RE: A tramway resurrection in Melbourne
  Bob Pearce

Hi all,

I thought - just for moment - that Mal was playing tricks with us - something
like where's the lion hidden amongst the wildebeests.
Where's the overhead, I thought? Where's the pan, I thought? Is this a new
rubber tyred tram, I thought?

But no, there it is, cleverly disguised in a 'greeny' looking colour amongst
the leaves of the tree behind the tram.

Would have been a great 'optical illusion' puzzle though.

Bob in Perth


-----Original Message-----
From:tramsdownunder@... tramsdownunder@...> On
Behalf Of Mal Rowe
Sent: Thursday, 11 August 2022 8:56 AM
To: TramsDownUnder tramsdownunder@...>
Subject: [TramsDownUnder] A tramway resurrection in Melbourne

The story of the Bourke St cable trams being replaced by buses in 1940 and
those buses being replaced by trams in 1955 is well known, but that was the
second time that happened.

Queens Bridge links Market St on the north side of the Yarra with City Rd on
the south side via Queensbridge Rd. It was built in 1889 and cable trams were
installed on the bridge in 1890 - leading to Port Melbourne and South
Melbourne.

In 1937, those two cable tram routes were closed. The Port Melbourne run was
converted to buses and the South Melbourne route was electrified, but
re-routed to run over the Spencer St bridge to the city.

City Rd and Queens Bridge became part of the Port Melbourne bus route - and
they still are.

Post WW2 it was decided to link the William St electric tramway to South
Melbourne, via Flinders Lane, Market St, Queensbridge and Hanna St (now
Kingsway). This was completed in 1946, thus re-instating tramways in Market
St and Queensbridge Rd which had formerly had cable trams.

This was probably the last time tramways were paved with wood blocks, and they
were still there into the 21st century. See: https://tdu.to/i/1058

There is an interesting article about wood block paving in the current issue
of Bellcord - magazine of the Melbourne Tram Museum.
See:https://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/downloads/bellcord/bc-054.pdf

Melbourne never lost faith in the superiority of railed transport.

Mal Rowe - attaching a recent pic of this bridge where priority is now given
to public transport and bicycles

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