RE: Re: The last Wellington track relic
Donald Galt
Thursday, October 10, 2002 9:14 PM
On 10 Oct 2002 at 15:57, Brent Efford wrote:
But where would they have been relocated to? The centre reservation, or one
track in Kent Terrace, the other in Cambridge? The northbound trams were no
particular menace to southbound motorists since they were at the far right.
Here's something of interest: the original steam tram (1878) ran via Vivian
Street and CAMBRIDGE Terrace to the Basin Reserve and the depot in Adelaide
Road, with the route via Courtenay Place added in 1881. And G Stewart in "Fares
Please!" has a picture dating from the "early 1900s" showing horse trams
meeting horse buses, again in Cambridge Terrace.
So, I'm surmising that when the new electric line was built in 1904, it took a
completely new alignment in Kent Terrace to avoid interfering with the existing
horse tramway (horses early supplanted steam) on the opposite side of the
boulevard.
Another curiosity: Stewart says the steam/horse tramway ran up Adelaide Road to
King Street, and he has a picture of the depot at King Street. But in an 1878
article, reprinted in issue 230 of the NZ Railway Observer, Charles Rous-Marten
says that the steam line ran to Drummond Street. And there used to be, perhaps
still is, the Tramway Hotel at the southwest corner of Adelaide Road and
Drummond Street. Could there be a connection? What better reason for a pub than
thirsty tramway workers? And Drummond Street crosses King Street a short block
west.
Don
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I wonder why the tram tracks were laid in that way? There were many examples
of wrong-way or off-centre running in NZ originally, but most of them were
corrected from the 1920s (when motor traffic became dominant) onwards when
the lines were relaid or duplicated. I would have expected those tracks to
be candidates for that treatment.
But where would they have been relocated to? The centre reservation, or one
track in Kent Terrace, the other in Cambridge? The northbound trams were no
particular menace to southbound motorists since they were at the far right.
Here's something of interest: the original steam tram (1878) ran via Vivian
Street and CAMBRIDGE Terrace to the Basin Reserve and the depot in Adelaide
Road, with the route via Courtenay Place added in 1881. And G Stewart in "Fares
Please!" has a picture dating from the "early 1900s" showing horse trams
meeting horse buses, again in Cambridge Terrace.
So, I'm surmising that when the new electric line was built in 1904, it took a
completely new alignment in Kent Terrace to avoid interfering with the existing
horse tramway (horses early supplanted steam) on the opposite side of the
boulevard.
Another curiosity: Stewart says the steam/horse tramway ran up Adelaide Road to
King Street, and he has a picture of the depot at King Street. But in an 1878
article, reprinted in issue 230 of the NZ Railway Observer, Charles Rous-Marten
says that the steam line ran to Drummond Street. And there used to be, perhaps
still is, the Tramway Hotel at the southwest corner of Adelaide Road and
Drummond Street. Could there be a connection? What better reason for a pub than
thirsty tramway workers? And Drummond Street crosses King Street a short block
west.
Don
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Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/