Re: Re: MOTAT pickings

David,

In a rather disgraceful episode Auckland's trolley buses went off the
streets fairly late in the piece.

Have you guys saved any of them. They're real easy to run if you have 600v
overhead and if you can fix a tram they are easy to keep going.

Bob Murphy

----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2001 1:37 PM
Subject: [TramsDownUnder] Re: MOTAT pickings

Hi Bob and Graeme

From memory Auckland M Class 89 was moved from the Coromandel to
Sylvia Park in 1970 (MOTAT's former Storage Facility until 1995). A
comment to Bob's comment, the tram is in remarkable condition. The
exposed side weathered for fifteen years, but the other is
essentually straight off the street. As far as our stored trams go,
it is one of the best in condition. On par with the Queen Mary, 253
and about as bad as Melbourne 321 (Brutus) was prior to her rebuild.

Australia has the advantage of a dry, hot environment for tramcars in
the wild. Also with tramways like Melbourne which have never stopped
running, hence many "maintained" early century tramcars available for
enthuseasts to choose from well into the 1990's. In comparison NZ is
generally very humid, Auckland closed it's tramway in 1956, Wanganui
in 1950 and Wellington in 1964. Three complete Auckland trams were
collected and another five bodies have been collected from the wild
by MOTAT and another four privately.

What many Australian groups consider "too far gone" we see as an
opportunity and challenge. It's all relative. Just like the Battery
tram project. Grandpa's axe, etc etc.

Anyhow enough of me.

Cheers
David


From: "IS Edit" <isedit@g...>
Date: Sun Oct 14, 2001 9:08 pm
Subject: Re: [TramsDownUnder] Re: MOTAT pickings


Thanks, David.

It's a fine line between flogging a dead horse and just scrapping
sometimes
but, they were pretty cars. Hate to see them go down like that.

Bob Murphy


--- In TramsDownUnder@y..., "Graeme Bennett" <wgbtttco@d...> wrote:

---Thanks David for the correction on car 89

Back in those early days of the preservation movements in New

Zealand

so much happened that one could not keep track of things and the

cars

were still out in their country locations,and of course I was at

the

other end of the North Island.

I did go along on a couple of the MOTAT salvage team forays in a
previous life !!!

That car 89 was interesting as it had two different ends, not

unlike

a lot of the older Wellington double saloons in later years.

WGB

Don't quite think stripping of wiring is correct.

, we preserved the whole of Auckland tram 89

----- Original Message -----
From: Graeme Bennett
To: TramsDownUnder@y...
Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 9:59 AM
Subject: [TramsDownUnder] MOTAT pickings


Members of MOTAT sneak up on Auckland car 89 intent on

salvaging

wiring etc.

A fund raising task regularly undertaken back in the days.

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