Dunedin: what a difference a few years makes! - 1
Donald Galt
Saturday, November 9, 2002 9:44 PM
One of Dunedin's several cable tram routes ran from the upper Octagon via
Stuart Street to a terminus at Nairn Street in Kaikorai. Opened on 6 Oct 1900
by the Dunedin & Kaikorai Tram Company Ltd and taken over in 1939 by the
Corporation, it lasted until 31 July 1947. Its roller-coaster route with
gradients of up to 20% (1 in 5) had its summit at Highgate, where until 1936 it
crossed New Zealand's first electric tramway, connecting the Roslyn cable line
with Maori Hill.
(The Maori Hill line was built in 1881 as a horse tramway and electrified 23
Oct 1900; thus for a few days the cable and horse services intersected.)
After cessation of the cable trams, Stuart Street was put through as an evenly-
graded highway. The up-and-down gradients were wiped out with a deep cutting in
under the top ridge of the Town Belt and another under Highgate Street, spanned
by a new bridge. The new road was followed by Bradford (route 16) and Kirkland
Hill / Wakari / Halfway Bush (15) trolleybuses, while Maori Hill (7) used the
Highgate bridge.
So, Then-and-now views (actually, Then-and-not-so-then):
Fares178b.jpg
Scanned from page 178 of Graham Stewart, Fares Please! the horse, steam & cable
trams of New Zealand (and posted without permission). Shows a Kaikorai cable
tram nearing the summit at Highgate, whence it will descend to the outer
terminus at Nairn Street.
ANZ0868.jpg
My photo, 1962. Looking down Stuart Street from the Highgate Street overbridge.
Across Otago Harbour is the suburb of Andersons Bay. Beyond the curve, Town
Hall and the grey spire of St. Andrew's Church stand on the near side of the
Octagon, and beyond are the twin spires of the First (Presbyterian) Church of
Otago.
Some of the houses can be recognised in both pictures, but the street itself
has been regraded beyond recognition.
Don Galt
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Stuart Street to a terminus at Nairn Street in Kaikorai. Opened on 6 Oct 1900
by the Dunedin & Kaikorai Tram Company Ltd and taken over in 1939 by the
Corporation, it lasted until 31 July 1947. Its roller-coaster route with
gradients of up to 20% (1 in 5) had its summit at Highgate, where until 1936 it
crossed New Zealand's first electric tramway, connecting the Roslyn cable line
with Maori Hill.
(The Maori Hill line was built in 1881 as a horse tramway and electrified 23
Oct 1900; thus for a few days the cable and horse services intersected.)
After cessation of the cable trams, Stuart Street was put through as an evenly-
graded highway. The up-and-down gradients were wiped out with a deep cutting in
under the top ridge of the Town Belt and another under Highgate Street, spanned
by a new bridge. The new road was followed by Bradford (route 16) and Kirkland
Hill / Wakari / Halfway Bush (15) trolleybuses, while Maori Hill (7) used the
Highgate bridge.
So, Then-and-now views (actually, Then-and-not-so-then):
Fares178b.jpg
Scanned from page 178 of Graham Stewart, Fares Please! the horse, steam & cable
trams of New Zealand (and posted without permission). Shows a Kaikorai cable
tram nearing the summit at Highgate, whence it will descend to the outer
terminus at Nairn Street.
ANZ0868.jpg
My photo, 1962. Looking down Stuart Street from the Highgate Street overbridge.
Across Otago Harbour is the suburb of Andersons Bay. Beyond the curve, Town
Hall and the grey spire of St. Andrew's Church stand on the near side of the
Octagon, and beyond are the twin spires of the First (Presbyterian) Church of
Otago.
Some of the houses can be recognised in both pictures, but the street itself
has been regraded beyond recognition.
Don Galt
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
