake Pupuke. It also has a popular swimming beach, which runs some two kilometers from Black Rock in the south to Castor Bay in the...
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
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
M & L type trams. The carriages were hauled by 13" steam motors, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
of Philadelphia. The tramway struggled financially, 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.
Auckland Waterfront Tramway 2011
The route travels from Halsey Street, Gaunt Street, Daldy Street and Jellicoe Street. The route uses two former Melbourne trams. The route was being promoted and funded by the former Auckland Regional CouncilAuckland Regional Council
The Auckland Regional Council was the regional council of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989...
and now the Auckland Waterfront Development Agency. Two former Melbourne trams X1 class 466, now numbered ATL 257 and Melbourne W2 class 421, now numbered ATL 258 are being leased from the Bendigo Tramways
Trams in Bendigo
Trams have operated in the city of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia since 1890, and continue to operate today as a tourist attraction. Limited trials have also been made in 2009 with operating commuter service, but with minimal usage by the public....
and arrived at the Ports of Auckland
Ports of Auckland
Ports of Auckland Limited , the successor to the Auckland Harbour Board, is the company administering Auckland's commercial freight and cruise ship harbour facilities...
by ship 8 June 2011 and delivered to the new tram shed 15 June 2011. The Tramway is operated by Auckland Dockline Tram trading as Auckland Tramway Limited, a Company of Christchurch Tramway Limited. Trams commenced testing and crew training on Friday 29th July 2011. The system was opened on 6 August 2011 prior to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
In September 2011, MOTAT's Western Springs Tramway loaned restored 1906 Auckland tram No.44 for the Auckland Heritage Festival and through the summer.
Christchurch
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.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 DepartmentNew Zealand Ministry of Works
The New Zealand Ministry of Works, formerly the Department of Public Works and sometimes referred to as the Public Works Department or PWD, was founded in 1876 and disestablished and privatised in 1988...
to 16 km/hour. There were two inland routes: Ormond Rd, and Gladstone Rd to Te Hapara (Lytton Rd). They were replaced by 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
Rugby Park Stadium
Rugby Park Stadium is a rugby union venue and home ground for ITM Cup team Southland. Rugby Park Stadium is located on the corner of Elles Road and Tweed Street in Invercargill. It has a capacity of 20,000, although in former incarnations has accommodated up to 30,000 in the 1960s before the...
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.
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.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. In 1924 a short line was built to Pukekura Park (this closed in 1937) and proposals were also made for lines to Vogletown and Frankleigh Park.In 1950 the Westown route was replaced with a fleet of 4 Crossley trolleybuses in 1950, in turn being replaced with diesel buses in October 1967. The Port-Fitzroy route was replaced directly by diesel buses in 1954.
There were 10 trams, 4 single-truck Boon cars (No.s 1-4), 3 Double-truck Boon cars (Nos 5-6 and 10) and 3 Birney
Birney
A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastructure and labor cost than conventional streetcars...
Safety Cars introduced in 1921 (Nos. 7-9). These all lasted until closure of the system, at which time the bodies were auctioned off and sold. Only one tram body survives (Birney No 8) and is currently in Wanganui
Wanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
.
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. 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 and New Plymouth Birney No.8 to run on a heritage tram line currently being planned alongside the Whanganui river
Whanganui River
The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand.Known for many years as the Wanganui River, the river's name reverted to Whanganui in 1991, according with the wishes of local iwi. Part of the reason was also to avoid confusion with the Wanganui River in the South Island...
between the new tram shed and the berth of the PS Waimarie
PS Waimarie
The PS Waimarie is an historic riverboat based on the Whanganui River in New Zealand.-History:It is a paddle steamer, built by Yarrow & Co in London in 1899 as a kitset...
.
Wellington
The Wellington Tramway Museum
Wellington Tramway Museum
The Wellington Tramway Museum is at Queen Elizabeth Park in New Zealand, near the overbridge at MacKays Crossing between Paekakariki and Paraparaumu, and has been operating trams there since 1965...
preserves and operates a collection of Wellington trams at The Kapiti Coast Electric Tramway, Queen Elizabeth Park
Queen Elizabeth Park, New Zealand
Queen Elizabeth Park is a Wellington Regional Park located on the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand. The park contains the last area of natural dunes on the Kapiti Coast. The park is steeped in history including pa sites at Whareroa Beach and Wainui Beach....
, MacKays Crossing near Paekakariki
Paekakariki
Paekakariki is a town in the Kapiti Coast District in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It is 22 km north of Porirua and 45 km north-east of Wellington, the nation's capital city....
on the Kapiti Coast.
West Coast
Other horse-drawn tram systems were built on the West CoastWest Coast, New Zealand
The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...
of the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
, 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
Charleston, New Zealand
Charleston is a village in the South Island of New Zealand located 30 km south of Westport. It was founded as a goldmining town after a major goldrush in 1867, and is now an adventure tourist village noted for its extensive limestone caves and caving experiences.- History :Charleston’s origins...
, now a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
, petitioned the Canterbury Provincial Council
Canterbury Province
The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. On the east coast the province was bounded by the Hurunui River in the north and the Waitaki River in the south...
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 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 to , with three-inch wooden rails (see Stewart and May). Some of these were bush tramways, similar to other systems
Forest railway
A forest railway, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felled logs to sawmills or railway stations.- History :...
used to carry timber out of the bush.
Rolling stock
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 carsBirney
A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastructure and labor cost than conventional streetcars...
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
Gordon Coates
Joseph Gordon Coates, MC and bar served as the 21st Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928.- Early life :Born on the Hukatere Peninsula in Kaipara Harbour where his family ran a farm, Coates took on significant responsibility at a relatively early age because his father suffered from...
, 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 , except for Wellington and Gisborne, ; Dunedin, ; Napier and the Maori Hill (Dunedin) , the New Zealand railway gauge.
Museums
There are several tram/transport museums with operating vintage trams:- The Museum of Transport and TechnologyMuseum of Transport and TechnologyThe Museum of Transport and Technology is a museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has large collections of civilian and military aircraft and other land transport vehicles...
(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 and New Plymouth BirneyBirneyA Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastructure and labor cost than conventional streetcars...
No.8 (yes duplicate fleet numbers) which were both donated to them unrestored by the Wellington Tramway Museum. They 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 MuseumWellington Tramway MuseumThe Wellington Tramway Museum is at Queen Elizabeth Park in New Zealand, near the overbridge at MacKays Crossing between Paekakariki and Paraparaumu, and has been operating trams there since 1965...
at Queen Elizabeth Park, PaekakarikiPaekakarikiPaekakariki is a town in the Kapiti Coast District in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It is 22 km north of Porirua and 45 km north-east of Wellington, the nation's capital city....
(near Wellington); started 1965. - Tramway Historical Society operating the Ferrymead Tramway at Ferrymead Heritage ParkFerrymead Heritage ParkFerrymead Heritage Park is a museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, housing a number of groups with historical themes, the most frequent of which is transport. Formerly known as Ferrymead Historic Park, it was founded in the mid-1960s by a number of groups, local government bodies and other...
, Christchurch, trams started 1968 (steam) and 1970 (electric). - Christchurch Tramway Ltd in central Christchurch since 1995
See also
- Public transport in New ZealandPublic transport in New ZealandPublic transport in New Zealand exists in many of the country's urban areas, and takes a number of forms. Bus transport is the main form of public transport. Two major cities, Auckland and Wellington, also have suburban rail systems which have been gaining more patronage and new investment in...
- List of town tramway systems in Oceania
- Trams in AustraliaTrams in AustraliaTrams in Australia are now used extensively as public transport only in Melbourne, and to a lesser extent, Adelaide and Bendigo while Sydney operates a modern light rail system. Several other major cities had tram networks however these networks were largely dismantled during the 1950s and some as...
External links
- Tramways in 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
- Stamp issue 1985; Vintage Trams
- MOTAT Trams, Museum of Transport and Technology
- Auckland Dockland Tram
- Tramways Wanganui Trust
- Wellington Tramway Museum
- Christchurch Tramway Ltd, Heritage Tramway
- Tramway Historical Society
- Ferrymead Heritage Park
- Bush tramways in Te Ara
- Photo of wooden bush tram tracks near Greymouth c1890